The "Bush Defense" and Republican Sex"It's in the Past"

I go away for the weekend, and when I come back, I hear the news that the "Bush Defense" is already working: It's in the past. We're going to move on.

While I postulated a few days ago that this defense would be adopted by shoplifters and naughty children, the first public example is Republican Senator, David Vitter.

David Vitter is/was a champion of family values...having relased a statement on the sanctity of marriage which said, in part:

“This is a real outrage. The Hollywood left is redefining the most basic institution in human history, and our two U.S. Senators won’t do anything about it.

We need a U.S. Senator who will stand up for Louisiana values, not Massachusetts’s values.

Unfortunately, the Senator got caught with his....ah...phone number in the little black book of Deborah Jeane Palfrey, the infamous D.C. Madame.

Now, sure enough the man stood in front of the press this weekend. Reuters has the lead:

A Republican U.S. senator who admitted to "serious sin" after he was linked last week to a Washington escort service apologized for the sex scandal on Monday, but said he will go back to work.

Sen. David Vitter, a social conservative who has routinely touted family values, said his undescribed sins occurred several years ago, implying that his misdeeds were behind him. He accused enemies of dredging up the scandal to hurt him.

Vitter will not stop nagging us about family values, then, despite his wandering ways, and, according to the Reuters article:

Wendy and I dealt with this personally several years ago. I confronted it in confession and marriage counseling, I believe I received forgiveness from God, I know I did from Wendy."

In other words: Yes, I cheated on my wife; yes ,that was in deepest opposition to everything I claim to hold sacred; but no, there is no need to for me to feel the sting of punishment; no need for me to resign my Senate Seat....for after, all, it is in the past.

There was some reaction from Republican officials:

If he doesn't resign, the Republican Party will lose the moral high ground," said Vincent Bruno, a member of the Louisiana Republicans state executive committee. "We have portrayed ourselves as being the moral party."

Obviously this Bruno character is a Luddite: completely out of step with the times. First, he doesn't understand that the Bush Defense trumps all other arguments...once that card is played there is no need to look further at any given issue. It is, after all, in the past. Let us move on.

And second, the only people who think the Republicans hold ANY high ground on this issue are other Republicans....the rest of us have long been wise to their lyin', cheatin' hypocritical ways.

More H. 520 ...at Green Mountain Daily

I spent WAY too much time yesterday blogging about H. 520 and the Democrats' .... well, I don't know what to call it. My gut still says capitulation, but others have labeled merely a "strategic" mistake...

Anyway, I always enjoy playing over in the Green Mountain Daily sandbox with Odum, Jack, JD Ryan, Brattlerouser and others... it certainly beat working.

And the comment threads were fun....

If you just can't get through the day without a dose of Rip and Read (or goDLC)... check out:

Let Me Rephrase That...Another Take On H.520

and the comment string on yesterday's cross-post:

Dems Cave on H.520, or, Now I know How Rush Limbaugh Felt.

Democrats Loose TractionorShhh, shh, the GOVERNOR'S coming

Well, you know what they say...it's all fun and games until somebody looses an "aye".

Vermont Democrats have talked tough, but at the last minute, they ducked and swerved on H. 520. The picture at left shows my present opinion of Democratic Leadership. (And yes, I suppose some of my fellow bloggers are entitled to watch me eat a piece of humble pie at the blogger's barbecue.)

First, in an excess of politeness, they decided NOT to move the July 11th veto session until later in the year to give themselves more time and more votes to override the Governor's Veto on H.520.

From the AP (via Boston.com):

Symington had said the day before that she was contemplating delaying the
July 11 vote until September to accommodate some lawmakers that said they
couldn't make it to the Statehouse that day.
But Republican legislators
wanted the session held July 11, as scheduled.
"I've had a commitment from each and every one of the 49 Republicans to be there on July 11, but I know that Democrats don't have a full slate," said House Minority Leader Steve Adams, R-Hartland.
Symington said she decided not to change the date after speaking with the minority party caucuses.

That's what I like about Democrats...we're so NICE! We speak to the minority and make things convenient for them....and I'm sure, positive, that the Republicans would do the very same for us...they are such decent folk. (Careful, dear reader, or some of my dripping sarcasm will fall on your shoe.)

Now, after talking tough and even bringing AL GORE into the act...Vermont Legislators turned tail and dropped the tax on Vermont Yankee at the last minute...maybe, they begged Governor "BIG JIM" Douglas....you'll like us better now, please, sir, please?

And of course, the Gov. smiled and said, "No. I don't like you any better than I did before. I'm STILL going to Veto your bill. And now, I've taken your measure and found that you, despite your numbers, are lacking in strength, in determination, and will power."

And I'm sure we Democrats will growl, and show our tiny little yellow teeth, and then go cower in a dark hole somewhere.

This was a clear case of what we should do (H.520- combating global warming, promoting exciting new Vermont businesses, not giving Nuclear Power a cheaper tax rate than wind energy) and what we shouldn't do...

As a friend of mine just put it: "Sometimes, you have to draw the line and just stand there...win or loose."

Sometimes, it's the Heroic Last Stand (the Alamo, Masada, Roland and Rear-Guard) that gives others the courage to carry the fight to victory...but Vermont's Democrats have refused to do that. They have decided to play it very safe...

...and that makes me very sad, very sorry, and frankly, very much less likely to lick a stamp or write a check the next time around.

More On H. 520

A couple of good editorials on H.520 today....

From the Rutland Herald: June 19, 2007

[After Stamping his Veto on the Legislature's Engery Bill] Douglas has come up with his own energy-efficiency program, and he is urging the Legislature to act on it.

If the override fails, Plan B for Symington will come in January when the Legislature reconvenes. The Legislature is not prepared in a special session in the middle of the summer to act on a complex proposal like the one Douglas has offered, which has come, not in the 11th hour, but in the 13th...

Douglas cannot stymie the Legislature's action, then loft his own plan into the debate after the fact, then pretend that he is the one taking the initiative. The Legislature took the initiative, and now that Douglas has shot down the Legislature's bill, he must accept responsibility for the lack of action.

By Judy Bevins, Vice-Chair, Vermont Democratic Party, Letter to the Editor: Times Argus

All [H. 520] does is readjust the rate of taxation Vermont Yankee pays, which was frozen in place by the Republican-controlled Legislature and the governor in 2003, making that rate the same as what new wind developments will pay.

And then Jim Douglas vetoed the bill. Why? Because he worries about the "message" this sends to the business community. Actually, the message that the governor is sending to his friends in big business is, "Whisper in my ear, and we'll make a deal."

It was only after his inaction started hurting him politically that Jim Douglas cobbled together a "plan" to address energy efficiency. What does the governor's plan do? It requires average Vermonters and Vermont businesses to take out loans to pay for efficiency measures. The message Gov. Douglas has sent Vermont citizens and small business owners with this so-called plan is, "Want to save energy? Why don't you go further into debt. You can afford it, right?"

The problem is many Vermonters, already struggling with high costs and debt from a variety of sources, including home mortgages, student loans and credit cards, can't afford it. Rather than close a loophole that allows a business to pay less than its fair share to both the General Fund and the Education Fund, Jim Douglas is putting the burden on the backs of ordinary Vermonters.