Today at work I saw the breaking news headline splashed across the top of the CNN.com website. "Sen. Larry Craig is stepping down from his committee assignments amid calls for his resignation from the Senate." I started frothing at the mouth in annoyance because I assumed that the partisan environment in Washington was driving these calls for Craig's head.
"How dare those Democrats who excused Bill Clinton's behavior peep a word about Senator Craig?"
I clicked on the first story, and to my immense relief, found that it was Republican senators--not Democrats as I initially assumed--calling Craig on the carpet. There is nothing in politics that bugs me more than excusing your own team's failings while condemning the same failings in your opponents. What a relief to see, at least in this instance, a departure from the usual partisan blinders.
Note: I don't know anything about Sen. Craig. I am making no defense of him here.
Smart Aleck Aside: I'll be waiting for those on the social left to be coming to Craig's defense with demands for tolerance of his alternative lifestyle. After all, who are the rest of us to tell a man it is wrong to cheat on his wife?
5 comments:
It's not the lifestyle, it's the hypocrisy.
I disagree that for liberals its the hypocrisy. It's just any way to get a conservative out of office. Yes Bill Clinton should have been gone, and yes Larry Craig should be gone, but only one went.
It is the principle of the thing, and I'm glad the Republicans are asking for Craig to step down. If only liberals could practice the same integrity.
The hypocrisy charges come from Republican calls for Sen. Craig's resignation but not for Sen. Vitter's.
I'm not 100% sure I agree with that, Cameron. Sen. Vitter's disgrace stems from an incident prior to his taking office.
I'm not saying that it's fine and dandy that he played around before becoming a senator, I'm just saying that there isn't necessarily a one-to-one correlation between the two situations.
I forgot to add--I think Sen. Vitter SHOULD resign. I'm just don't think the situations are enough the same to justify a charge of hypocrisy.
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