If you're an ex-GOP, like me, you're going to get every word of this:

[dave123williams]

The following is a letter from former Republican Congressman and Presidential candidate Pete McCloskey, posted on Huffpo:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dave-johnson/republican-says-we-need-a_b_26011.html



"I have therefore reluctantly concluded that party loyalty should be set aside, and that it is in the best interests of the nation, and indeed the future of the Republican Party itself, to return control of the House to temporary Democrat control, if only to return the House for a time to the kind of ethics standards practiced by Republicans in former years. I say reluctantly, having no great illusion that Democrats or any other kind of politician will long resist the allure of campaign funds and benefits offered by the richest and most profitable of the Halliburtons, oil companies, tobacco companies, developers and Indian gaming tribes whose contributions so heavily dominate the contributions to Congressmen Pombo and Doolittle.

As an aside, it seems to me that the Abramoff and Cunningham scandals make it timely for the Congress to consider public matching funds for small contributions to congressional candidates, the same type of system we adopted some time ago for presidential elections. It may be cheaper for the taxpayer to fund congressional elections than to bear the cost of lobbyist-controlled legislation like the recent Medicaid/Medicare drug bill.

There is another strong reason, I believe, for Republicans to work this fall for Democrat challengers against the DeLay-type Republicans like Pombo and Doolittle. That is the clear abdication by the House over the past five years of the Congress' constitutional power and duty to exercise oversight over abuses of power, cronyism, incompetence and excessive secrecy on the part of the Executive Branch. When does anyone remember House Committee hearings to examine into the patent failures of the Bush Administration to adhere to laws like the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, or to the arrogant refusal of the President to accept the congressionally-enacted limits on torture of prisoners? When can anyone remember the House's use of the subpoena power to compel answers from Administration officials? Why have there been no oversight hearings into the Cunningham bribery affair or Abramoff's Indian gaming and exploitation of women labor in the Marianas?

When three former congressional staff aides join Abramoff in pleading guilty to attempting to bribe Congressmen, and a fourth takes the 5th Amendment rather than answer Senator McCain's questions about his relationship with Abramoff and Indian gaming, with all five having given substantial campaign contributions to Mr. Pombo, with Indian tribes alone having given more than $500,000 to Pombo, would it not seem reasonable to ask him to conduct an appropriate oversight committee
Hearing into these matters, as long demanded by members of both parties, notably including his neighbor, George Miller?

For all of these reasons, I believe and hope that the Republicans who voted for me on June 6 will vote for Mr. McNerney and against Mr. Pombo in November.

The checks and balances of our Constitution are an essential part of our system of government, as is the public faith that can be obtained only by good ethical conduct on the part of our elected leaders."

[xchrom]

1. i was taliking about pete with a neighbor

in my backyard last night.

i live in the bay area.

[CrispyQ]

2. Outstanding!

:thumbsup:

k&r

[On the Road]

3. I Do Believe He is Not Alone

and the way to increase these defections is to welcome Republicans without compromising principles. To my mind (also ex-GOP), this is what Dean and Gore are doing -- putting forth a strong image in a moderate policy framework that can be supported in all 501 states. Pandering can be smelled a mile away.

[havocmom]

5. Yep. We gotta walk the path we have always walked

and welcome new allies without bitterness or blame.

We CAN take a lot of seats on the Hill if we focus on fixing what is broken and let old partisan blame fall by the wayside. Americans want to hear ideas on how to set a better course. They don't need to be hammered with blame for any support of bushco back when the truth was hard to find.

Glad you ex-GOPers are here with us. We are American... all of us. I welcome the help from what was once called the loyal opposition. We hope for the day political discourse returns to a more civil tone where we attack problems, not each other.

:toast: to working together to save America.

[racaulk]

4. Excellent article and great find!

Thanks for posting this! K&R!!!

[TINAMARY]

6. CA: 46 Republican Pedophiles

Hi, I know this isn't exactly "on topic" however I
felt the need to post this...Tina M.

46 conservative pedophiles
by xray
Thursday Jul 27th, 2006 8:12 AM

    hide your kids...reinvestigate the franklin coverup

http://www.armchairsubversive.com/


46 REPUBLICAN PEDOPHILES


* Republican anti-abortion activist Howard Scott Heldreth is a
convicted child rapist in Florida.


* Republican County Commissioner David Swartz pleaded guilty
to
molesting two girls under the age of 11 and was sentenced to 8
years in
prison.


* Republican judge Mark Pazuhanich pleaded no contest to
fondling a
10-year old girl and was sentenced to 10 years probation.


* Republican anti-abortion activist Nicholas Morency pleaded
guilty
to possessing child pornography on his computer and offering a
bounty to
anybody who murders an abortion doctor.


* Republican legislator Edison Misla Aldarondo was sentenced
to 10
years in prison for raping his daughter between the ages of 9
and 17.


* Republican Mayor Philip Giordano is serving a 37-year
sentence in
federal prison for sexually abusing 8- and 10-year old girls.


* Republican campaign consultant Tom Shortridge was sentenced
to
three years probation for taking nude photographs of a 15-year
old girl.


* Republican racist pedophile and United States Senator Strom
Thurmond had sex with a 15-year old black girl which produced
a child.


* Republican pastor Mike Hintz, whom George W. Bush commended
during the 2004 presidential campaign, surrendered to police
after
admitting to a sexual affair with a female juvenile.


* Republican legislator Peter Dibble pleaded no contest to
having
an inappropriate relationship with a 13-year-old girl.


* Republican activist Lawrence E. King, Jr. organized child
sex
parties at the White House during the 1980s.


* Republican lobbyist Craig J. Spence organized child sex
parties
at the White House during the 1980s.


* Republican Congressman Donald "Buz" Lukens was
found guilty of
having sex with a female minor and sentenced to one month in
jail.


* Republican fundraiser Richard A. Delgaudio was found guilty
of
child porn charges and paying two teenage girls to pose for
sexual photos.


* Republican activist Mark A. Grethen convicted on six counts
of
sex crimes involving children.


* Republican activist Randal David Ankeney pleaded guilty to
attempted sexual assault on a child.


* Republican Congressman Dan Crane had sex with a female minor
working as a congressional page.


* Republican activist and Christian Coalition leader Beverly
Russell admitted to an incestuous relationship with his step
daughter.


* Republican governor Arnold Schwarzenegger allegedly had sex
with
a 16 year old girl when he was 28.


* Republican congressman and anti-gay activist Robert Bauman
was
charged with having sex with a 16-year-old boy he picked up at
a gay bar.


* Republican Committee Chairman Jeffrey Patti was arrested for
distributing a video clip of a 5-year-old girl being raped.


* Republican activist Marty Glickman (a.k.a. "Republican
Marty"),
was taken into custody by Florida police on four counts of
unlawful
sexual activity with an underage girl and one count of
delivering the
drug LSD.


* Republican legislative aide Howard L. Brooks was charged
with
molesting a 12-year old boy and possession of child
pornography.


* Republican Senate candidate John Hathaway was accused of
having
sex with his 12-year old baby sitter and withdrew his
candidacy after
the allegations were reported in the media.


* Republican preacher Stephen White, who demanded a return to
traditional values, was sentenced to jail after offering $20
to a
14-year-old boy for permission to perform oral sex on him.


* Republican talk show host Jon Matthews pleaded guilty to
exposing
his genitals to an 11 year old girl.


* Republican anti-gay activist Earl "Butch"
Kimmerling was
sentenced to 40 years in prison for molesting an 8-year old
girl after
he attempted to stop a gay couple from adopting her.


* Republican Party leader Paul Ingram pleaded guilty to six
counts
of raping his daughters and served 14 years in federal prison.


* Republican election board official Kevin Coan was sentenced
to
two years probation for soliciting sex over the internet from
a 14-year
old girl.


* Republican politician Andrew Buhr was charged with two
counts of
first degree sodomy with a 13-year old boy.


* Republican politician Keith Westmoreland was arrested on
seven
felony counts of lewd and lascivious exhibition to girls under
the age
of 16 (i.e. exposing himself to children).


* Republican anti-abortion activist John Allen Burt was
charged
with sexual misconduct involving a 15-year old girl.


* Republican County Councilman Keola Childs pleaded guilty to
molesting a male child.


* Republican activist John Butler was charged with criminal
sexual
assault on a teenage girl.


* Republican candidate Richard Gardner admitted to molesting
his
two daughters.


* Republican Councilman and former Marine Jack W. Gardner was
convicted of molesting a 13-year old girl.


* Republican County Commissioner Merrill Robert Barter pleaded
guilty to unlawful sexual contact and assault on a teenage
boy.


* Republican City Councilman Fred C. Smeltzer, Jr. pleaded no
contest to raping a 15 year-old girl and served 6-months in
prison.


* Republican activist Parker J. Bena pleaded guilty to
possession
of child pornography on his home computer and was sentenced to
30 months
in federal prison and fined $18,000.


* Republican parole board officer and former Colorado state
representative, Larry Jack Schwarz, was fired after child
pornography
was found in his possession.


* Republican strategist and Citadel Military College graduate
Robin
Vanderwall was convicted in Virginia on five counts of
soliciting sex
from boys and girls over the internet.


* Republican city councilman Mark Harris, who is described as
a
"good military man" and "church goer," was
convicted of repeatedly
having sex with an 11-year-old girl and sentenced to 12 years
in prison.


* Republican businessman Jon Grunseth withdrew his candidacy
for
Minnesota governor after allegations surfaced that he went
swimming in
the nude with four underage girls, including his daughter.


* Republican director of the "Young Republican
Federation" Nicholas
Elizondo molested his 6-year old daughter and was sentenced to
six years
in prison.


* Republican benefactor of conservative Christian groups,
Richard
A. Dasen Sr., was charged with rape for allegedly paying a
15-year old
girl for sex. Dasen, 62, who is married with grown children
and several
grandchildren, has allegedly told police that over the past
decade he
paid more than $1 million to have sex with a large number of
young women

[TheodoreFranklin]

7. Citizen legislators vs Two-party system

I've been reading up on this new party with a unique strategy that's completely focused on winning Congress (No Presidential, etc. candidates). They're called the New Revolution Party.

http://www.americanrevolutionaries.org

[nodular]

8. another former GOP; thanks for the excellent post

Well said.  The two-party system is the key to our democracy. 
When one party goes sour, the nation needs to throw them out.
Lord Acton's quote, while trite by now, is still worth
repeating: "All power corrupts and absolute power
corrupts absolutely."

This great Democratic victory was not achieved by rigid
adherence to the principles of the Left, but rather by a
broadening of the Democratic Party to include centrist
candidates with some conservative views. 

I would encourage all participants in the DU forum to get
involved with the operation of the Democratic Party.  You will
find that doing so will force you to work with people who you
disagree with.  While this seems like a negative thing at
first, it really is not.  

By forcing people of different beliefs to learn to work
together, the two-party system creates a special
"something" that is really important in a
democracy---the ability to form coalitions and work with
people who you disagree with.  In this sense, I feel it is
superior to the European system, where the power controlling
an entire nation can be made up entirely of people who are
each members of their own "boutique party" designed
to fit their own interests.  

While such a membership is comfortable, and is available in
America, it does not lead to power sharing in running the
affairs of the nation.  To really be part of the political
process in a practical and powerful way, Americans must join
the Republican or Democratic party.  For many in both parties,
this represents a significant "compromise" of their
ideals.  Such compromise however, is a vitally important part
of people living together in a democracy. 

[BorisTheBlade]

9. Hmm

Intersting

[Perry Logan]

10. The poor sap!

The poor sap says "Democrat Party"!