And Now for the Other Side of the Fence
Let me be an equal-opportunity offender here: the Republican party ain’t no picnic these days either. This whole Mark Foley seedy affair is just sickening. I don’t know if Hastert ought to step down over this or not, because I don’t know what he knew when he knew it (the emails were a bit questionable, but in this day and age, maybe not enough to jump to conclusions). With the revelation of the Instant Messages that this creep sent, there’s no doubt that he’s a pretty despicable dude. Just what the Republicans need at this time, huh? But if they get run out of Washington on a rail in a few weeks, they’ve got nobody to blame but themselves, really, because they really haven’t demonstrated much to get excited about as the majority party in D.C.
It is interesting, though, that there clearly exists a different standard to which the parties are held. People expect Republicans to behave better than Democrats, don’t they? Barney Frank runs a brothel from his Washington apartment, and he’s an upstanding member of the Dem establishment. Gerry Studds confesses to having sex with a 17-year-old, and after he gets his censure, he gets three standing ovations from his Dem colleagues. Mel Reynolds goes to prison for statutory rape, but gets a pardon from the First Felon. By contrast, Mark Foley resigns when these sick things become public, and D.C. is in an uproar. Why? Because we don’t expect Democrats to be good, but we sure as heck expect Republicans to…
This phrase comes from the 1978 "Jonestown massacre" in which most members of the Peoples Temple cult, blindly following their leader Jim Jones, committed suicide by drinking cyanide-laced Kool-Aid.
Osborne: A Contrarian's Guide to Knowing God
Schlossberg: Idols For Destruction
5 Responses to “And Now for the Other Side of the Fence”
This post was supposedly you being equal in pointing out the flaws of the Republicans as well as Democrats? I don’t see it – the whole thing turned into a pretty obvious attack on the Democrats.
I don’t consider myself part of either of those parties, so I can’t truly speak for either party. But it seems pretty obvious that if the Republicans were being held to a higher moral/ethical standard it probably has everything to do with how they’ve been patting themselves on the back and touting themselves as being the party of God for a while now – and how several evangelical leaders in this country have been doing so, as well. I think you would agree that Christians are held to a higher standard and if the Republicans keep wanting to establish themselves as the supposed “Christian party”, then I guess this shouldn’t be a shocker.
gurufrisbee ~ Oct 4, 2006 at 2:18 pm
Well, it WAS a bit of a dual-purpose post, I guess…
And yeah, I think you’re right in that analysis.
Byron ~ Oct 4, 2006 at 4:12 pm
I have just been reading “Great Parliamentary Scandals” by Matthew Parris (himself a former MP). He points out that politics attracts people who are natural risk-takers (the House of Representatives must be an extreme example of this- who really wants a sort of job where every 2 years you run the risk of publicly lose your job? Only a risk-taker. Other people like job security.)
“The secrecy and danger are not a regrettable side-effect of the folly: they are the reason for the folly. They are the spice, the drug. That the visible part of a man’s life looks respectable and safe should be no cause for surprise that in the shadows between the real and the imagined he has sought for himself a perilous life. Crushed by decency, he embraces hazard as a means of escape.”
Mr Parris deals with the high number of sex and financial scandals involving Conservative politicians in the time that Sir John Major was Prime Minister and Conservative leader in the 1990s, but makes the valid point that these were just footling round the edges really- minor politicians who no-one but political anoraks would have heard of getting their 15 minutes of fame, rather than any consistent party pattern (there was no sign of political corruption at the top of the Government). But the mud sticks, and the electoral system really exaggerates swings- a small drop in votes across a few seats can have a drastic effect. A handful of Republican voters in marginals stay at home in protest and the Democrats have the House of Representatives.
A few small decisions lead to big outcomes. A few voters can alter the whole composition of a legislative body.
Graham ~ Oct 5, 2006 at 3:36 pm
Leonard Pitts had a great column about this issue in yesterday’s paper. I’ve got it linked on our blog, if you want.
gurufrisbee ~ Oct 9, 2006 at 10:16 am
Pretty good article; Pitts is right, I think, for the most part, and the Republicans have just about used up most of their claim to moral superiority, at least on a personal, behavioral level.
Byron ~ Oct 9, 2006 at 11:49 am