Chickenhawk-gate

Three quick thoughts on the continually exploding Mark Foley scandal:

1. Democrats *must* capitalize on this. One suggestion: start using this eponymous epithet to slur both Foley *and* the GOP leadership as cowardly perverts. One thing the Dems should *not* do is listen to Andrew Sullivan or any other prominent gay pundits/activists; if the Dems tread cautiously and don't run to the GOP's right on this issue because of identity politics and political correctness, the party doesn't deserve to return to power. Foley's sin, obviously, was *not* being gay, but abusing his position of authority and trust -- which is precisely the larger sin of the GOP in the Bush Era. And at the root of this sin is cowardice -- cowardice to live up to the standards of one's own rhetoric, cowardice to honor the principals of American liberty, cowardice to be honest, cowardice to ask for genuine sacrifice in the interests of liberty. The contemporary GOP has more convictions than courage.

2. Current big-picture speculation on the fallout from Chickenhawk-gate is focusing on the GOP House leadership, especially Denny Hastert. But let's rack-pull back to the two-shot: who *really* controls the GOP Congress? Karl Rove. Hastert and Frist don't pee with their pj's on fire without Unka Karl poking their prostates. It's utterly implausible that Karl Rove was *not* aware of the entirety of the Foley situation. Recall that Rep Rodney Alexander's first alarum call was sent to the NRCC -- which is responsible not for managing the House majority, but for electorally ensuring the continuity of the current majority. No one told Rove? Bullshit.

3. So, Karl, how's that "30-year majority" plan turning out? The Confidence Man has long suspected that Karl's Grand Plan was an all-in bluff. The crazy-quilt GOP constituency was bound to blow up at some point in the near-to-medium-term; if it wasn't Chickenhawk-gate (which will finally drive a significant chunk of the evangelicals out of the tent), it would have been something else.