Lincoln Chaffee, one of the half dozen GOP moderates left in the Senate

Good piece about a good man, GOP RI Senator Lincoln Chaffee who basically says that he cannot in good faith vote for George Bush.. This takes guts, and I have no doubt the GOP will pay him back by trying to oust him by a far righty. They've gone after all the moderates: Snow, Collins, and even Arlen "Magic Bullet Theory" and "Really, Ira Einhorn isn't a flight risk. He's a valued member of the community and he knew nothing about the dead body in his closet for months" Spector). I had a good deal of respect for Chafee's late father, too.

But this brings me to subject close to the heart of Chafee's decision.

You know, I don't think the overwhelming majority of the American people are at the far right of the political spectrum anymore than I think a majority is at the far left. Most people on both sides of the political aisle seem to be fairly moderate, with many issues in which they would agree with the other party's platform on the subject.

So why has the House and the Senate been allowed to get so imbalanced? Extreme money and a feeling by the the right (vs. far right) that they're more than willing to pander to the Limbaugh and Falwell crowds if it keeps the WH away from such heathens as Clintons (and hey, what really kills them is that the majority of the American people sided with Clinton after the witch hunt and the farcical impeachment.

But the majority of Republicans would be no better served by a majority of their elected reps being power mad fatcat corporate whores than the majority of Dems would be immediately grateful to be served by having the likes of Ron Kuby (whom I respect a great deal btw along with his late mentor and partner, William Kuntzler). The difference here is that about 5% of the Dem representatives are the left of center from a Democratic viewpoint. Some of those 5% (the late Paul Wellstone, the very much alive Bernie Sanders of Vermont) are truly great, others seem to deliberately marginalize and separate themselves.

However, on the GOP side, the ego nutcases who still feel uncomfortable when a person of color walks into the room rule (and not because the majority of Republicans are ego nutcases - I don't think they are at all): DeLay, Frist, Lott, what Hastert has become (but didn't seem to always be), Zell Miller (a Dixiecrat isn't a Democrat), and just about all the red House members.

Mind you, there are a couple of exceptions where I feel I see some maturing of Republican Congresspeople. Lindsey Graham during some of the Abu Ghraib abuse hearings acted like a more reasoned individual than the Cotton Mather-with-a-twang thing he was during the Clinton impeachment. But he's up in the Senate now.

Libby Dole isn't far right, but she walked into a far right base and she's a whore. She'll do whatever she can to get ahead. She'll never be president though. The people who love her are the same people who still think women should stay at home unless they're working at a bar or a brothel, who sign abortion laws away while insisting their daughters get one if they dated someone of mixed ethnicity or a low credit rating. And really, the only thing they love about Libby is that she was a placeholder for the seat that might have lost otherwise.

Katherine Harris may not be far right either but she also knows the power base is there now and the whore for her own cause that she is would change sides faster than Italy in WWII (or Bush on whether Osama's a threat) if a new sheriff came to town. She's old news now. She was rewarded with a job then, when it didn't behoove Bush to have Harris running for Bob Graham's seat in Florida during his own re-election, Bush gave her the heave. Oh, she'll be able to afford all the pounds of cosmetics she wears each day. They'll take care of her there, but you don't brag about old prostitutes often (or Carville would look happier married to Matalin).