Dark Star

OpenLeft is typically a well thought out blog from a Liberal. But this:

Note to anyone who espouses the ridiculous idea that "both extremes are the same" in any form: What did the Republican base do when their Majority leader was actually indicted for multiple felonies? What did they do when their Speaker was found covering up for a Republican known to make advances on teenage boys? What did they do when their President's rationale for war proved untrue, then proved to have been known to be untrue? They stood by them. Tooth and nail. Clearly there are some core principles at stake on the left, lines people will not cross even for people they really like.

The first reference is to Tom Delay. From Wikipedia:

In 2005, a Texas grand jury indicted DeLay on criminal charges that he had conspired to violate campaign finance laws during that period. DeLay denied the charges and pled not guilty, saying they were politically motivated and the law he was indicted under did not apply until later, but Republican Conference rules forced him to resign temporarily from his position as Majority Leader. In January 2006, under pressure from fellow Republicans, DeLay announced that he would not seek to return to the position. In the months before and after this decision, two of his former aides were convicted in the Jack Abramoff scandal. DeLay ran for re-election in 2006, and won the Republican primary election in March 2006, but, citing the possibility of losing the general election, he announced in April 2006 that he would withdraw from the race and resign his seat in Congress. He resigned on June 9, 2006, and sought to remove his name from the ballot. The court battle that followed forced him to remain on the ballot, despite having withdrawn from the race.

The second reference is to Denny Hastert, "covering up," for Mark Foley. I don't accept the premise that Hastert covered anything up. But the press did, and many Conservatives were ready to throw him overboard. From the Boston Globe:

WASHINGTON -- House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert , who has held together a fractured Republican caucus through one of the rockiest congressional sessions in memory, is now facing the most serious challenge to his leadership in nearly eight years as speaker, with a growing chorus of conservatives expressing outrage that he didn't act faster to address a scandal involving congressional pages.

Yesterday, The Washington Times -- often an important barometer of conservative opinion -- bluntly called on Hastert to resign his leadership post, saying he has ``forfeited the confidence of the public and his party" because of his response to the scandal involving Representative Mark Foley. Other prominent conservatives, expressing outrage that Hastert was slow to act to protect minors who work for Congress, have also said that the Illinois Republican should step down as speaker.

The third. Oh, the third. Where was it EVER proved that the Bush Administartion knew that Saddam didn't have weapons of mass destruction? No, I'm sorry.

Anyway, what about, say, Trent Lott? Made a simple statement at Strom Thurmond's 100th birthday to make the old man feel good, and suddenly Lott is a segregationist? Republicans threw him overboard.

And what about Foley? Yeah, we threw him overboard, too.

But Dems? What about Ted Kennedy? Pick your scandal, but let's start with Mary Joe.

What about Barney Frank?

What about Bill Clinton?

The list goes on.

Give me a break.
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