Posted on 11/19/2002 4:28:03 AM PST by PJ-Comix
Edited on 05/07/2004 9:25:55 PM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
I read with interest Erin Kelly's article headlined "Vermont senators lose clout" (Nov. 7). The essence of her story points out Vermont's loss of influence within the U.S. Senate as it shifts from Democratic to Republican control. What is not presented in her article is how our two U.S. senators unwittingly contributed to that loss.
(Excerpt) Read more at burlingtonfreepress.com ...
I despise the senators for VT...they are textbook examples of disgraceful men, and hateful extremists they accuse everyone else of being.
Leahy is one of the very few demos who is 100% anti gun control. I despise him ever since Bork and Anita but he does happen to be very much pro 2d amendment. Don't know Jeffords' position on this.
But later in that year, two Republican Senators died, leaving Wayne Morse as the swing vote who could change the Senate to Democrat control. Morse voted with the Republicans on organization of the Senate, instead. He explained that his constituents had elected him as a Republican. He said it would be a breach of faith with them unless he voted Republican on organization of the Senate, until he had faced his voters again, and been reelected as an independent, if that was their will.
Wayne Morse was reelected as an independent, and thereafter voted that way. Wayne Morse was an honorable man. Notice that the lamestream media NEVER mentioned the example of Senator Morse in talking about the "courage" and "principle" of Jeffords.
Jeffords is not a man of principle. Compared to the example of Wayne Morse, he is a turncoat and a prostitute. He has earned for Vermont whatever political repercussions the state gets, due to his actions.
Leahy, on the other hand, is and always has been, a garden-variety corrupt Democrat who is a liar whenever it suits his needs. He, too, has earned for Vermont the bad treatment it can now expect. A man who cannot keep his word, and who cannot keep his mouth shut (remember the "Leaky Leahy" flap when he revealed sensitive intelligence data) does not belong in the US Senate.
It is up to Vermont to clean up its own mess. In the meantime, its two Senators can be assigned to adjoining stalls in the Senate Washroom as well-earned premium office space, for their "service."
Congressman Billybob
As I recall, Phil Gramm of Texas resigned as a Democrat, and then ran as a Republican, rather than switch horses in midstream.
Good fences make good neighbors.
We elect men, not parties, every two years, and we entrust with them the decision-making responsibility for us. And, this means that if the gentleman's opinions or inclinations shift over time, or if his party moves in an unfavorable direction, he must do what his conscience tells him.
Voting to organize with the other party is no more of a "turncoat" act than voting with the other party a la Zell Miller of Georgia. People change! If you were in a Republican club in your hometown, and one of the officers stood up and announced that he had switched registration and was leaving the club, and provided a heartfelt explanation, would you hate him, rough him up, and throw him out in the street? No! You might gently ask him to resign his office, or initiate a recall, but you would respect his switch if it was conscientious and honorably done.
Don't get me wrong -- I am a very conservative Republican and view Jeffords' switch as an act of betrayal, but it was his motives that were suspect. I do not view the switches by Richard Shelby and Ben Nighthorse Campbell that way. And, to be candid, Jeffords' departure probably was one of the reasons that Republicans regained the Senate because the obstructionist Democrats only increased voter frustration before this month's elections.
I'm glad to have Jeffords on the other side because without him our party is closer to its principles. His switch was a purifying act.
I think it's a bit different if he'd just gotten elected based on running on your platform - then he's obviously of lesser character.
I agree that the Republican Party is well rid of Jeffords, and well served by the gain of Ben Campbell. It would be well served also by the addition of Zell Miller. But because he's been a Democrat for 70 years, he will remain one, yet vote his conscience and speak his mind. That's okay, too.
And I agree with you that the sleaziness of Jumpin' Jeffords' move was one part of the national mosaic which made a significant majority of Americans decide to dump the Democrats from majority power at ALL levels of government.
Congressman Billybob
Of all the Senators, Jeffords will have the LEAST influence.
You might be right, but I’d like to note that my state’s very own Frank Lautenberg is going to be pretty close to him in terms of non-influence.
A bumbling, mumbling, 78-year-old junior senator in the minority party. We just elected a real heavyweight.
Of course, conservative Southern Democrats walk, talk, and act like Republicans and the switcheroos in Georgia may have just been biding their time before they switched to the party that truly represented their beliefs. And, no doubt, they probably campaigned on a conservative platform that did not resemble the national Democratic party's platform.
The worst you can call them, therefore, is opportunistic.
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