TWO FROM BUZZFLASH

It's late and I'm exhausted once again. So go read these two essays courtesy of BuzzFlash.

Corrupt Intentions
What Cunningham's misdeeds illustrate
about conservative Washington

From Slate:

It used to be said that the moral arc of a Washington career could be divided into four parts: idealism, pragmatism, ambition, and corruption. You arrive with a passion for a cause, determined to challenge the system. Then you learn to work for your cause within the system. Then rising in the system becomes your cause. Then finally you exploit the system—your connections in it, and your understanding of it—for personal profit.

And it remains true, sort of, but faster. Even the appalling Jack Abramoff had ideals at one point. But he took a shortcut straight to corruption. On the other hand, you can now trace the traditional moral arc in the life of conservative-dominated Washington itself, which began with Ronald Reagan's inauguration and marks its 25th anniversary in January. Reagan and company arrived to tear down the government and make Washington irrelevant. Now the airport and a giant warehouse of bureaucrats are named after him.

By the 20th anniversary of their arrival, when an intellectually corrupt Supreme Court ruling gave them complete control of the government at last, the conservatives had lost any stomach for tearing down the government. George W. Bush's "compassionate conservatism" was more like an apology than an ideology. Meanwhile Tom DeLay—the real boss in Congress—openly warned K Street that unless all the choice lobbying jobs went to Republicans, lobbyists could not expect to have any influence with the Republican Congress. This warning would be meaningless, of course, unless the opposite was also true: If you hire Republican lobbyists, you and they will have influence over Congress. And darned if DeLay didn't turn out to be exactly right about this!

Click here for the rest.

The GOP's Roe Gamble

From TomPaine.com:

But there’s also a political reality, and it has made some far-seeing Republicans fearful: The striking down of Roe v. Wade would be one of the worst things that ever happened to the Republican Party.

Rep. Tom Davis, the Virginia Republican who in 2002 helped expand his party’s majority in the House, spoke to this point. If the Supreme Court overturns Roe, he said recently, “you’re going to have a lot of very nervous suburban candidates.’’ He was talking about Republican candidates.

I wouldn’t want to be a Republican politician the day suburban mothers learn there’s no legal way to end their 16-year-old daughter’s unwanted pregnancy. Republicans err in assuming that, on this subject, mothers in the old suburbs differ greatly from mothers in the new exurbs.
Click here for the rest.

You know, I'm probably going to be loaded down tomorrow night, too. Are you listening Miles? I could use some help here. Maybe you can post a government or journalism paper...

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