Some Sense in the Democratic Party - But Do They Have a Spine?

Today, Rep. Nancy Pelosi told Rep. Alcee Hastings that he was not going to sit as Chair of the House of Representative's Intelligence Committee. The meeting took, according to published reports, an hour and twenty minutes.

No-one can seriously argue that Hastings was a non-starter for a leadership position. While he may be an outstanding Congressman (I don’t know), he was only the THIRD sitting judge in the history of this country to be impeached. The charges against him were despicable and were proved true. He thinks that he gets a free ride after that? He is damaged goods ethically and thank GOD that Pelosi got him out of the running. There are bigger issues here than the satisfaction of the Congressional Black Caucus. “Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely.” - Von Clausewitz

The Democrats need to stand up and say what they are going to do generally for the good of our country. This transcends party, power or pettifoggery. We have seen what shape the country is in as the result of an all-too-willing Democratic Party just going along for the ride in an attempt to hang onto whatever power their Republican masters would leave them as a token to pretend there was an opposition country. The US is an embarrassment domestically and internationally. Can you imagine us trying to fight WWII all over again? Sprechen sie Deutsch? We’d all be fluent in German if we had then what we have now. 47 million people without health insurance? A Crime. Elderly people eating dog food because it’s that or medicine. A middle class in a race to the bottom, while the upper 1% coasts home with more tax breaks. A war in which our poorest, neediest are cannon fodder for power-mad politicians in debt to the corporations that paid their way to office and who keep them there in fine style. We have the best Congress that money can buy. And our immoral, state-of-denial President, too. If the Democrats don’t change course, and quick, by starting to look at fundamental issues outside of their own narrow interests, they will be out just as quickly as they were put in. It’s time for the reincarnation of FDR and Henry Wallace. If they’re not available, maybe Borat’s not busy for the next few years. Any questions?

And now the epilogue:

The incoming speaker announced that neither her apparent nemesis, Rep. Jane Harman, who would have been next in line for the prestigious post, was not going to get the position either. But it was Hastings who had the last word: he took a shot at conservatives and media voices who have come out strongly against his appointment. "Sorry, haters, God is not finished with me yet," he wrote. Clearly Rep. Hastings' world-view has become warped. Does it not occur to him that in addition to purely political reasons that the voters of this country would not want an impeached judge to head the House Intelligence Committee? The midterm elections were a clear signal (finally) that enough corruption on the Hill was enough. Too many Congressmen in jail or under indictment. Elected officials bought and paid for. Apparently this phenomenon eluded the sharp mind of Rep. Hastings. What he misses is that corruption knows no color. And the allure of power does not either.


— Posted by Randy