A Scandal-Weary Party
Would Tolerate No
Delay From Craig
Would Tolerate No
Delay From Craig
Sub-head in The New York Times
September 1, 2007
September 1, 2007
Repubs were nearly-unanimous in pressuring Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID) to resign quickly, after word of his arrest and guilty plea (albeit only to disorderly conduct, whatever that means) became national news this week. (Ben Stein dissented on CBS Sunday Morning today, but he was almost alone on the right side of the aisle.)
What has been missing in this latest in a long line of GOP scandals is any examination within the party of the reasons why it seems so prone to this kind of dust-up.
So far as the narrow context of Craig's fall from grace is concerned--a revelation involving sex, especially gay sex--the party of Reagan and Bush is particularly susceptible, because of its decades-long attempt to monopolize the territory of politicians who espouse moral values, or at least the GOP's version of morality. Oh, and there's that anti-homosexual bias that has been a large part of the moral-values crusade. No coincidence that Larry Craig spoke out often and forcefully against gay marriage and extending civil rights to people discriminated against because of their sexual preference. The fact is, gays and lesbians who sympathize with the other political positions taken by the Repub Party (or who just wanted to ride the gravy train, until it ran off the rails) have had to hide their true selves if they are to be taken seriously in party ranks. In other words, we can be confident that there are a lot more closet cases in Repub ranks than among the Democrats (Jim McGreevey, former governor of New Jersey being a notable counter-example).
But there is a larger issue here. The GOP has been subject to many more scandals of the more traditional--and more damaging, to the nation--kind than the Democrats. Alaska's entire congressional delegation (all right, there are only three of them) has been exposed as having engaged in self-dealing that is at best (the case of Sen. Lisa Murkowski) unethical and at worst (Sen. Ted Stevens and Don "Bridge to Nowhere" Young) criminal. Former Reps. "Duke" Cunningham and Bob Ney are now wearing orange jumpsuits as tenants of the taxpayers, having admitted to taking bribes or what amount to them. All Repubs. Reps. Rick Renzi (R-AZ), Jerry Lewis (R-CA) and the aptly-named John Doolittle (R-CA) may yet join them in the cells. Yes, its true that Cong. William Jefferson (D-LA) has been charged with a laundry-list of offenses revolving around allegations that he was bought by some African businessmen who don't seem to have understood how little power a Democrat had in Washington in this decade, but the number of accused Democratic thieves is dwarfed by the landslide of Repub ones.
As numerous observers besides TONE have noticed, these scandals have been congruent with the anti-government message that has resonated from the right for the past three decades. Like the rampant incompetence of the Bush administration, corruption inevitably accompanies the presence in government of people who believe that government is a bad thing. As Paul Krugman pointed out the other day, "The thing about conservative governance is that it can succeed by failing: when conservative politicians mess up, they foster a cynicism about government that may actually help their cause." I disagree with the way Krugman uses the word "conservative," because I think the Reagan-Bush crowd disgraces traditional American conservatism, but otherwise he is on the mark.
Years ago, there was a cartoon, in The New Yorker, I think, that showed a group of tough-guys sitting around a forlorn-looking man in the middle of the circle. The caption read, "Harry, you're a lousy criminal and you're not very organized. Would you get the hell out of organized crime?" We might say the same to those who think government is evil, yet long to be part of it.
What has been missing in this latest in a long line of GOP scandals is any examination within the party of the reasons why it seems so prone to this kind of dust-up.
So far as the narrow context of Craig's fall from grace is concerned--a revelation involving sex, especially gay sex--the party of Reagan and Bush is particularly susceptible, because of its decades-long attempt to monopolize the territory of politicians who espouse moral values, or at least the GOP's version of morality. Oh, and there's that anti-homosexual bias that has been a large part of the moral-values crusade. No coincidence that Larry Craig spoke out often and forcefully against gay marriage and extending civil rights to people discriminated against because of their sexual preference. The fact is, gays and lesbians who sympathize with the other political positions taken by the Repub Party (or who just wanted to ride the gravy train, until it ran off the rails) have had to hide their true selves if they are to be taken seriously in party ranks. In other words, we can be confident that there are a lot more closet cases in Repub ranks than among the Democrats (Jim McGreevey, former governor of New Jersey being a notable counter-example).
But there is a larger issue here. The GOP has been subject to many more scandals of the more traditional--and more damaging, to the nation--kind than the Democrats. Alaska's entire congressional delegation (all right, there are only three of them) has been exposed as having engaged in self-dealing that is at best (the case of Sen. Lisa Murkowski) unethical and at worst (Sen. Ted Stevens and Don "Bridge to Nowhere" Young) criminal. Former Reps. "Duke" Cunningham and Bob Ney are now wearing orange jumpsuits as tenants of the taxpayers, having admitted to taking bribes or what amount to them. All Repubs. Reps. Rick Renzi (R-AZ), Jerry Lewis (R-CA) and the aptly-named John Doolittle (R-CA) may yet join them in the cells. Yes, its true that Cong. William Jefferson (D-LA) has been charged with a laundry-list of offenses revolving around allegations that he was bought by some African businessmen who don't seem to have understood how little power a Democrat had in Washington in this decade, but the number of accused Democratic thieves is dwarfed by the landslide of Repub ones.
As numerous observers besides TONE have noticed, these scandals have been congruent with the anti-government message that has resonated from the right for the past three decades. Like the rampant incompetence of the Bush administration, corruption inevitably accompanies the presence in government of people who believe that government is a bad thing. As Paul Krugman pointed out the other day, "The thing about conservative governance is that it can succeed by failing: when conservative politicians mess up, they foster a cynicism about government that may actually help their cause." I disagree with the way Krugman uses the word "conservative," because I think the Reagan-Bush crowd disgraces traditional American conservatism, but otherwise he is on the mark.
Years ago, there was a cartoon, in The New Yorker, I think, that showed a group of tough-guys sitting around a forlorn-looking man in the middle of the circle. The caption read, "Harry, you're a lousy criminal and you're not very organized. Would you get the hell out of organized crime?" We might say the same to those who think government is evil, yet long to be part of it.
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