Republican Reflections...

As they hand over the reins of power, a few Republicans are speaking out against the actions of their own Party and President Bush.

(From John Amato at : Crooks and Liars.com )

Sen. Gordon Smith (R-OR), a long-time supporter of the war, has turned on Bush's Iraq war policy and now openly asks if it's "criminal."

Sen. Smith: And I, for one, am at the end of my rope when it comes for supporting a policy that has our soldiers patrolling the same streets in the same way being blown up by the same bombs day after day. That is absurd. It may even be criminal.

But no one blasted the Republican party as much as Sen. Gregg, (R-NH), the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, as Republicans scurried at the last minute to rush through a sweeping tax cut bill as one of the final acts of the 109th Congress (surely doomed to go down in history as the most corrupt, lazy, and destructive Congress in American History).

"The American people took the reins of government away from the Republican Party relative to the Republican Congress in this last election," Gregg said in a speech on the Senate floor. "They did so, I think, in large part because they were tired of our hypocrisy as a party on the issue of fiscal responsibility. And it would appear that their concerns are justified. It is true, I guess."

Gregg went on to say that Democrats will also probably be irresponsible stewards of the nation's finances, "but at least they won't be hypocritical about it."

"You just have to ask yourself how we, as a party, got to this point, where we have a leadership which is going to ram down the throats of our party the biggest budget-buster in the history of the Congress under Republican leadership. Well, anyway, the American people figured it out, and I'm sorry we haven't figured it out yet.

It will take more time for the Republicans to finally come to grips with their failure to the American people. This failure is NOT a guiltless crime borne of ignorance. It was willful act after willful act to serve themselves, NOT their country. But we cannot wait for the Republicans to finally admit this reality and accept this truth. If we, as the people who the politicians are supposed to serve, will not hold them accountable then nothing will change- whether those in charge are Republicans or Democrats. Accountability is in very short supply in this dark day of American politics. We will better serve ourselves and our nation by administering some real punishment to those who abused our trust.

We can't wait for them to repent their vile ways. Sen. Smith is correct- To make our soldiers die on Iraqi streets day after day simply because the Politicians did not want to admit they were wrong IS CRIMINAL. And Sen. Smith, should know, because men like HIM are responsible for those troops dying there needlessly. As these cretins lose their power, they abruptly gain conscience. It is, however, far too late for the Americans, both in the military and the civilians whose lives have been destroyed by these men's power hungry ways.

Direct C&L Links: Sen Smith on the Iraq War, Republican Hypocrisy