Why do Dem cabinet nominees have to withdraw for tax problems, but Repub WAR CRIMINALS sailed thru?

[yurbud]

I am no fan of Tom Daschle, and I hope the door hits his corporate boot lick ass on the way out. Given his health insurance industry ties, his version of health care reform would have had us paying MORE to the same fucking leeches instead of getting single payer.

That said, why is it Democratic nominees can get knocked out for things like taxes or illegal nannies, but Republicans can put up known war criminals like Alberto Gonzalez who worked on the torture memos or Condi, who by the time of her Secretary of State nomination was known to have lied to us about the threat from Iraq? Or Mukasey who waffled on what torture was and whether he would enforce congressional subpoenas and on and on.

When it came time for Supreme Court nominees, Alito didn't even bother to pretend he believed in checks and balances (a position that probably changed once we got a Democratic president) and Democrats in Congress didn't clamor for his nomination to be withdrawn and only opposed his confirmation in the face of overwhelming public protest.

The same is true about sexual scandal. Clinton gets impeached for adultery and Spitzer had to resign for seeing a hooker, but GOP senators can get caught and even convicted for picking up hookers or soliciting sex in a rest room and continue to serve.

It would be fine if Democrats said they wanted a higher standard for their pols, but why give the GOP a pass?

[Captain Hilts]

1. It's not the elephants that get you,it's the fleas. nt

[firedupdem]

2. republicans, their constituents, and the media rally around those

criminals. Democrats are burned at the stake.

[book_worm]

3. because in the case of people like Ashcroft Sen Feingold said, "a president is entitled to

have the cabinet of his choice." Dems don't fight the way the GOP does.

[yurbud]

6. or you could just stop at "don't fight." they pre-compromise no matter how weak opposition is

[eShirl]

4. because nobody is shocked when a republican is sleazy, incompetent, criminal, etc

[Democrats_win]

5. Don't forget the Iran-Contra criminals that were shoved down our throats.

There were some pretty bad people that bushco hired. I really hope that these people get it in the end. Literally and figuratively.

[ORDagnabbit]

7. because the dems have no spine

[bluestateguy]

8. Daschle had the votes to be confirmed

But it would not have been pretty. His withdrawl ensures that it's a one day story now.

We don't have time for this.

Remember, No Drama Obama.

[Peace Patriot]

9. I don't know. Maybe because the Pukes have better NSA spying material?

That, and control of the corpo/fascist 'news' monopolies, leaves us with a national political ethic as follows:

Consensual adult sex merits impeachment. Slaughtering one million innocent people to get their oil does not.

Consensual adult sex receives months and months and months of headline 'news' coverage, and tens of millions of dollars in investigation expenses, charged to US taxpayers, and slaughtering one million innocent people to get their oil--at a cost of a trillion dollars (and counting)--is raucously cheered on, by the corpo/fascist 'news,' is never presented in its bloody and godawful reality, and is quickly forgotten.

If you accept this mind-boggling distortion of events as who were are, and what we value, you could completely despair of our country and our people. Fortunately, it is more a matter of the ethic that war profiteers want to shove down our throats, and demoralize us with, than it is a real picture of us.

We have much work to do, to restore our democracy, and reality itself. I tend to think we need to start with restoring transparent vote counting, but restoring the Fairness Doctrine--if possible, in the absence of transparent vote counting (which will be pretty hard)--is my priority no. 2.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

10. The GOPer leading the fight against every Obama nominee was caught with prostitutes

And yet they hold their heads up high.

[yurbud]

11. which one is that? Where is Larry Flynt when we need him?

[SemiCharmedQuark]

12. Vitter.

[yurbud]

14. doesn't that hooker have a picture of him in his diaper?

[KakistocracyHater]

13. Savage tribalism, the Right is always right

no matter their actions, the Left is always wrong, no matter their actions. The Victorian opinion was that this very inability to see any wrong-doing by a fellow tribe-member was proof enough to strip "the more savage races" of adult self-sovereignity. Can I finally apply this to them now?

[bigwillq]

15. Because the other side let them.

Look how big of a stink the GOP made out of Daschle.

Imagine if we did the same for some of their crimes.....

[elizfeelinggreat]

16. I would be happy

if your "subject" question were just asked for ONE DAY on MSM.