Decision ‘08

If You Have The Attention Span For It…

…there’s a good, if longish, piece in the WaPo on the rapid rise and sad downfall of Claude Allen, the key Bush advisor who recently was implicated in bizarre fraud/shoplifting allegations. I have no ideological spin to put on this, and since the man is no longer in government service, I simply wish him the best with his problems…

7 Responses to “If You Have The Attention Span For It…”

1 peter Says:
April 25th, 2006 at 3:18 pm
I also hope things work out for Claude Allen, but I think it’s worth noting that Allen apparently was vociferously anti-gay (or so it was reported – I barely heard of him until the shoplifting stories). It is sad and ironic when those who loudly insist that others follow their own moral code are later discovered to have grave ethical failings of their own. Bill Bennett lectured sanctimoniously about morality and turned out to have a severe gambling problem; Rush Limbaugh was addicted to prescription drugs; Newt Gingrich blasted Clinton’s infidelity until it was revealed that Gingrich has his own indiscretions (and of course he had to leave his position for ethical violations). Dan Burton (perhaps the smarmiest person ever to be in the House) and Strom Thurmond both had illegitimate children. I’m not trying to make the point that Democrats are better people or have stronger moral discipline than Republicans (although I think they are a lot less likely to lecture others about how they ought to behave). Whenever you see sanctimony coming from politicians, it’s usually wise to run for the exits.
2 Mark Says:
April 25th, 2006 at 3:46 pm
peter, I disagree - the tendency to lecture others about how they ought to behave is, if anything, even stronger on the left - it’s just that Democrats hide their lecturing under sanctimonious rhetoric about the environment, second-hand smoke, windfall profits, and ‘benefits’ to society that will follow from forcibly modifying my behavior through governmental fiat…
3 peter Says:
April 25th, 2006 at 4:02 pm
Mark, I think we have a disagreement here. Re the environment: I don’t know anyone on the left who says we should, for example, ban Hummers and Ford Explorers. (And I do think that Harry Reid was dead wrong today to call for a gas tax “holiday” – in my opinion, there should be an increase in the gas tax to dampen consumption). Re second hand smoke: the leader in banning smoking from bars and restaurants is New York City’s Republican mayor. Windfall profits taxes on oil companies (another truly stupid idea – the Wall Street Journal had it right in its editorial today) was suggested today by Republican Senator Spector (and also I don’t think it is a morality issue). As for “forcibly modifying my behavior through government fiat”: when you see the Democratic party get involved in end-of-life cases such as Terri Schiavo, coerce the FDA into opposing medical marijuana despite scientific evidence to the contrary, limit access to “morning after” contraception, oppose stem cell research, restrict the availabilty of abortion, or oppose benefits for gay couples, please let me know.
4 Mark Says:
April 25th, 2006 at 5:53 pm
Well, we could argue all day about which side is worse on this; I just wasn’t going to let you hijack my nonpartisan post without pointing out that your slamming of the Republicans on this score is not without its hypocrisy…in general, I’ve come to distrust all rhetoric that attempts to smear one side and vindicate the other…
5 peter Says:
April 25th, 2006 at 5:58 pm
Actually I wasn’t trying to slam the Republicans, but I couldn’t think of a good Democratic example — sure, Clinton had a zipper problem, but at least he didn’t lecture the rest of us on marital fidelity — I don’t think that the Democrats sin any less than Republicans do, I just think that there is a lot less sanctimony from the Democratic side –
6 fatman Says:
April 26th, 2006 at 1:44 am
peter, from living in PA during his entire tenure in office, I can personally assure you that Arlen Spector is the second biggest RINO in the Senate, behind Lincoln Chaffee, (R-R.I.) (no offense meant, Mark). As for Michael Bloomberg, I’ve heard the only way Republicans get elected to public office in NYC is to out Democrat the Democrats, at least on social issues.
7 Mark Says:
April 26th, 2006 at 6:26 am
No offense taken - I’m not really THAT kind of RINO…