Henry Hyde

Over at Huffpost, Tom Edsall has this interesting take on Henry Hyde's legacy. Hyde, whose most famous legislation was the amendment banning the use of federal funds for abortion, was indeed a complicated person to peg. Unlike many of his fellow abortion foes, he argued that those who oppose abortion have a special responsibility to support AFDC, WIC and other programs that provide a safety net to people after they are born. And he also had a sense of humor: During breaks in the Iran-Contra hearings, he delighted in sneaking over to the press section, pulling his collar up around his neck and doing wicked, dead-on imitaitions of Orrin Hatch's pronouncements.