Republican Senators Have no Spine.

Watching the spectacle of milquetoast Republican senators like Voinovich ineffectively dithering, cowering, quailing and quaking, in the face of the partisan rantings of ideologue Democratic senators like senator Biden reminds me of why Republicans are never likely to get anything accomplished in this term, or ever. These guys have no guts. They allow themselves to be swayed by these Democrat lawyers. They turn into Jell-O and melt down in the face of any attack by the opposition. And they are the majority!? They simply don’t how to be the majority and they cede all power to the Democrats as soon as things heat up to any degree at all. They have no courage, they have no pluck, they have no self-respect. What good are they?

You must ask yourself, why? The answer: no consequences. Voinovich, Snowe, Chafee, Hagel, and McCain repeatedly defect, chicken out, run for the hills, and otherwise fail to support the party that elected them to their precious senatorial seats and they do it because they can get away with it!! Every time!! As a party, Republicans are very poor enforcers. They don’t punish these mavericks at all. McCain stabs the president in the back on Meet the Press, --no problem, no repercussions. He still is treated like royalty by the very Republicans he betrays. This happens over and over again. It’s very frustrating!

Another factor: These wavering Republicans seem to have an insatiable desire to be liked, --by their Democrat colleagues, by the leftist press, by all the inside-Washington swells. They measure their self esteem by which "A" list soirees they are invited to. They don’t seem to understand that all of these Democrats and “beautiful people” don’t really like them! They are just stringing them along as “useful idiots.” As long as they play ball with the Democrats, the Dems will pretend to like them. So they cozy up to the Democrats, and vote with them, and against their own party, again and again. Yet inexplicably the Republican leadership continues to welcome them back to the fold time after time after time.

Contrast that with how the Democrats treated retiring senator Zell Miller when his conscience wouldn't allow him to remain silent about the leftist capture of the Democratic party. As soon as he let it be known that he was going off the reservation, he was shunned, cut out, excluded, ridiculed, and written off by the Democrats. Now any Democratic senator who may want to vote against his party is afraid to do so because they don’t want similar treatment as Miller. The Democrats always vote in lock-step. Republicans, on the other hand, are always all-too-willing to side with the democrats and their leadership is all-too-willing to forgive and forget. No outrage is too great to be ignored. They let bygones be bygones. While they may win the “nice guy of the year" award, this benign attitude towards Republicans who stray will not allow them to win any political battles. The Democrats will eat their lunch. The American people elected these Republicans to get things done. If they continue to be conciliatory to a fault, they deserve to be turned out, --quick! They need to be fearless in their efforts.

We can’t stand any more do-nothing congresses; no matter how well they get along with the Democrats.

The Heights of Hypocrisy

The Democrats have descended to a new low, even for them, in their witch hunt against Tom DeLay. They accuse him of "ethical" impropriety for doing the same thing they have been doing for years. Harry Reid is one of the worst abusers in the practice of feathering his own nest (registration required) and that of his family members by using his influence as a powerful politician to place his sons in cushy jobs. There are dozens of other Democrats who are doing the same thing,– while at the same time wagging their finger at Tom DeLay. Why? They have no shame that’s why! It has become increasingly clear that they, with the cover provided by a compliant leftist press, can make any charge and smear anybody they get in their sights and seemingly suffer no consequences for their words and actions. At least that’s the way it used to be. Maybe things are starting to change with the advent of the blogger’s army.

Is favoring your family members by getting them into jobs an unseemly thing to do? Yes, without question. Is it a widespread practice among politicians? Of course, and it has been for a very long time. But the fact remains that it is much more common on the part of the Democrats than the Republicans. The fact that the mainstream media has been forced to point that fact out is a very important portrayal of the new power of the bloggoshpere.

Why the hypocrisy? The Democrats are shamelessly trying to bring down DeLay because he is a powerful and effective opponent. It’s dirty politics at its worst and Democrats are very good at dirty politics. Fair-minded Americans need to shed the light of day on this tawdry smearing at every opportunity. Now that the Democrats don’t have a strangle hold on all press outlets, the truth has at least a chance of getting out.

Tom DeLay is not as pure as the driven snow when it comes to using his influence to help family members. But he is a piker when compared to many to those who are accusing him the most vociferously. We can’t let them get away with it.