President Bush did the right thing Friday in bypassing Congress and using a so-called recess appointment to name Daniel Pipes to the board of the United States Institute of Peace.
That means Pipes' term, normally for four years, will only last 18 months.
But it also means that the loathsome display of demagoguery and distortion leveled by a trio of Senate Democrats cannot be used to block his appointment.
Sens. Ted Kennedy, Christopher Dodd and Tom Harkin loudly bought into the line spread by numerous Arab groups and the anti-Israel lobby that Pipes is "America's leading Islamophobe."
Such groups simply cannot abide the fact that Pipes, a scholar and former instructor at Harvard and the University of Chicago - whose columns appear regularly on these pages - has been warning of the dangers of radical Islam for a very long time.
Not of all Islam, as his foes falsely charge. Indeed, Pipes has written, "Militant Islam is the problem, and moderate Islam is the solution."
But for courageously sounding the alarm - a warning that, tragically, was borne out on 9/11 - Pipes has been the subject of a concerted and vituperative smear campaign from those who hope to silence his voice.
Despite the shrillness of the apologists for terrorism and their Senate allies, the White House Friday announced that the Pipes appointment will be made during Congress' summer break.
Normally, we're not fond of recess appointments; too often they're used to evade congressional scrutiny. But when some in Congress themselves behave irresponsibly, such an avenue is justified.
Our only concern is that going the recess-appointment route gives Pipes' appointment a clandestine look.
But it's Kennedy, Dodd and Harkin who need to answer for their actions, not President Bush.
