Thursday, May 24, 2007

House Republicans Praise Goodling as She Admits to Violating the Law

Monica Goodling appeared in front of the House Judiciary Committee and admitted to "crossing the line" and looking into the political affilations of people being considered for jobs in the Justice Department. Yet, in spite of this admission, only obtained after she was granted immunity from having her testimony used against her, Republicans on the Committee praised her. Here is one example from the Washington Post article linked to above:

"There not only is no evidence of wrongdoing, but there is no allegation of any wrongdoing on your part," Rep. Steve King (Iowa) told her.

King's remarkable comments are just one more example of the fact that Republicans don't think that the rules apply to them. Republicans like King don't think that Goodling crossed any lines because they believe that, for Republicans, lines don't exist. They are so quick to attack the sins of Democrats and yet so unwilling to recognize their own sins.

As the Washington Post editoral writers wrote in a May 24, 2007 editorial:

It was sad, as well, that so many Republican committee members chose to ignore this ugly fact and heap praise on Ms. Goodling. "I think you have . . . shown people who are here. . . . why people in the Justice Department thought you were worthy of your job," said Rep. Dan Lungren (R-Calif.). "Millions of Americans now know a lot more about you, and they're proud to have somebody like you serving in government," said Rep. Tom Feeney (R-Fla.) Violating the law against politicizing the civil service is no grounds for pride.

Sad, but not surprising. One thing that comes through time and time again when detailing the actions of this administration or the Republican party in Ohio: they just don't think that the rules apply to them.

1 comment:

Jill said...

Totally agree and thought the same. There really IS something wrong with people who think like that - it's called narcicissm, thoughts of grandiosity, immaturity, delusional oh I'm sure I could come up with more ideas. But mostly - means they have next to no conscience as we tend to think of one and a poor moral compass. For people whose party has said its compassionate and driven by traditional values, if that's what they think is traditional, I'll go post-modern, thank you.