Consistent Stupidity

Look quick before you miss it, I'm about to heap praise all over Russ Feingold, D-WI.

Feingold has earned the distinction of being the only Democrat to vote against the abortionesque Wall Street reform bill. This has roiled many libs because it put Scott Brown, R-MA, in a position to make demands in the bill to get his critical 60th vote.

This shows what a sad state Congressional dems are in currently. Feingold should be applauded for his actions, not chastised. Now don't get me wrong, his reasons are idiotic. To Feingold, the bill isn't left wing or fascist enough, so he voted no.

That reasoning is pure insanity but that isn't the point. Feingold is a well known resident of the far left. He campaigns as a far leftist, he writes far left legislation, he essentially tries to push everything as far left as he can. The Wall Street reform bill didn't meet that criteria (to him anyway) so he voted no. That kind of consistency and honesty should be how every Congressman acts. The voters are getting exactly what they heard during the election.

Contrast that to other members of Congress. Blanche Lincoln, Evan Bayh, Susan Collins, Olympia Snowe, John McCain, Linsday Graham, etc. also vote all over the map but for different reasons. They vote all over the place because they are trying to deceive their constituents. They run the spectrum of pretenders; liberals posing as conservatives, Socialist hiding as Blue Dogs, Social liberal as traditionalist, the list goes on and on. These people measure each vote to walk a tightrope between what they told the people they were and what they actually are. This leads to a maddeningly inconsistent voting record that baffles the constituency. They are not getting what they voted for and their elected representative compounds the problem by actively trying to deceive the people they represent. For an example look no further than the Maverick McCain 2008 presidential bid. He has been so all over the place that neither party could support him.

Nor should they. The public should in no way support candidates who spend so many calories trying to trick them. It's unfortunate that their are so few Feingolds in Congress. Jim DeMint comes to mind for Republicans but after that it's pretty weak. Scott Brown may be the lone example of an honest moderate. All the others mentioned are constantly trying to convince people that they are real conservatives. Brown is frequently wrong but at least he is who he is.

If nothing else, I hope the November Apocalypse that's coming (sooner for some primaries) will weed out some of these shameless chameleons. Having a Congress full of ideological warriors may produce more gridlock (good) but it will also create more ideologically pure legislation and debate. That is far better than the pork filled, bribe legislation that we get these days.