IF IT WASN'T SO BAD, LOS ALAMOS WOULD BE A GOOD GAG

So the missing computer hard-drives from the Los Alamos laboratory have been found behind the copy machine. This is an incredible episode almost unimaginable in any previous administration in American history. But not for the Clinton administration.

Twelve years ago, attempting to capitalize on whatever scandals bedeviled the Reagan-Bush administration, Democratic nominee Michael Dukakis repeatedly asserted, "The fish rots from the head." So it might be said of the Clinton-Gore attitude toward security issues.

Recall the early days of this administration, when a senior Army general was dissed by White House staffers furious at the sight of a man in uniform.

Recall that this president discontinued, out of boredom, his every-morning security briefing that had been a staple of the daily routine of every president for decades. Recall the testimony of FBI agents detailed to the White House that countless staffers refused to get security clearances, either because they didn't care or couldn't have passed one if they did submit.

The Los Alamos fiasco was far too much for the Democratic dean of the U.S. Senate, West Virginia's Robert Byrd.

The venerable Senator Byrd was unsparing in his comments this week as he faced Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson:

"You've shown a contempt of Congress that borders on a supreme arrogance. ... You served in Congress. ... and you should know the Congress has a responsibility of oversight over the departments.

"I think there's a mindset in the department ... that the Congress is to be treated like a lap dog. ...

"I've been in this Congress for ... 48 years. ... And the fact is that you've really thrown away a treasure, that treasure being the confidence of the Congress. ... I'm sorry that you've lost that credibility. ...

"I think it's a rather sad story, because you've had a rather bright and brilliant career. But you will never again receive the support of the Senate of the United States for any office to which you might be appointed. It's gone. You've squandered your treasure, and I'm sorry."

All we have to add to that is this for Senator Byrd, lifelong liberal Democrat and all-time grand champion Big Spender: Welcome, sir, to the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy.