Down the Crapper

By now, anyone who follows American politics is well familiar with the sordid saga of Sen. Larry Craig.  The Idaho Republican was arrested in an airport restroom in Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN, for soliciting sex from an undercover police officer.  Leaving aside the question of whether he did, in fact, do anything illegal (it would seem that he didn't, the cop arrested him before he got that far) or what, exactly, the rules against entrapment may play in this, the fact remains that Sen. Craig chose to plead guilty to the charge.

As you might expect, Republican leaders have called for him to resign.  Particularly considering that the disaster of the 2006 elections was caused in large part by a parade of Republican sex scandals, the last thing the party needs is yet another bludgeon with which to be beaten.  And this is as it should be!  If a party believes that traditional morality is important, then it should rightly hold its leaders to the standards they espouse.

More to the point, though, is that politicians be answerable to their constituents.  The reason given by Republican leaders as to why Sen. Craig must go, is because he has betrayed the trust of his constituents - by promising one thing, and delivering quite another.  Indeed, he should resign!  But he should not be alone.

In the recent battle over immigration amnesty, it became abundantly clear that the overwhelming majority of American voters wanted enforcement of our current laws first - and mercy for lawbreakers a very distant, delayed second.  The overwhelming majority of politicians of both parties, however, to say nothing of the media, the big corporations, Hollywood, and pretty much the entire American elite of all kinds, want what amounts to open borders - the polar opposite of what the voters, who nominally run this country, have fruitlessly desired for many years.

Only when the anger of the populace became overwhelming, shutting down the Capitol Hill switchboard on numerous occasions, was the bill killed - and that narrowly, by a small minority.  The majority of senators still wanted to ride roughshod over the demands of their constituents.

The Democrat netroots will never vote for a Republican.  There is nothing to be gained by a Republican politician pandering to the multicultural lobby.  There is everything to be lost, however, by disdaining and disregarding the Republican base.  Is it any wonder that Republican voters, the party faithful, are so dispirited and disgusted?

The Republican leadership is right to demand the resignation of Larry Craig. The GOP claimed "[Craig's] actions differ from what the base wants in their leaders." Certainly a few phone calls were made about Craig.  But how many phone calls were made in June when amnesty ran amuck?  How did actions "differ from the base" at that point?  There is no question that the base was far more outraged about the amnesty nonsense then they ever were over Craig's lechery.

After Craig's resignation is final, the Republican leadership should move on and demand the resignation of every senator and representative who pushed for amnesty.

One must recognize the political realities; it would be unwise to force all of them out.  When a senator dies or resigns, his replacement is solely picked by the governor of the represented state.  Those who are in states with a Republican governor - who, in other words, would be replaced by a fresh, but Republican, face - should be called upon to leave.

What does the American voter want, most of all?  Change.  Respect.  A sense that his leaders actually are listening.

Imagine how the electorate would feel -- never mind the press and opposition -- if the GOP chairmen in unison called upon every pro-amnesty Republican congressman to resign and actually followed that up with documented strategy for their replacement.  Very few would actually go, but a strong bond would grow among the GOP base.  It would also give a renewed standard to 2008 candidates who promised to listen to their supporters.

If we go on as we have been, the Republicans should prepare themselves for decimation in 2008.  The country will be ruled President Hillary and a filibuster-proof Democratic majority.

Do we really want two fresh, young, extreme liberal activists on the Supreme Court?  Dare we imagine the sort of persons who would fill the federal judiciary and bureaucracy with no Republican check whatsoever on the process?

None of the candidates for president have shown the ability to fire up the base.  Even the likely prospect of 8 more years of a Clinton White House, does not seem to have done it.  It's time for drastic action.  GOP chairmen, show your core voters - and, in fact, full 80% of the American people - that you are listening, and respond.  It may be your only hope.

And it may be the last hope.  Right now, we are a nation with between 14 and 30 million illegal residents.  After four years of President Hillary, we will no longer be; instead, we will be a nation with between 14 and 30 million fresh new Democratic voters, mostly captive to the divisive group-identity politics that the Democrats have so ably used for so many years, to the great detriment of the body politic.  That's a 10% vote spread.  Can that be recovered from?  Not anytime soon.