AJ DiCintio

Stunningly Shameless
January 22, 2010

Suppose that a gang of thieves who had a long record of physically harming those whom they robbed not just of their money and precious keepsakes but their peace of mind were caught by police just as they were about to stealthily enter your home through a back door.

Suppose that upon their arraignment, the gang argued they ought to suffer not a single consequence for the attempted break-in or other illegal acts they committed because they were prepared to acknowledge they had not "listened" to society and to affirm their dedication to a new, acceptable standard of behavior which, among other admirable characteristics, exhibits exquisite listening skills.

Finally, suppose that the gang then turned to you, your family, and your neighbors, fervently gushing not only about their profound awakening but, incredibly, their sincerely held desire to serve as the community's most important leaders.

How would you react?

Of course, that's a perfectly rhetorical question.

But why do I pose it today?

Well, because since Massachusetts voters once again fired a shot heard round the world, a number of important Democrats have scrambled out of their Capitol holes like confused January groundhogs (sometimes called "whistle pigs") ostensibly to inform us about their newfound attitude toward listening to the citizenry but actually to expediently disassociate themselves from the Democratic Gang.

Think, for instance, of "common sense centrist" Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN), who bemoaned the fact that Democratic Lefties have pushed the Party too far left, thus frightening off moderate and independent voters by the millions.

In fact, Bayh purported to be so upset about this foolishly dogmatic leftist shove — in particular with respect to the Obama/Pelosi/Reid healthcare bill — that (without mentioning even one Lefty Democrat by name) he blew the following high pitched warning:

If you lose Massachusetts and that's not a wake-up call, there's no hope of waking up.

Or take note of Senator Jim Webb (D-VA), who was even more stinging to his fellow gang members as he agonized that the Massachusetts result was a referendum on the "openness and integrity of our government process" and pursed his lips to breeeep this:

It is vital that we restore the respect of the American people in our system of government and in our [unnamed] leaders. To that end, I believe it would only be fair and prudent that we suspend further votes on health care legislation until Senator-elect Brown is seated.

Now, consider that nearly the entire media (Sean Hannity excepted) reported this contemptible whistling without a bit of context or comment — that is, they reported the comments as if Bayh and Webb had been fighting a principled, damn-the-consequences battle against Obamacare from the day the 2,000 page abomination was concocted behind closed White House and Capitol doors.

Yes, despite the incontrovertible fact that the Senators, along with every other Democratic Senator and a majority of House Democrats, voted to smother the American people with the raping incubus of Obamacare. And that they did so knowing full well —

...That the bill lays the lion's share of its cost upon senior citizens, through a $400 billion cut in Medicare

...That to fund its Medicaid requirements, the bill forces states, all of which are already financially strapped, to significantly raise taxes that fall on the backs of all taxpayers: the wealthy, the middle class, and even, in the case of sales taxes, the poor

...That like the stimulus bill and virtually every other piece of legislation passed by Congress, the healthcare bill is stuffed with a thousand tons of the ugliest kind of pork

...That the bill is loaded with ideological swill that enormously increases the size and cost of the Federal Government, not just though the creation of a vast, new medical bureaucracy but bureaucracies that would, for example, regulate "diversity hiring" in healthcare

...That to get the bill approved, Obama and Democratic leaders agreed upon hundreds of special payoffs, the most famous of which are the bribes paid to Senators Landrieu and Nelson, who were happy to put every honest citizen of Louisiana and Nebraska on Federal welfare, the cost to be borne by every American who resides in a "non-special" state

...That from its inception, Obamacare was never intended to "reform" healthcare but to replace the American healthcare system with a structure that feeds the unmitigated lust of the Leftist Political Class for wielding power from the level of government most remote from "We the People."

Yes, Bayh, Webb, et al. were totally aware of all of that and more. Yet they fully stood by Obamacare, uttering not a peep (much less casting a negative vote) and therefore being perfectly willing to see the abomination yoked around the necks and hearts of the American people.

Which brings us back to the response we would give to the rhetorical question asked at the outset; for, every time it is deserved, we ought to give the same angry, determined roar to politicians — for example, to the current crop of Washington's cowardly, power loving, stunningly shameless Democrats.