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Jewish World Review Sept. 20, 2010/ 12 Tishrei, 5771 Purging ‘Me First’ Politicians By Arnold Ahlert
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
As I said in a column last week, the principle impetus behind the Tea Party movement's strength is its commitment to three planks: limited government, fiscal responsibility and Constitutional fealty. Yet what really struck a nerve was the idea that Americans are fed up with voting for the lesser of two evils. What is the epitome of a lesser evil? A "Me First" politician masquerading him or herself as a loyal member of a political party. As a conservative, I'll leave Democrats to deal with their own phonies. On the Republican side, despite all the hysteria emanating from those who think they know better, the electorate was three-for-three: a trio of GOP Me Firsters — Lisa Murkowski, Mike Castle and Charlie Crist — have all been given the heave-ho.
As evidenced by their actions, it couldn't have happened to a "nicer" group of duplicitous hacks. Florida's Charlie Crist became the first to reveal his true colors. When it looked like he would win the Republican nomination for the Senate in a cakewalk, Charlie was all about party loyalty and conservative values.
Where are those so-called values today? In the dumpster, along with Charlie's credibility. When it became stunningly apparent that he was a dead RINO walking who stood no chance of beating genuinely conservative newcomer, Marco Rubio, in the Republican primary, he did what all self-serving politicians do: he broke a firm promise not to run as a third-party candidate.
Bad as that was, Charlie one-upped himself. On August 30th, Senior Collier Circuit Judge Jack Schoonover denied attempts by two GOP campaign contributers to get their donations back — and prevent Crist from using their money to run against their party. Charlie apparently thinks it's perfectly OK to violate someone's trust and use the money any way he sees fit.
Spending other people's money with no regard to their wants or needs? Sounds remarkably in tune with the party currently in control of Congress and the White House. A lot of other people thought so as well. When asked which party he would caucus with in the event of a victory, Charlie was decided non-committal: "I'll caucus with the people of Florida. You know, they're tired of gridlock politics, of Washington not being able to get anything accomplished, and they want somebody who will be an honest broker, go to Washington and fight for them first."
Wrong, Mr. Crist The people of Florida and everywhere else are tired of self-serving phonies whose "concern" for the people is an utter fraud. Current standings? After a neck-and-neck summer, Rubio has taken a +9.8% lead, according to data at Real Clear Politics, which averages out the numbers from several separate polling services.
Here's hoping the tannest politician in politics get a chance to work on it full time come November.
Party "stalwart" number two is Alaska's Lisa Murkowski, another faux-Republican who can't take no for an answer. On Friday, she too announced that she will be running as a write-in candidate for re-election. Once again, the will of the electorate, which gave the nod to Tea party choice Joe Miller, is to be treated with the kind of contempt with which Americans are becoming quite familiar.
Murkowski will run despite the fact that the Republican establishment — much to its credit for a change — has made it clear that it will cost her seniority and committee positions. Like Crist, Murkowski's promise not to run as a third party candidate was as phony as she is.
Current standings? Miller's lead over Democrat Scott McAdams averages out to +7%, but the polling data was taken prior to Murkowski's announcement. That's close enough where Murkowski's candidacy could tip the race to the Democrat. Once again, a Me Firster had made her priorities crystal clear: screw the future of the party — and the country — if I don't get mine.
I'm betting the people of Alaska won't let her get away with it.
Which brings us to the Third Amigo, Delaware's Mike Castle. As of this writing, he hasn't made any plans to run, despite the fact that most polls had him as a shoo-in winner in the general election. In comparison to Crist and Murkowski, Mr. Castle is a giant among midgets.
In comparison to ordinary Americans, however, Mr. Castle is a classless whiner. He refused to concede to winner Christine O'Donnell and complained that "misrepresentations and the lies of Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh" along with an "out-of-state political operation," which "spent several hundred thousand dollars to not only take me out but to take anybody who dares to vote with the other party at any time out" were his undoing.
Daring to vote with the other party? A substantial number of Americans, if not an outright majority, consider the Democrats' progressive agenda utterly destructive to the nation's well-being. The most over-arching piece of legislation enacted by those Democrats, the health care bill, didn't garner a single Republican vote. That, along with Democrats' support of the Arizona lawsuit, the mosque near Ground Zero, the nationalization of car companies, banks and student loans, and continued break-the-bank deficit spending have alienated more than six-in-ten Americans.
Republicans in Delaware were no different. They opted for the "less daring" candidate, Christine O'Donnell.
Days later, the rightness of their instincts was confirmed. President Barack Obama called Castle to console him and "thank him for his service." Service to whom, one wonders. Certainly not to conservatives trying their best to establish clear differences between the two political parties.
Current standings? The latest polls have O'Donnell trailing Democrat Chris Coons by 11%, which has caused several bouts of self-flagellation among Republican insiders. So much so that the National Republican Senatorial Committee initially announced they wouldn't fund her campaign. A day later they recanted: "Let there be no mistake: The National Republican Senatorial Committee — and I personally as the committee's chairman — strongly stand by all of our Republican nominees, including Christine O'Donnell in Delaware," said NRSC Chairman John Cornyn.
Why the change of heart? Perhaps it might have something to do with the nearly one million dollars raised by the O'Donnell campaign — in only 24 hours. Mr. Castle? He still refuses to endorse O'Connell, saying he will stay "neutral." That's neutral after a forty-five year career in the Republican party.
Another Me Firster showing his true colors.
The refutation of Crist, Murkowski and Castle is a wonderful thing, regardless of how it plays out in November. What we are witnessing is the beginning of a long slog to eliminate self-aggrandizing frauds from at least one of the two main political parties. And while Beltway insiders moan and groan about the "anger" and "hysteria" of the electorate, it is they themselves who are angry and hysterical. In three primaries Republican voters decided they didn't like what they saw in the three candidates presented by the establishment. In all three cases, the instincts of the voters were completely confirmed — by the subsequent actions of the hacks they drummed out of the party.
Crist, Murkowski and Castle have made it abundantly clear they are devoid of anything resembling principles or party loyalty.
All three have made something else clear as well: contempt for the average American has revealed itself to be far more "bipartisan" than ever before. Such contempt has become so transparent and pervasive that the term "ruling class" resonates like it never has: many Americans have become completely alienated from their representatives, regardless of party affiliation.
Here's a scary thought for Democrats: think what's happening to the Republican party can't happen to yours? Think again. A Congress with an approval rating of 23.6% while your party's in charge can't be reassuring. In November, if the public purges Democrats from the majority less than two years after Democrat political strategist James Carville's proclaimed they would rule for the next forty, expect the kind of finger-pointing and blood-letting that will make the current Republican purge look tame by comparison.
Americans may not agree about many things but one thing is certain: they are sick to death of selfish phonies selling themselves as "servants of the people."
Crist, Murkowski, and Castle? The tip of the iceberg. The American public? Ice picks in hand, ready for November.
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© 2010, Arnold Ahlert |
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