Posted by
flagwaver on Thursday, October 05, 2006 8:57:22 PM
Readers of Brian R's blog will recognize the title from one of his earlier posts, and it seemed to capture what I'm writing about so perfectly that he allowed me to use it. Thanks for loaning me your title Brian, and I hope to do it proud ;D
This may seem to my regular readers as ground once covered, and in a way it is. But as long as Republicans continue to act this way it will remain ground that has to be plowed repeatedly.
For the life of me, I cannot understand the Republican compulsion to throw each other under the bus whenever a political problem arises. This time it is Speaker Denny Hastert that the conservative pundits are all getting the long knives out for. They are just like the lyrics to that old song, "They smile in your face, and all the time they're trying to take your place...backstabbers!" Many conservative commentators are actively patting Hastert on the back with one hand, and using the other to push him out the door of the House.
But what purpose would slitting Denny Hastert's throat do the GOP? In the wake of the Mark Foley scandal, the last thing the GOP needs is more upheaval; yet many prominent conservative voices, some here at the 'Hall, are willing to see just that happen. Heck, they even say that it is necessary for the GOP to force Denny from the Speaker's chair to reclaim our allegedly lost credibility.
People, tell me how forcing Denny Hastert out at this point, before we even know what actually transpired will make the GOP look like it is unified going into the midterm elections? How is the GOP going to convince the conservative base that they are strong leaders, if at the first sign of trouble they sacrifice their fellows to the twin gods of media outrage and Democrat dirty tricks? Do these people not understand that this is the political equivalent of cut-and-run?
And some of the criticism of Denny Hastert has been, in my view, unfair. I have read all about his 'failure' to corral Foley, his alleged negligence in that matter, and now he is being derided for not being a strong conservative leader and not being a strong majority leader in the House. I say that those charges are poppycock!
Some are even criticizing him for not being the leader the Party needs, and that's really where I think the haters need to climb off the man's back! When did it become the role of the Speaker to be the leader of the entire party? I thought that was the position that the President assumed politically; it has been for as long as I can remember!
See, now that the Foley scandal has erupted, Denny Hastert is the person that everyone, right and left seemingly, has designated as the fall guy. The one's on the left want to add a trophy above their mantle heading into the elections, and the one's on the right want to pin all the GOP failures on somebody so that they can all claim they did their best in this past session.
But you see, if anyone is to blame for GOP Congressional failures in this term, it cannot be Denny Hastert. It was the House that passed the immigration bill that the country was demanding, it was the House that has supported the President staunchly in the war effort, and it was the House that showed the greatest amount of support in the war on terror. It was Hastert that was able to keep the party unified in the House, while the Senate Republicans were seemingly going in a million different directions, and pursuing a million separate agendas.
Sadly though, the GOP seems determined to put the millstone around the neck of one of their own, and cast him into the roiling sea. And they do this without realizing that their constant scuttling of their mates hangs like an albatross around their own necks.
How is the country supposed to believe that the GOP is going to really fight to win the war we are fighting now, when they won't even fight their political enemies to protect one of their own? It seems that when it comes to electoral politics, the GOP is the party of cut-and-run.
I guess Brian said it best..."They eat their young."