The Moose comments on how far the elephant has fallen.
The Moose witnessed the Republican Revolution of '94. He remembers the fervent calls for reform and renewal. Now, the House GOP is rightly staring into the abyss. The Foley revelation is the latest representation of the perversion of power.
It took the Republicans a little more than a decade to achieve what forty years of Democratic rule accomplished - the institutionalization of corruption. The major difference is that the elephant masqueraded as a reformist, moral revolutionary. Hypocrisy is truly the tribute vice pays to virtue. These guys give Elmer Gantry a bad name.
How can fiscal conservatives continue to endorse Republican rule? How can social conservatives embrace a House leadership that neglected to expel a child predator from their ranks? How can reformists applaud the Abramoff Congress?
House Republicans are neither the responsible custodians of the taxpayer dollars nor of teenage pages. The Foley episode will depress the social conservative turnout. They did not exactly elect a Republican Congress so it could go soft on child predators. And how do Republicans scare social conservatives about the prospects of a Democratic Congress - suggest that they will coddle perverts? Even the Washington Times has gone south on Hastert.
Whichever party prevails in November, cynicism will be the big winner. It is fair to say that Republicans cannot clean house. If Democrats gain control of the House or the Senate, triumpalism is not in order. Rather, it is imperative that triumphant Democrats begin the task of restoring confidence in government. That will not be easy.
While it far from a certainty that Democrats will gain control over Congress, it is increasingly likely, and thoughtful donkeys should begin examining how they would govern. In view of the latest revelations about the Bush Administration, there may be an extraordinary pressure from the base of the party for the Democrats to move to impeachment hearings by next spring. That would be a disaster for the country. America is looking for thoughtful solutions, not more partisan warfare.
How will the donkey begin the process of vanquishing cynicism? -- | 
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