Political Hypocrisy From Both Sides of the Aisle, and When did American Politicians Become Such Quitters?

I am infrequent visitor of www.huffingtonpost.com, mainly frequenting their comedy section when I happen to notice an update via http://twitter.com/HuffPostComedy/. This recent video with an exchange; between Rachel Maddow of MSNBC, who can get on my nerves at times even though I tend to agree with her, Rep Aaron Schock (R-Ill), the male equivalent of Sarah Palin although with considerably more brains, Former Rep. Harold Ford, the new out of stater trying to come to New York to run for Senate (the other being now Secretary of State Clinton), and New York Times Columnist David Brooks, for whom I have nothing witty to say; highlights, I think, the recent trends of hypocrisy from both sides of the aisle. The entire piece is long, 16 minutes, but the first 6-7 minutes or so provide a very good snapshot of what I am talking about.

Next, when did American politicians become such quitters. In a crucial time for the Democratic party, Senators Dodd, Dorgann, and Bayh have said they will retire...coupled with the untimely death of Senator Kennedy and the win of Senator Brown, Democrats look to be in a bit of a bind...and that could in turn cripple Washington because of the unwillingness of Republicans to attempt even thinking of thinking to work together.

But this trend isn't new, the rash of Governors that jumped ship midterm recently, McGreevey, Spitzer...and that lovely lady Palin, seem to suggest that politicians have gone soft...at least to me. In the good old days, sex scandals just meant that you were impeached but stayed in office, and losing a bid for VP meant that you went back to doing your normal job...NOT GIVING UP ENTIRELY! Look at now Vice President Biden, he went through a horrific personal tragedy shortly after being elected Senator and yet toughed it out to become the second most powerful man in the country. I'm not saying that politicians need to be super humans, but in times of crisis, we all inevitably look to our elected officials for guidance. If they are dropping to the wayside because they lost an election or happened to have an affair, who are we unelected people going to have to look up to in the end. Look at Governor Appalachia...I mean Sanford. He f*&ked up big time, but he's still in office. I'm not saying he is a role model, but damn, he came back and did his job at least...

I conclude this while sitting in my room in still snow covered Lancaster, PA.

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