People who follow the news in a superficial way, though they do care about our country, tend to comdemn politicians and their ethical travails with a wave of the hand and a "
they all do it" harrumph.
Those of us who live and die with the tone-deafness and blind loyalty that our leaders all-too-often display have the knowledge that we really can win on this issue. The facts are clear. Yet we also have the frustration that our leaders could have - and should have - done a much better job of painting this Rubber Stamp Repulican Congress with the Incompetent and Corrupt brush that George W. Bush threatens to wear thin.
CNN has especially been playing up our Democratic ethics failures lately, and there is no doubt that this information seeps into the public's mind. Wolf the Beard has had a field day with
Cynthia McKinney ; and now they are harping on
John Conyers with a several minute report on his babysitter problems. Have they done this much on DeLay and Abramoff lately? Hell no.
And while Nancy Pelosi refuses to deal with our ranking member of the Ethics Committee (who has his own ethics problems. Snap!), another of our esteemed representatives, William J. Jefferson, is still under investigation for his role in a conspiracy and bribery scheme as well as for misusing federal resources in the wake of hurricane Katrina.
There is also no doubt that these stories innoculate the Republicans from the unprecedented and massive set of ethics scandals they are experiencing at the highest levels of our government. But this issue will soon be lost due to our leaders' stubborn incompetence and their desire to protect their colleagues against the righteousness of our long-held ideals. For shame.
Our Democratic elected leaders should denounce unethical behavior by everyone in congress - especially our guys. They should hold our side to a higher standard. And they should never shy from doing the right thing no matter whose party it affects.
For those who follow politics just enough to hear the story outlines, this fact cannot be denied: they do all do it.
It's just as easy to tar both parties as corrupt as CNN so easily shows.
It's just as obvious that Nancy Pelosi should have known what to do in all these circumstances.
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington gets it. Our guys don't.
Nancy Pelosi has failed Political Ethics 101 and blew this issue for our party: we can't take adavantage of the horrible Republican ethics problems in this upcoming election. And the general public will have no choice but to keep repeating that tired old mantra that we will be unable to deny: "they all do it."