If there was any doubt that the Tri-City Herald suffered from delusions of grandeur, ever more noted by their essential silence of Hastings performance not only on the House Ethics Committee, or his rubber stamp complicity for the failed Bush Administration agenda, it is the one line in the their latest release today on Hastings. Not only do the editorial board suffer from this delusional affliction, they must believe it as well.
For months the well earned criticism of Hastings has only appeared in letters to the Tri-City Herald from constituents who were not only concerned about his performance on the committee, but the blind spot in his vision of the Iraq War and this administrations blatant misinformation campaign that led us there, and led us to where we are now. But he has also turned a blind eye to his part in the failures, economically and socially, that affect this nation. The only time we hear the Herald comment on Hastings (in the rare case that they do), is when he is bringing home the pork. So it is that this district has been fed. It has been some good pork and some rank pork, but has generally had little social significance inside or outside of this district. And now the Tri-City Herald is
feeding us this:
WASHINGTON - As chairman of the House Ethics Committee, Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash., now finds himself at the center of the congressional page scandal and allegations that Republican leaders, including House Speaker Dennis Hastert, may have acted improperly in their handling of the case.
After a rough start, Hastings seems to have found his footing as chairman of the Committee on Official Standards.
But Hastings was picked for the post by Hastert and has been a longtime supporter of the speaker.
"It's an extremely difficult task for him," Norm Ornstein, a highly-respected political analyst with the American Enterprise Institute, said of Hastings' role in the looming investigation. "If he doesn't do it the right way it will destroy him."
It is no secret that the Tri-City Herald will likely endorse Richard (Doc?) Hastings. If this is any precursor to that endorsement I can only hope that in some strange way they are right about Hastings doing the right thing. We need that out of him after a long absence of leadership in a role that has failed us all until the final brink we have now where the black stain that is the republican congress has been revealed. That stain is power and the insatiable lust for it above all else. Hastings may be a pawn but fealty will be no defense in the end. It is about his duty to a position that he accepted and thus far he has not only failed to find his footing, he has failed to find a dry spot on the rocks for which to step. His task now is to bring some honor to our district. If he can do that, perhaps he still deserves even the most loyal republican vote. But it is too late for many of us.
Jimmy at McCranium.org