Criminalizing Conservatism

We all knew this would happen. When Democrats took Congress, we knew they would begin relentlessly investigating prominent conservatives and Republicans on charges of . . . being prominent conservatives and Republicans! The most recent of these witch hunts involves high-ranking members of the Bush administration being compelled to testify before Congress (in what is tentatively being called the House Pro-American Activities Committee) so that Democrats can trick them in to committing perjury. Rumor even has it that Senator Chuck Schumer has a list of 57 Republicans in the Justice Department! If Democrats went after Al Qaeda as furiously as they are Republicans, there would be no terrorism anywhere in the world.

Their first target was Tom DeLay, who was officially charged in Texas for . . . well, that doesn’t matter, he’s Tom DeLay! The DNC couldn’t be more pleased with the district attorney if they chose him themselves. Ronnie Earle, a staunch Democrat with a history of persecuting Republicans who had dared win elections in Texas (like Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison) actually attended a Democrat fundraiser promising to get DeLay. He made good on his promise by shopping for a grand jury that would bring an indictment against him (I guess the eighth time is a charm). In the meantime, rather than risk attracting negative attention to himself and his party, DeLay resigned his House seat, dropped out of the race for his own re-election, and moved to Virginia. In an unprecedented and ironic twist of American democracy, DeLay was actually forced by a federal judge to stay in the race and relegate the GOP’s replacement to write-in status, thus giving the seat to the Democrats on a silver platter.

Next on the Democrats’ hitlist was Lewis “Scooter” Libby, former Chief of Staff to Vice President Cheney. Since they couldn’t actually prove in a court of law his boss was Satan incarnate, Democrats charged Libby with perjury because he couldn’t remember who told him about the wife of a man with an overactive fantasy life. Even when it was revealed that Richard Armitage was the one who outed Valerie Plame, the investigation continued as zealous as ever. They even found a sympathetic jury to convict him. Perhaps “sympathetic” is the wrong word, as jury members made statements after the verdict wondering why Rove, Cheney, and Bush weren’t on trial instead.

Now, perhaps finally concluding their seven-year odyssey for “George Bush’s Watergate,” they’re going after the Department of Justice because the President fired a few federal prosecutors who serve at the pleasure of the President anyway. Never mind that President Clinton fired all 93 prosecutors so he could provide enough cover to dismiss a single prosecutor in Chicago who was investigating the Chairman of the House Ways and Means committee for corruption. Democrats already succeeded in springing their perjury trap on Libby, now they’re setting it for Rove, Harriet Miers, Alberto Gonzales, and God- sorry, DARWIN- knows who else.

There is no merit behind whatever Democrats are alleging and they even admit no laws have been broken and that the President is within his power to remove federal officials (unless they want to bring the unconstitutional Tenure of Office Act out of mothballs). The sad and simple truth is all their actions are driven by nothing more than an unrelenting quest for vengeance. They’re desperate to get back at President Bush for Iraq, they haven’t forgotten what they imagine happened in Florida almost seven years ago, and they’ll never get over the impeachment of President Clinton. Yes, it seems that at long last, liberals have no sense of decency.