I am personally embarrassed by the behavior recently of some who say they belong to the Grand Old Party. I will start with the little fish and then to the big kahunas.
In the recent election the republican candidate for County Executive, who was ahead by 6 votes at the end of election night but when the official count was complete had lost by 100 or so, spoke in his concession speech about the lack of support from his own party. Perhaps the blame lies in ones own actions. Less than a week before the election, this individual was asked to leave the county court house for making a scene over not wanting to serve jury duty. After the election, but before the official count was in (he still thought he was ahead by 6 at this point) he arrived for a local theater production, wanted the best seats in the house, was given the best that were available and then instead took two seats in the front because they weren’t filled yet. Too bad the people who had those seats, and arrived a few minutes late, had to wait until intermission before they could have their seats back and the candidate was asked to move. The democratic candidate is a good man, not much for speaking in public, but a true civil servant with the endorsement of several local republicans, including the local District Attorney. Seems to me the best man won.
Then comes last nights debauchery (I prefer the archaic definition: seduction from virtue and/or duty, sorry Jack, there weren’t any orgies) on the floor of the US House of Representatives. The soundbites on the news today did not do it justice. I decided after seeing the story online to watch the festivities via C-SPAN 1. I was never more ashamed to be a Republican for the venom and lack of substance coming from several of the speakers on the red side of the room and I was never more proud to be a Pennsylvanian than I was after listing to Representative John Murtha speak from the blue. I agree that the whole thing was a stunt, but not so different from what the democrats pulled in the Senate a few weeks back. It was obvious going into it what the vote was going to look like, so why not use the opportunity to have a frank, meaningful discussion on the issue? Instead, most of the GOP speakers took the opportunity to lash out and attempt to discredit the messenger instead of the message. As I listened and watched the proceedings it came the time for Rep. Murtha to speak. Just a few minutes into his time, I hit the Tivo button to save the program. He was more well spoken, more sincere, more honest than anyone else in the room. He had more conviction in his little finger than the lot of them put together. He did share one corny Jimmy Carter/Tip O’Neil story, but that just served to endear himself like an uncle. It was the kind of speech that you expect to see in the history books. He is a patriot. He won the debate, and shame on us for resulting to name calling. Also, as Murtha pointed out, they weren’t even voting of the resolution he proposed. He read what he had written, since it had been so distorted over the previous 24 hours. In the end, he voted against it as well, because it wasn’t anything like he introduced. I wish it had been his up for a vote, and I would have voted with him. Not because I believed everything he intended, but because he, and the few on both sides who stood up for him were the only ones worthy to be followed.
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