Posted by
flagwaver on Friday, August 31, 2007 10:13:52 AM
Once again we see the GOP doing what it does best, abandoning their own. We have two sterling examples of the Republican compulsion for self immolation in the news right now, with the resignation of Alberto Gonzales and the "scandal" involving Larry Craig.
In the case of Alberto Gonzales, there has been almost a festive mood in some conservative circles over his resignation. The GOP, and some conservatives, always felt that Gonzales was not up to the job and did not do the things that they wanted to see. Many felt that he was too close to President Bush and was**gasp** doing the President's bidding and pursuing the President's agenda for the DoJ. Silly me, I always thought that was part of what any member of the Cabinet was supposed to do, but apparently I was mistaken. Obviously, the members of the Cabinet are supposed to be totally independent of the person who nominated them and are to pursue their own agendas, regardless of the wishes of the White House. We see how well that works at State and the CIA, but I digress.
When Gonzales went before the Congress and stated that he dismissed 8 US Attorneys because of performance, instead of saying that it was for reasons that were political, the Democrats pounced. They started calling for investigations, accusing the President and Attorney general of politicizing the hiring and firing of US Attorneys---even though they are POLITICAL APPOINTEES---and they called for either the firing or resignation of Gonzales. And like night follows day, the GOP jumped right in with them, calling for his head right alongside of Reid and Pelosi. Columnists at Townhall wrote pieces saying everything that the Democrats were saying, only they couched their calls in language that pretended to be about protecting the GOP. And when Gonzales finally resigned, the columns started flowing like water again about how bad Gonzales was, how it was a good thing he was gone, and about how self absorbed he was.
Then came the Larry Craig "scandal" involving his plea to a misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct in Minnesota. According to the cops, Senator Craig was using the supersecret hand and foot signals to show the he was up for some "afternoon delight" in an airport bathroom stall. Apparently, Sen. Craig swiped his hand under a bathroom stall and attempted to play footsie with the cop on potty patrol, which is the supersecret signal that lets all gay men in the area know that you are "open for business", so to speak. This all happened months ago, but very recently made it into the news and you know the reaction. The media and the usual liberal talking heads labeled it a scandal, and for good measure claimed that it was somehow a black mark against the Republican Party.
And as per the usual, the GOP jumped right on the bandwagon. They are calling for ethics investigations into Senator Craig, wanting him to resign from committee appointments, and many are calling for him to resign from the Senate...all for allegedly giving the supersecret hand signals to a cop! He didn't proposition the cop, didn't offer him money, and didn't try to get into his trousers, yet for this the GOP and conservative talking heads are screaming for his head on a platter.
What bothers me about these situations is that the GOP never seems to learn that abandoning their own is never the way to go. The rush to distance themselves from anyone that the Democrats and media do not like is disturbing to me, as it shows that the GOP "leadership", and the conservative talking heads lack cohesion and conviction. The right whines about the left and their attempts to take down any conservative that threatens the liberal's power---and then helps them do it! Republicans are the biggest bunch of idiot cowards that I have seen in awhile; idiots because they never learn, and cowards because they always run from a fight.
They have never figured out that Democrats don't really care what you do, they just want to create a scandal and try to damage the GOP brand. Take Gonzales for example: No matter what he said before Congress they were going to react in the exact same way! If he had said that the President wanted people in the US Attorney's offices whose ideals matched his, the cries would have been the same. The Democrats were going to accuse him of corruption, illegality, or cronyism no matter what he said, and they were going to launch an investigation, no matter what; piling onto the criticism was not going to dissuade them from their course of action. In the case of Craig, kicking him while he's down is not going to separate him from the GOP because the media is not going to allow it to be anything other than a Republican scandal. Yet the GOP piles on, as if there is ever going to be a time when the media does not equate the misdeeds of one Republican with all of them. So in the end, what does abandoning your man in that situation gain you?
The GOP just never seems to learn that there is a time to cut your losses, and a time to circle the wagons. But the GOP never seems to get that message, and its compulsion to give into the demands of media and Democrats continues to rear it's ugly head!