The Right State

Are there double standards when it comes to corruption?  When a Republican is charged with any kind of corruption scandal, heads roll.  When Trent Lott made what some would perceive as inappropriate comments at Strom Thurman’s birthday party, the Republicans, not the Democrats, called for his head.  Mark Foley resigned rather than face humiliation in the race for his seat in the House of Representatives when his IMs with a Congressional page came to light.

Democrats on the other hand elect and promote their criminals.  Let’s look at some of these monuments to ethical behavior.  Harry Reid has had many ethical problems including boxing.  Now word that he was actually tied to the Abramoff scandal in spite of his claims to the contrary.  Recently, Reid was rewarded with the coveted position of Majority Leader of the Senate.  John Murtha was tied to the Abscam scandal, but he was tapped by future Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to become the Majority Leader in the House.  Florida Rep. Alcee Hastings name has been floated out for the chair of the House Intelligence Committee.  This is a guy who was accused of accepting a bribe and was then impeached by the House and convicted in the Senate for accepting a $150,000 bribe.  Hillary Clinton is as sneaky as they come.  She and Bill stole thousands of dollars of furniture and other artifacts from the White House, sold pardons, and was involved in a large number of ‘Clinton-gates.’  Instead of being pilloried as she should have been, Hillary was rewarded with the Senate seat of New York and has presidential aspirations.  Patrick Kennedy is stopped while drunk at two o’clock in the morning and gets off the charge.  Cynthia McKinney hits a capitol hill Police officer and gets by with it suffering defeat only when Republicans voted for her opponent in the Democratic primary.  Ted Kennedy kills a woman in a driving accident and reports it several hours later and is rewarded with reelection time after time.  Gerry Studs does not engage in inappropriate instant messages with a minor, but actually has sex with a minor and is rewarded by Congress and his constituents time after time.

And now just because Nancy Pelosi says she and her fellow Democrats are going to run the most ethical Congress ever, I am supposed to be impressed?  One of the Democrats’ vague ‘platforms’ for this last election was ethical behavior.  It reminds me of a President who stated they were going to have one of the most ethical administrations in history, Bill Clinton, and we all know how that turned out.  So pardon me if I do not believe the Democrats.  Their own history proves they do not understand or condone ethical behavior.

And this brings me back to my original point: why are there double standards when it comes to corruption?  Perhaps the answer lies in the perspective.  Republicans expect their politicians to be principled, to meet certain standards of ethical conduct.  When the politicians do not meet these expectations, they are expected to resign.  Republicans expect moral behavior.

Many Democrats I know do not expect ethical behavior from their politicians.  They expect their representatives to lie, cheat, steal, or takes bribes while in office under the guise of ‘everyone does it.’  The Democratic Party gave Bill Clinton a knowing wink when he admitted having sexual relations with Monica Lewinsky.  ‘It was a private matter between two consenting adults.’  Now, where have I heard that comment before?  Oh, yeah, Gerry Studs.  Republicans and Democrats do not expect the same things from their politicians.

George C. Landrith writing for OpinionEditorials.com suggests we can expect more of the same from the Democrats.

Since winning slim majorities in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, House Speaker-designate Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and soon-to-be Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) have promised bipartisanship, cooperation, and a new level of honesty and integrity in Washington. Nancy Pelosi said, “Democrats pledge to make this the most honest, ethical, and open Congress in history.”

This is not the first time Americans have heard such promises. Immediately after his inauguration on Jan. 20, 1993, Bill Clinton promised that his presidency would be “the most ethical administration in American history.” With the benefit of hindsight and having witnessed scores of indictments, convictions and plea deals, that proclamation of new high ethical standards now seems laughable. So the question is – will current Democrats be able to deliver on their promises of honesty, integrity and bipartisanship any better than past Democrats?

If past performance is any indicator, and it usually is, the answer is unfortunately no. Immediately following the election – when the Democratic leaders were promising ethics, cooperation and bipartisanship – their actual behavior gives little evidence that they meant anything that they said.

So if the Democrats are not believable and we do not expect them to run an ethically minded Congress, then what can we expect—more of the same.

There actually is double standards when it comes to the ethical conduct of the two political parties.  It is not right, but the fact remains that Democrats do not hold their representatives to the same standard as Republicans.  I forgive them for their failures.  Democrats are just more ethically challenged than Republicans.

Tags: Corruption, Democrats, Politics //