The Pendragon's Hall

When, oh when, will the Republicans learn to use the club on recalcitrant Democrats? They still govern like a minority Party. Big news today is that House Republicans reversed the ethics rule change that Democrats were charging was meant to protect Tom DeLay from investigation. As Rush Limbaugh pointed out, Jim McDermott, a Democrat, is also under investigation and would have benefited from this rule change as well. The 2o Republicans who voted against the reversal were right: the American people elected them to be a majority party and they're not really acting like it. I realized recently I probably shouldn't run for any major office (in fact I probably shouldn't be allowed even to be President of the College Republicans) because I allowed Houghton College to arrange and in some ways even finance, through my financial aid, a semester-long trip to Europe that they hoped would change my mind on everything I believe. That's the whole point of sending Christian students to London anyway. This is really all Tom DeLay has done--if he has even done that much. The hypocrisy of the Left on this issue is just mind-boggling, not that it should be by now. Rep. Alan Mollohan of West Virginia, the senior Democrat on the committee, said, "To this point the speaker's actions have been positive. The proposal will be considered and evaluated by the bipartisan yardstick.'' This is compromise to a Democrat--give us everything we want and we'll tolerate you being in office till the next election when we try to kick you out. Nancy Pelosi (House Minority Leader) said the Republican reversal was "a victory for the American people. Americans understood what was at stake - the integrity of the House - and in one voice demanded that the House return to a credible, viable and nonpartisan ethics process.'' Credible, viable and nonpartisan eh? Like when House Democrats voted to keep a felon in office simple because he belonged to their Party? Bill Clinton did a little more than "take trips financed by special interest groups." I really wish the Republicans would get their act together and call the Democrats' bluff. Let the American people see Democrats continuing to try and hinder the government from doing its job--it hasn't worked real well for them these past six or eight years. Still, I have to hand it to House Speaker Dennis Hastert; his offer to reverse the rule change told Democrats that the old way would be restored "with all the unfairness in place." Bully for Denny!

I also noted in passing a headline that the NDP leader in Canada is criticizing the Conservatives (big surprise!) for being in bed with the Bloc on the upcoming budget vote. Hypocritical Leftists know no country, do they? He's in bed with the corrupt Liberal government but all he can talk about is the alliance between Conservatives and Separatists on an issue they both agree on--less government control. What was it Jesus said about not being able to see the plank in your own eye because you were focused on the speck in your brother's eye?