The Counter-Reformation

Digby raises an excellent point (how many times have I said THAT?), but it'll take some Democrats to actually call bullshit for the public to understand.

There is simply no way the Republicans can reclaim the mantle of reform, given how mired in scandal they currently find themselves. However, that's never stopped them before. Already we've seen Newt Gingrich try to get out in front of this scandal, offering Tom DeLay's head on a platter and arguing for real reform. This is the same Newt Gingrich who was censured multiple times by the then-functional House ethics committee while serving as speaker. That he's the poster child for the anti-corruption brigade is laughable. And that he's allowed to get away with saying "people expect Democrats to be corrupt" is absurd. But when nobody calls him on this nonsense, it creates a narrative in voters' minds.

Then George Will comes along and says pretty much the same thing, essentially that the whole problem is big government, which automatically creates corrupt officials. Well, that's sounds like he's arguing for a return to the Clinton years, when the national debt was shrunk, budgets were balanced, and the size of government was streamlined. Certainly this faux-conservative-in-chief and his allies in Congress have presided over a tremendous government spending explosion (not to the poor and needy, mind you; to the rich and those who build weapons). This is the "get out of jail free" card conservatives always try to play. If a Democrat is nailed for corruption it's because they're a Democrat; if a Republican is nailed for corruption it's because of the government. Or because they weren't a "real" conservative. Anything but the fact staring you in the face - that it's because they're a Republican, and particularly a DeLay Republican.

You can't just say as a conservative that government is inherently corrupt, and then when you start taking money from every lobbyist in town, blame government and use that as an opportunity to shrink the size and effectiveness of government. It's a cop-out. The logical reasoning out of Will's mode of thinking is that conservatives OUGHT to be as corrupt as humanly possible, to PROVE that government is a corrupting influence. This brand of Republicans in power have nothing but contempt for government; OF COURSE they're going to run it like their own private playland. In fact, it strengthens their narrative when they are inevitably caught: "See, I TOLD you government was the problem!"

Well, somebody on the Democratic side of the aisle needs to explain this to the American people. Because already we see the GOP acting like they're the real reformers in the country, that they'll pass ethics legislation. The notion of this gang of crooks policing themselves is the ultimate in giving the fox the keys to the hen house, but the Democrats have to strongly suggest that this isn't just about corruption; it's about Republicanism. The "culture of corruption" meme is a good start, and I guess they're going to announce their own "Honest Leadership" plan. But the Republican Noise Machine is in full gear, and the Dems had better speak up before they get drowned out.