Maxine Waters, the race baiter Congress critter, had some not so nice words for the TEA Party. Maxine, ignoring her Messiah, Barack Hussein Obama (mmm, mmm, mmm), who called for civility, said the TEA Party could go straight to hell.

“I’m not afraid of anybody,” the California congresswoman told constituents in footage that appeared on ABC affiliate KABC in Los Angeles, not backing down from comments made about President Obama earlier in the week. “This is a tough game. You can’t be intimidated. You can’t be frightened. And as far as I’m concerned — the tea party can go straight to hell.” Daily Caller

Here is a news flash Maxine, we are already in hell. The TEA Party and the rest of the country has been placed in hell by the liberal policies of you and your party. The liberal policies that promise everything to everybody in exchange for votes has sent us to hell in a hand basket. The tax and spend policies of liberals coupled with social programs that enslave generations of Americans has provided us a hell on Earth courtesy of the liberal task masters.

By assuming that you and the the other elitists are better able to run people’s lives and spend their money, you have tied an anchor around the necks of countless Americans who are trapped in your liberal web and remain dependent on government redistribution schemes.

Yes Maxine, we are in a hell that you and your ilk created and now you have the audacity to lash out at citizens who care about the well being of this country? Shame on you!

I know if a Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity had said the Congressional Black Caucus could go straight to hell you and the other race baiters would be throwing a hissy fit while working hard to slam down your race card.

Well Maxine, I guess you did not get the memo from Obama calling for civility. I guess they should have written it on a bank bailout document or a welfare bill or perhaps a $100 dollar bill from a lobbyist so you would be sure to see it.

But since you have no civility let me give you a back at ya. You, the Congressional Black Caucus, elitist politicians, all liberals, and all your union goons and thugs can all go straight to hell.

And while you are heading there Maxine, you can go screw yourself.

The TEA Party is not going away and we have all you statists in our cross hairs. We will take as many of you down in 2012 as we possibly can.

The only thing I want is for your ethics violations investigation to be completed before we bounce you.

Cave Canem!
Never surrender, never submit.

Is there nothing that Democrats will blame on George Bush? Obama inherited a bad economy (after Democrats were in charge of Congress) and it was Bush’s fault. Obama stubs his toe, Bush’s fault. Michelle Obama skips a period, Bush’s fault. Every time one turns around some Democrat (usually the cry baby Obama) is blaming George Bush for one problem or another.

Therefore, it should come as no surprise that Maxine Waters is blaming her ethical lapses on, wait for it…. George Bush.

Embattled Rep. Maxine Waters on Friday blamed the Bush administration for her ethics problems — saying she had to intervene with the Treasury Department on behalf of minority-owned banks seeking federal bailout funds — including one tied to her husband — because the Treasury Department wouldn’t schedule its own appointments. FOX News

There is no doubt that this Socialist broke the rules and did things she was not supposed to do. There is no doubt that she did something in her official capacity that benefited her and her husband financially. She probably did nothing different than many other politicians who have been entrenched in Congress for way too long but she got caught. As an aside, she and Charlie Rangel have been brought up on charges and face a public trial and both of them backed Hillary Clinton. I wonder if that played into this…

In any event the manipulation of facts in both cases is stunning. Rangel blames problems on Republicans who are out to get him and refuse to let him make a deal (as if he is discussing with Monty Hall) and he blames some lapses on his memory. He is an 80 year old man who might have forgotten. Here is a clue, then he does not belong in Congress.

As for Waters, she is blaming George Bush as if he called her up and told her to go ahead and help out the bank her husband was invested in. No, the person who actually helped her was Barney Frank who added wording to legislation to help out the bank.

That does not negate the fact that Waters did things she was not supposed to.

She broke the rules and she must pay. She is now forced to eat the very words she used against then Speaker Newt Gingrich and I love watching it happen. I hope she goes down in flames.

And if she does, well then I guess I am OK with Bush getting the credit for that part of it.

Maxine, you Socialist pig, no one twisted your arms and made you do bad things. You did them yourself so woman up and accept responsibility for what you did and quit blaming others.

And then do us all a favor and quit.

Cave Canem!
Never surrender, never submit.

There is a saying about people who live in glass houses not throwing stones. It took over a decade but Maxine Waters has broken her glass house with the stone she threw at Newt Gingrich. When Newt was charged with violating House Ethics rules Waters had a field day going after him. Oh yes, she was pretty upset and told us all that it took a while but now we would find out who Gingrich is.

NO, WE HAVE NOT FORGOTTEN.
WE THOUGHT YOU HAD.
BUT FINALLY AFTER THE FILING OF MANY COMPLAINTS AGAINST SPEAKER NEWT GINGRICH AND 14 MONTHS LATER, THE HOUSE ETHICS COMMITTEE FOUND THE SPEAKER GUILTY, GUILTY, GUILTY ON ONE, TWO, THREE COUNTS OF VIOLENTING HOUSE RULES BY MISUSE — VIOLATING HOUSE RULES BY MISUSING COMMITTEE RESOURCES AND WE’VE APPOINTED AN OUTSIDE COUNSEL TO INVESTIGATE ANOTHER SERIOUS CHARGE ABOUT THE SPEAKER’S POLITICAL GOPAC OPERATION.
WELL, IT’S ABOUT TIME.
BELIEVE ME, THE AMERICAN PUBLIC DOES NOT APPRECIATE DOUBLE STANDARDS.
WHAT’S GOOD FOR THE GOOSE IS GOOD FOR THE GANDER.
NO ONE SHOULD BE SO BIG, SO IMPORTANT, SO POWERFUL THEY CAN VIOLATE THE RULES OF THIS HOUSE AND THE LAWS OF THIS COUNTRY WITHOUT SUFFERING THE CONSEQUENCES.
NEWT MAY BE SPEAKER.
HOWEVER, HE, TOO, MUST ACCOUNT FOR ANY AND ALL WRONGDOING.
IT’S ABOUT TIME.
LET’S GET ON WITH THE BUSINESS OF FINDING OUT WHO NEWT GINGRICH REALLY IS. CSPAN

Well, well, well. It seems that now Maxine has ethics problems of her own. She claims she is innocent and did nothing wrong but it is obvious that she had a conflict of interest and was involved in helping a bank in which her husband was invested. She did something wrong and charges have been brought against her.

Let me put this in words she will understand:

BELIEVE ME, THE AMERICAN PUBLIC DOES NOT APPRECIATE DOUBLE STANDARDS.
WHAT’S GOOD FOR THE GOOSE IS GOOD FOR THE GANDER.
NO ONE SHOULD BE SO BIG, SO IMPORTANT, SO POWERFUL THEY CAN VIOLATE THE RULES OF THIS HOUSE AND THE LAWS OF THIS COUNTRY WITHOUT SUFFERING THE CONSEQUENCES.

America also does not appreciate Socialism and this Congresswoman is all about Socialism. So let’s do the country a favor this fall and vote this scumbag out of office. Let us hold her to the standard she expected Gingrich to be held to. She needs to go.

But not until we have a messy trial. I would love to see this babbling moron trying to explain herself.

Cave Canem!
Never surrender, never submit.

The Democrats voted to rebuke Joe Wilson after he shouted “you lie” during Obama’s address to a joint session of Congress. The Democrats did not like what Wilson did and they will not stand for that kind of behavior. People who do wrong must be punished.

Charlie Rangel was found to have violated ethics rules when he accepted travel from a corporation that routinely lobbies Congress. The ethics panel found that the financing of the trip was improper for all members of the Congressional Black Caucus who went on it but Rangel was the only one found in violation because the others did not know the corporation paid for the trip.

So what did the Ethics Panel do about this infraction (one of many involving Rangel)? The Panel decided not to issue formal charges:

The committee decided against issuing formal charges against Rangel that could lead to punishment such as a censure.

The Panel decided against formal charges that could lead to punishment. Charlie Rangel deserves to be punished.

How is it that Wilson gets rebuked for shouting “you lie” but Rangel escapes charges?

This kind of puts Nancy “most ethical Congress” Pelosi in a bad position. What will she do with Rangel during this election year? He is sure to be a lightning rod during the upcoming campaign season.

If we are lucky this jive talking Don will not be in office next year.

During the campaign, candidate Obama promised that the health care debate would be out in the open and would be debated on C-SPAN but that has not happened. The health care debate has been carried out in closed door meetings where shady deals were cut to gain support. The so called transparency of Obama is out the window and regardless of how many morons claim he has not lied or broken a promise, the truth is that he has. He said the debate would be on C-SPAN and it has not been.

C-SPAN CEO Brian Lamb wrote to the leaders in Congress and asked them to open the last part of the debate to the public by fulfilling Obama’s promise, that is to put it on C-SPAN. Since the Democrats are already negotiating the bill behind closed doors and skirting the reconciliation process it is very unlikely that the debate will get any air time. I will make te prediction now that they will say no and it will not be debated in the open.

Nancy Pelosi just slapped the American people in the face by claiming that there has never been a more open process. I guess if weekend and middle of the night votes after closed door secret meetings define openness then she is correct. However, since the definition of open has a different meaning, Pelosi is lying.

It was Nancy Pelosi who told us that; “The Democrats intend to lead the most honest, most open and most ethical congress in history.” Well, they might have intended to but they certainly have not. Charlie Rangel, Timothy Geithner, and Chris Dodd lead the cast of many in the Democrat party who have had ethics problems. The corrupt manner in which votes were bought in the Senate in no way reflects openness and the closed door secret meetings defy the claim of “most open.”

Democrats are in trouble and some have read the writing on the wall and have decided not to seek reelection. Many others will become victims of their actions, a fate Obama and “safe” Democrats seem to be OK with.

The Democrats intended to be the most open and ethical and Obama promised to air the health care debate on C-SPAN. None of this has happened because they will say anything to get elected and to fool the public. They did what they had to do to get in office and now they are doing what they want, the public be damned.

Don’t hold your breath waiting for any of this to be on C-SPAN. You will die from lack of oxygen long before you get to exact your revenge in November.

Democratic Senator Daniel Inouye of Hawaii owns shares of Central Pacific bank worth between $350,000 and $700,000 which is about two thirds of his reported assets. The bank was in trouble and had applied for government assistance. The bank was not a likely candidate for assistance.

Inouye had an aide make a phone call to inquire about the bank’s application and bam, it is now set to receive $135 million dollars.

It is not uncommon for politicians to try to help the banks in their states. Even though there are rules they routinely break them or make exceptions in order to assist banks from their states. Hell, it isn’t their money.

It is also true that even if Inouye asked for the application to be approved that he did not break ethics laws the Senate establishes for itself. Of course, the rules they have are designed to allow them to be unethical.

But the fact that he has money invested in the bank gives the appearance that he used his political position and influence in order to personally benefit from an action that would not be available to the average citizen. Even if he only inquired, the fact that he personally benefits from the action is suspect.

It gives the appearance of impropriety and appearance is often the truth.

When the Democrats took control in 2006 Nancy Pelosi said they would be the most honest, open, and ethical Congress in history. The ethical part of that was shot from the start with sweetheart loans and tax evasion and a myriad of other ethical lapses. The American Spectator has a piece up entitled; ACES Up Her Sleeve.

In that article the authors, Jeremy Lott and William Yeatman, discuss that if there were any doubts about Pelosi breaking all those promises they were cleared up after her actions last week with regard to the Cap and Trade bill. Or as they put it; “Our refusal to accept her rhetoric was roundly vindicated last week.”

The Speaker chose to stifle the usual observances of deliberative democracy because open, honest debate would have attracted unwelcome scrutiny to her massive new energy tax.

Pelosi’s legislation, the American Clean Energy and Security (ACES) Act, would raise the price of hydrocarbon energy sources like coal and oil thought to cause global warming, but which power 85 percent — 85 percent! — of the economic production in America.

A large energy tax during a deep recession is a political cyanide pill that 44 of Pelosi’s Democratic colleagues refused to swallow. That almost doomed the bill and in fact would have killed it outright Friday night if eight Republicans hadn’t voted with the majority of Democrats. (The final vote was 219 to 212.)

Likely there would have been many more Democratic “no” votes if Madame-Speaker and Energy & Commerce chairman Henry Waxman didn’t find creative ways to shorten or skip every step of that “How a Bill Becomes a Law” song.

The Democrats have been ramming things through at breakneck speed and they have been skirting the rules and procedures because if the legislation is given any time for public consumption then it will meet with the scorn of the people. The Democrats’ plan is to ram it through before we know what is in it and then have us accept the consequences because there is not much we can do.

This bill was nearly 1300 pages and NO ONE read it just like NO ONE read the stimulus. We keep seeing where things are popping up because of the stimulus and we keep finding waste as well as unintended consequences that cannot easily be overcome. For instance, the stimulus gave people a little more in paychecks. It was enough to disqualify some people for food stamps and other assistance because it pushed them over the income limit. If someone had taken the time to read it then maybe that could have been fixed by adding a line stating that the money was not to count toward welfare eligibility.

This is the kind of stuff that happens when they do not read the bills. They did not read the Cap and Trade bill and this one will be an economy and business killer. If this ever passes (and it has a better chance with Franken headed to DC, unless Kennedy’s term expires) then many businesses will move out of the country, our energy costs will skyrocket (Obama said they necessarily would), and many people will have to decide between eating and keeping warm.

It is an Obamanation and Nancy Pelosi ignored the rules in order to get what she and Obama wanted and of course, so they could take off for their WEEK long 4^th of July holiday.

Obama said we needed to do these things this year (Cap and Trade, Health Care reform) and he says it is because it is urgent blah, blah. Nothing is ever so urgent that it cannot be read before it is voted on. Obama wants this rammed through and done because next year is an election year and he does not want bills that are unpopular among people in his own party hanging out there like an Al Gore chad. He does not want people to be reminded of the terrible things he is doing while he tries to keep all the seats he has. If they pass it soon they can enact it next year and the results will not be felt until after the election.

The transparent, open, honest, and ethical Democrats have been anything but and this is from Obama down. None of them have kept promises regarding posting bills for public review and none of them are following the procedures in order to do things.

They are doing what they want and they do not care about us, their concern is getting their agenda passed.

Perhaps the Hondurans have the right idea…

Yesterday, South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford called a news conference to explain his absence from his office for the past week.

He then proceeded to explain that he had had an affair with an Argentinian woman that he had know for eight years. This affair began casually, and later escalated, which brings me to a question; Why can’t people keep it to themselves? What mental defect causes them to think they are above it all? Where are the ethics every one of them so loudly proclaim?

The man was married, with four children, and he was stupid enough to think that there would be no consequences for his actions? Perhaps he thought for a moment that he was a Democrat- that might explain his mistaken temporary insanity regarding consequences- they never seem to have to answer for any criminal behavior- their side just shrugs and goes on with their lives, while Republicans fall by the wayside, doomed by their own admissions and moral lapses.

Why can we not actually have people in office who say what they mean, and do what they say. Why can we not have people in government who are actually good examples, instead of ” unindicted co- conspirator”, or “disgraced former_______” (fill in the blank).

This is not a new problem, nor is it limited to one party or the other. The entire House of Representatives once bounced more than 8,331 checks at their own bank- heck they forced it to close, and then when they had pledged to fix the problem, they promptly kited an additional 4,325 checks. And yet, none of these people had to pay an overdraft charge, as you or I would have.

Thomas Jefferson said, “The principle of spending money to be paid by posterity, under the name of funding, is but swindling futurity on a large scale.” And that is just what the politicians are doing, on a scale larger than ever before, racking up a staggering $11,000,000,000,000 in national debt, with each family’s share coming in at $116,000.
Just say no- our interest payment to service this debt will be about $26,000,000,000- that is 26 billion, per month.  You might be forgiven for thinking that the head of the Treasury Department could do the math, and tell the rest of the politicians, ” Hey- perhaps we should quit while we’re behind, instead of really behind,” but noooooo. Turns out, he is math- challenged.

He’s supposedly the right man for this job, and yet he can’t figure out his tax bill, even though his employer, the International Monetary Fund, had done the math for him, and even cut him a check for the right amount, and made him sign an affidavit saying that the check was to be used for his payroll tax. How stupid is he?

Oh, and let’s not forget Charlie Rangel, the Congressman from New York who chairs the House Ways and Means Committee, the committee that actually writes the tax code. Apparently he’s not smart enough to read the code he writes, and failed to pay taxes ($75,000) in rental income from his villa retreat at the Punta Cana Yacht Club in the Dominican Republic. His excuse was that he didn’t know the tax applied to rental properties in the Dominican Republic. Ignorance of the law is no excuse.

At least that is what the IRS tells us ordinary people- if it was we who had “forgotten” our tax obligations, we would be subject to the full might of the IRS in its quest to get “their” money from you.

The fact that there are serial lawbreakers in government today is a sorry state of affairs- why we tolerate them is beyond me. I personally do not care what party they claim to be from, as far as I am concerned, they belong to one class only- criminals. Where are the ethics they profess to have? Why do we tolerate these people working for us? Would you employ a known thief to clean your house? A car thief to detail your car? Why give known thieves the keys to our treasury?

James Madison is rolling over in his grave. “[Congress]… can make no law which will not have its full operation on themselves and their friends, as well as on the great mass of society. This has always been deemed one of the strongest bonds by which human policy can connect the rulers and the people together. It creates between them that communion of interests and sympathy of sentiments, of which few governments have furnished examples; but without which every government degenerates into tyranny… If this spirit shall ever be so far debased as to tolerate a law not obligatory on the legislature, as well as on the people, the people will be prepared to tolerate anything but liberty.”

Ethics, like the Constitution, are not fluid things, but are supposedly the bedrock of our behavior, and should be doubly so for the politicians- after all, they are supposed to be representing We the People, a large group that needs good representation, not just someone who shows up for the perks. If we tolerate these crooks in our midst, we get the government we deserve.

Samuel Adams said that those who prefer the “tranquility of servitude” had best be prepared to “crouch down and lick the hands which feed you.”

He also said, in closing, “May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen!”

There’s always been a tug of war over religion- which one is the right one, does it offer eternal life, does it exclude belief in, or tolerance of other offshoots of that religion or others? Just what HAS religion done for us, humanity? What has it done TO us? Does the one out weigh the other in a positive way? A negative way?

All of these are thorny questions, ones that not everybody has handled with grace and tolerance- witness the schism between the S’hia and Sunni sects of Islam. Each one holds the other to be apostate, and thus an enemy of true Islam, and this goes back to one small thing- when Mohammad died, he did not leave a will, directing the continued rule of Islam in one direction, thus leading to two different interpretations of the same religion, and conflict over the disparity between the two.

The same sort of schism with Christianity- first was the Catholic church, with its eventual corruption (the selling of blessings, etc) that led to the schism that Martin Luther fostered, that became Protestantism, with Lutheran, Episcopalian, and Methodist sects of Christianity.

And then you have the Mormons, and Quakers, and others, oh my.

We won’t even get into the Eastern religions in this discussion, not that they are not important, but for this discussion, they are not germane to the conversation.

“Religion is the opiate of the masses”, was a favorite maxim of the communists, as they attempted to leach the religion out of their citizens, but for all their atheistic rant, they never quite kept the faith out of everyone’s life. So why? Why does religion hold such sway over people? What does religion do for the people?

For starters, religion grounds people, gives them a reason to go through another day, despite what at times seem like insurmountable odds. Belief in a higher being gives many people some solace in times of need. To those who do not believe, it might be a useless waste of time but to those who do believe, the peace that this belief brings is, no pun intended, a Godsend.

But let’s get down to the nitty- gritty here- just what has Religion done for people over the years?

The obvious thing is that the Ten Commandments has given us a baseline for our acceptable behavior towards other people, and started us on a pathway to a society that has laws that punish the defendant, and compassion towards the victim. Virtually every major religion has a version of these commandments, that give us a pathway to civilized behavior. This is a good thing, otherwise you have no society at all, as everyone is out for themselves, and if there is no God, and no afterlife, what is the use in following laws?

Some might say that this is the case now, but I would say that this is because not enough people have taught their children well. Religion has not been the problem- not teaching the religion has been the problem. Part of this is the disintegration of the family, where a father or mother is absent, and the children do not have a parent set that reinforces the laws and codes of behavior that the child is expected to adhere to. The phrase “God- fearing” is often used in a negative connotation to the adherence of the Commandments, but this is really a positive in the scheme of things.

If you have a fear of God and/ or his Judgement, your obedience to the Commandments may be reinforced, and you might be better able to resist the myriad temptations in life. God, in effect, becomes another parent, one who never grows old, or dies. Praying is just having a conversation with God- and everyone needs someone to talk to, even if, at times, the talk is all on one side. God is nothing if not a good listener.

Atheists often denigrate me and my faith, poo- pooing the beliefs of the Christian peoples. That’s all well and good, for I am not evangelical. I think that God has provided the book, but there will always be people who do not want to read, so I am fine with their atheism, except when it gets in my face.

That’s not socially acceptable, or very gracious, but I have come to expect ungracious behavior from some, as well as ridicule, to which I simply reply that if I am wrong in my belief, I simply lose some time in my life, but if they are wrong, they risk losing eternal life. That’s a gamble I wouldn’t take.

Do you feel lucky, punk? Well. do you?

The defection and betrayal of Arlen Specter this week has brought about a questioning of what is a Republican. What, or who, makes up the Republican party. This is similar to what went on in the brains of liberals in 2000, who have now defined the Democratic Party, a long search in the deserts of the mind, a trek through limitless nothing, looking for one good idea. They feel they have found it in Social Engineering.

The Republicans have a similar trek they must make, a soul- searching hike to find a set of tenets and ethics they can use as a moral compass.

Arlen Specter has no compass- this is seen by how easily he changed parties, not once but twice. I have had fish that flopped less. He is a politician of convenience, and that is the worst type to have in office, for you cannot count on him to stand for anything, but apparently he WILL kneel to any fakir who promises continued employment. The man is 79 years old- it used to be that when a politician became too infirm for the rigors of the office, he would begin to groom someone to gracefully take his place if so elected. Senator Byrd became the poster child for Dementiacrats- too old to know better. Senator Kennedy is another. Now Arlie has joined the viagra set, and good riddance.

Meanwhile, the confusion on the Republican side continued, with the soul searching reaching new lows. Several people stating that the Republican Party has been hijacked by “Southern good old boys”, a liberal definition that the wandering Republicans have chosen to repeat, as if it was the truth. These talking heads maintain that these ‘Good old boys” are closing the “Big Tent” philosophy, telling some that they aren’t really Republicans, and the party has no place at the table for them. There may or may not be some truth there, but I am guessing that it depends on what the definition of conservatism is determined to be.

If conservatism is used to exclude people who have variants of conservative views, then yes- the Republican Party will shrink and become less relevant. For example, a person may believe in the right to life, yet recognize that Roe v. Wade is a law. It is not a law that is liked but it is a law. I have a friend that believes in pro- choice, but he firmly prays that people will make the right choice.Is he a conservative? I believe he is, but some in the party might disagree.

The facts are that the Republican Party can not be a Monolithic one idea, one dogma party- not everyone thinks the same, nor should they.

A northern Republican has different concerns than someone in Arizona, or North Carolina. It is impossible, and certainly not desirable to have everyone think exactly the same.

However, there are certain core principles that should be key to any Republican’s thought processes, and central to this is the tenet of Small Government. Government just makes a problem worse, and private enterprise is the best solution. Always.

The main things Government has to do is provide Security, and infrastructure. For the latter, the States should take the lead, for the states know better than the Federal government what the people need. It takes a real delusional ego to think that Washington knows what I need, better than the county or state does. Real. Delusional. Ego.

Republicans need to reaffirm that it is opportunity that makes America great, and no one should be restricted from this opportunity. Americans, no matter the color, have the energy, and we have the brains to do wonders, but if we are being held down by government restrictions, nothing gets done, and we are all the poorer for it.
The thing that people need to know is that the party will be loyal to it’s central themes. If conservatives are for smaller government, then conservatives can not be hypocritical, and wallow in the public trough, gobbling up taxpayer’s money. Republican does not mean Democrat Lite. Ever.

Conservatives have to know that ALL government money is OUR money. The government doesn’t earn a dime, has never earned a dime, and will never earn a dime. The government exists to serve us, and every government hack is someone we hired, and who works for us, plain and simple. This is something that people in government, whether Senators, or bureaucrats never believe. The sense of entitlement begins at the government trough.

There should be an easier process to eject politicians from office, returning them like the defective Chinese melamine infused products they were supposed to protect us from. They didn’t do their jobs there, did they? Anyone hear of any government employee being fired because of that? No? Neither have I. Has anyone been fired for allowing salmonella into the food system? No? Why not?

The problem in a nutshell is that many conservatives nowadays do not identify with the Republican Party, and it’s not because we are bigots, or narrow- minded, but that the Republicans in office forgot who they were, and tried to be like the Liberals, and for what? Are they who you really wish to emulate?

If you do not stand for a principle, you will end up kneeling because of convenience. Just like Arlen Specter.