Leahy faces off with Joker in The Dark Knight

David Edwards and Nick Juliano

Published: Wednesday July 9, 2008





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In the last 18 months, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) has stared down plenty of 'jokers' from his perch as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Next Friday, viewers will see him take on an even more nefarious clown when the latest Batman movie premieres. The senator, a huge Batman buff, was glad to see his brief cameo in The Dark Knight wasn't left on the cutting room floor.

In the film, Leahy appears alongside The Joker, portrayed by Heath Ledger in what's being hailed as an Oscar-worthy performance. Roll Call's Heard on the Hill reports that the senator's staffers found a clip of the film on YouTube apparently from a Swedish newscast.

The clip shows Ledger's Joker bursting into a party on a mad hunt for District Attorney Harvey Dent. Leahy stands up to the villain: "We're not intimidated by you thugs," he declares.

Some might say the line could be just as easily employed in his day job trying to rein in the Bush administration.

And his idolization of the Gotham-protecting super hero has led Leahy to invoke Batman in Senate speeches and chats with constituents. In one report from a couple years ago, witnesses saw Leahy wheeling around outside his Senate office on a toy Batmobile he had bought for his grandson. Leahy joked to staffers he wanted to "ride around zapping it and bad guys and exacting justice."

More on Leahy's fascination with the legend of the Dark Knight can be read at this link.

This video is from YouTube, broadcast July 9, 2008.



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