Defending Corruption
Bill Frist and Dennis Hastert are angry that the F.B.I. raided the office of Democratic Congressman William Jefferson. While I applaud a firm stand for the principles of Seperation of Powers, I can`t help but roll my eyes at this; if anything proves that the Republicans in Congress have become Establishment Men, and have lost whatever core principles of decency and integrity they once had, it is this. (I might add, it also makes them look guilty of the corruption of which the Democrats accuse them.)
I`m sorry, but if any member of Congress is taking bribes, the F.B.I. should act. Democrats have long held the title ``party of the corrupt``, and ``comity`` should not stand in the way of investigating any legitimate lawbreaking. I suppose that Frist and Hastert fear the politicization of such investigations, and they are afraid of being painted as hypocrites if they don`t come out here when they have been blasting probes against Delay and Scooter Libby. Unfortunately, this makes them look worse, in my view, since the F.B.I. had solid reasons to believe Jefferson was taking bribes, and had found the bribe money on ice (literally). This is a very different thing than what Delay is accused of; there is no political element to this, and there are no fine legal distinctions involved. If the Republicans want to disprove the allegation that they are corrupt, they should have the good sense to get on board with any reasonable law enforcement effort. As things stand, this makes it appear the Republicans have something to hide.
These Republicans in Congress are as bad at politics as the President; they have become completely disconnected from the American People. They have held their majority (and may continue to hold it) but by the grace of God, since their opponents are in even worse shape. That situation will not last forever, and the Republicans are going to return to minority status sooner rather than later. The Party needs to return to it`s Reaganite roots. The Republicans were the blue blood party, the party of the business elite through most of the Twentieth Century. Ronald Reagan changed that, and the Republicans came in from a 40 year rainstorm to actually accomplish things. They became more than just ``the loyal opposition``. Despite George H.W. Bush`s best efforts to restore the old world order, Newt Gingrich engineered the Republican take-over of Congress on conservative, Reaganite principles. George W. Bush, the blackberry which has proven to have fallen not far from the shrub, has led a successful counter-revolution, and the Reagan wing of the Republicans have found themselves suppressed by the revenge of Gerald Ford.
Moderation was not a winning strategy, and will not be a winning strategy in the future. Nobody has ever charged a hill in politics or war shouting ``co-dependency, comity, and compromise!`` No-one has any enthusiasm for a policy of ``new tone`` where your enemies exhaust themselves punching you in the face. Nobody respects you when you defend corruption in your enemies to avoid looking hypocritical.
Our party has lost any sense of direction.
By the by, I received a survey from the Republican National Committee and Libby Dole (who exemplifies what is wrong with the Party) which amazed me; it was, of course, a thinly veiled attempt to get me to donate money, and it spoke of advancing conservative principles, invoked the name of Reagan, and generally touted the evils of the Democrats. Fine and dandy (although it`s ridiculous to hear Mrs. Dole touting Reaganism). The shocking part was that, when asking for money, they offered one of three options-1.I want to help fight tyrrany and am advancing X amount 2.No, I do not want to fight tyrrany but am still advancing x amount, and 3. I am not participating in the survey, do not want to help in any way, and will send $11 to pay for processing my survey, even though I didn`t fill it out! I understand that the whole point of the survey was to raise funds, but come on! This type of thing may work for flim-flam artists, but what message does it send to people? It suggests to me that their only interest is in collecting whatever money they can. Who is running this medicine show, anyway? (I sent in the survey without sending a donation, and gave them an earful.)
The Republicans had better wake up, and soon, or they will find themselves in the ashbin of history.
I`m sorry, but if any member of Congress is taking bribes, the F.B.I. should act. Democrats have long held the title ``party of the corrupt``, and ``comity`` should not stand in the way of investigating any legitimate lawbreaking. I suppose that Frist and Hastert fear the politicization of such investigations, and they are afraid of being painted as hypocrites if they don`t come out here when they have been blasting probes against Delay and Scooter Libby. Unfortunately, this makes them look worse, in my view, since the F.B.I. had solid reasons to believe Jefferson was taking bribes, and had found the bribe money on ice (literally). This is a very different thing than what Delay is accused of; there is no political element to this, and there are no fine legal distinctions involved. If the Republicans want to disprove the allegation that they are corrupt, they should have the good sense to get on board with any reasonable law enforcement effort. As things stand, this makes it appear the Republicans have something to hide.
These Republicans in Congress are as bad at politics as the President; they have become completely disconnected from the American People. They have held their majority (and may continue to hold it) but by the grace of God, since their opponents are in even worse shape. That situation will not last forever, and the Republicans are going to return to minority status sooner rather than later. The Party needs to return to it`s Reaganite roots. The Republicans were the blue blood party, the party of the business elite through most of the Twentieth Century. Ronald Reagan changed that, and the Republicans came in from a 40 year rainstorm to actually accomplish things. They became more than just ``the loyal opposition``. Despite George H.W. Bush`s best efforts to restore the old world order, Newt Gingrich engineered the Republican take-over of Congress on conservative, Reaganite principles. George W. Bush, the blackberry which has proven to have fallen not far from the shrub, has led a successful counter-revolution, and the Reagan wing of the Republicans have found themselves suppressed by the revenge of Gerald Ford.
Moderation was not a winning strategy, and will not be a winning strategy in the future. Nobody has ever charged a hill in politics or war shouting ``co-dependency, comity, and compromise!`` No-one has any enthusiasm for a policy of ``new tone`` where your enemies exhaust themselves punching you in the face. Nobody respects you when you defend corruption in your enemies to avoid looking hypocritical.
Our party has lost any sense of direction.
By the by, I received a survey from the Republican National Committee and Libby Dole (who exemplifies what is wrong with the Party) which amazed me; it was, of course, a thinly veiled attempt to get me to donate money, and it spoke of advancing conservative principles, invoked the name of Reagan, and generally touted the evils of the Democrats. Fine and dandy (although it`s ridiculous to hear Mrs. Dole touting Reaganism). The shocking part was that, when asking for money, they offered one of three options-1.I want to help fight tyrrany and am advancing X amount 2.No, I do not want to fight tyrrany but am still advancing x amount, and 3. I am not participating in the survey, do not want to help in any way, and will send $11 to pay for processing my survey, even though I didn`t fill it out! I understand that the whole point of the survey was to raise funds, but come on! This type of thing may work for flim-flam artists, but what message does it send to people? It suggests to me that their only interest is in collecting whatever money they can. Who is running this medicine show, anyway? (I sent in the survey without sending a donation, and gave them an earful.)
The Republicans had better wake up, and soon, or they will find themselves in the ashbin of history.
posted by Timothy Birdnow | 5:09 AM
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