Lawsuit is baseless, offensive

The town of Greenwich has enough to deal with these days. It really can't afford to waste taxpayer money and the Law Department's energies defending ridiculous lawsuits. But that is what it will be forced to do if a Senate candidate presses on with a lawsuit filed last week in Bridgeport federal court.

Greenwich Democrat Lee Whitnum has declared her intentions to run for the U.S. Senate. Ms. Whitnum has run for office before. Her campaigns have been built on flat-out opposition to the United States' relationship with Israel. None have come close to succeeding.

Not surprisingly, Israel is the subject of her lawsuit against the town.

On May 13, the Israeli flag -- which includes the Star of David -- was displayed in front of Town Hall to commemorate Israeli Independence Day. The UJA Federation of Greenwich that day paid to use Town Hall for a celebration, which included an abridged bar mitzvah ceremony for a visiting exchange student from Israel.

"We can't have a double standard," Whitnum said in a statement supporting her lawsuit. "If you can't have a Christian cross on a municipal building, you can't display the Star of David there either. I mean seriously what was (First Selectman Peter Tesei) thinking -- a bar mitzvah? On town property!"

We can't speak for the first selectman. But we suspect he was thinking there's a big difference between permanently installing a cross on a building and raising a flag for a day. A big difference between allowing a religious group to pay to use Town Hall for an afternoon because it could not find other venues, and turning Town Hall into a church or synagogue.

We are passionate believers in the separation of church and state. We also believe passion should coexist with reason.

Lee Whitnum's passion is opposing Israel. She has made that clear in words and actions over the years. Our political process is forced to indulge that passion as long as she can get herself onto a ballot. But we hope the court tosses this lawsuit and soon, so the town doesn't have to indulge it with its time and money.