Burnt Orange Report

Breaking the ethics truce

By Jim Dallas

Let me chime in agreeing completely with Greg and the editors of the New Republic: it's time to go on the attack on ethics, even if it exposes a few of our naughty incumbents, too:

The same status quo that guarantees Pelosi and Menendez their leadership positions effectively consigns House Democrats to minority status. In their defense, some Democrats have rejected this dubious bargain. Much of the credit for DeLay's current political trouble goes to a former Democratic representative named Chris Bell, who last year filed the complaint that led to DeLay's official admonishment. House Democratic campaign Chairman Rahm Emanuel has reportedly told colleagues he plans "to go after every ethically challenged Republican out there." But, far more often, rank-and-file Democrats have confused the party's interests with the interests of its leaders, a confusion that Republicans have mercilessly exploited.

At the height of the furor over DeLay this spring, an anonymous Republican aide told Roll Call that, "in the end, we're the most affected by [the ethical cloud over Congress]. ... We are in the majority, and we have a hell of a lot more to lose than they do." How many more years in the minority will it take before Democrats reach the same conclusion?

Don't ever believe politicians are perfect (though I agree with the gist of Greg's post - Chris Bell is clearly worthy of your vote!). We elect politicians to make decisions for us, and sometimes they make the wrong ones. I hate to break it to you, but please don't believe that a few elections are going to end poverty, keep girls from getting the cooties, stop the military from accidentally blowing up a few thousand foreigners (along with some of our own troops) every so often, or bring peace and social harmony to the earth. Because they're just as dumb as the rest of us.

But do, for goodness sakes, expect that your elected officials are spending their time in office looking out for you (regardless of whether they are right or wrong), rather than for themselves and their associates. This is a principle worth fighting for, even if it means losing a few Democratic reps to friendly fire.