Disconnect

There is a real disconnect between politicians and the people and it’s illustrated fairly well by this post on Kos. I’m not normally one to give kudos to Kos or his minions, but they actually got this one right – sort of.

Send [Rep. William Jefferson] (and all Democrats) a message – if you wilfully [sic] corrupt our democracy, the Democratic party wants you out of Congress. Men and women like you cannot be a representative of the Democratic party.

The sort of is due to their unerring ability to go way too far.

p.s. Whatever you do, don’t act like a Republican.

The article referenced has nothing to do with “Republicans”, and in fact, points the finger at both parties.

Democrat and Republican members have united in a spirit of bipartisanship to defend the Constitution… [I]t’s a little easier to understand the sudden comity between the parties: they have a vested interest in making sure the Jefferson raid — which was the first ever FBI raid of Congressional offices, many members quickly pointed out — is the only such raid of Congressional offices. If they aren’t protecting their own skin, then they’re protecting their parties’ health, which take a hit every time Justice treats one of their members like a criminal.

I’ll ignore the temptation to wax on about the tendency of the left to over reach, and comment on the bigger issue. They’re right. Political parties would be much stronger if, rather than defending people caught exploring the gray area of the law, or outright breaking it, we would enforce a zero-tolerance policy with shady acts conducted by our representatives.

As a realist, I know that’s not likely to happen. As an idealist, that bums me out.

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