Thursday, April 21, 2005

On Bolton: In Praise of Lincoln (Chafee, not Abe)

It's national news: a Republican backing off due to a "pang of conscience."

The GTL has often wondered, with almost a hint of admiration, how modern Republican leaders are able to keep their troops in lockstep with ideas and schemes that are often obviously divorced from reality; "voodoo" economics, missile defense shields in space, abstinence-only sex education, Clarence Thomas on the Supreme Court, No Child Left Behind, the war on drugs, selling chemical weapons to Saddam Hussein, the war in Iraq. The list goes on and on.

Democrats are annoyingly diverse in their opinions; Republicans move en masse and leave introspection to the Left.

Today we sing the praises of Lincoln Chafee, the possessor of the missing Republican conscience. I'm glad it has finally turned up. With the dust blown from it, it almost looks brand new, never used.

I guess good ol' Lincoln could not fit those words into his mouth ("John Bolton is a good man") without being overwhelmed by the taste of s**t.

When the mob rules, loyalty is the only virtue. But mob rule is not a good thing, even when it's your own mob. Republicans will soon find that there is a price to pay for loyalty to folly. Just ask Colin Powell; had he refused to peddle the White House's weak line of "proof" on WMD, had he instead resigned in protest, he'd be poised for the presidency himself in 2008. Instead he stayed in lockstep with George's lies and finds himself without credibility, without a voice, and with a dubious political future. Shoulda listened to HIS "pang of conscience."

All hail the pang! Thanks and praises to Lincoln Chafee!

Coming soon: Shoot All Day: My First .22 Automatic.

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