Crossposted at
Daily Kos and
The American PrincessOne of the things the Republicans have claimed over the past few years is that they are the party of personal responsibility, that everyone should be able to take care of themselves without government help (i.e. Social Security “reform”, Medicaid cuts, etc.) and will do better by themselves with things such as Health Savings Accounts.
Yet, strangely enough, for a party that touts these things, the current incarnation of GOP leaders is strangely adept at
not taking responsibility for their own actions. For instance, the GOP is blaming Democrats in new Spanish-language ads for making illegal immigration a felony, when it was House Judiciary Chairman (and Republican) James Sensenbrenner who introduced the bill, and the GOP House who passed it without Democratic votes. Yet, they take no responsibility for it. Strange, you'd think they'd be proud of what they did.
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has poorly planned and managed the war in Iraq, causing many unnecessary deaths among our brave soldiers. There was no planning for a long war, let alone for the casualties and mental health issues coming from conflicts. My uncle served in Vietnam, and deals with his injuries, mental and physical, to this day. How come we weren’t prepared for that? Yet, Rumsfeld takes no responsibility for his actions, uttering that memorable blowoff phrase to a soldier, “You go to war with the army you have, not the army you wish you have.”
Funny, it seems that certain things can be planned for, and you just didn’t do it, Mr. Secretary. We are stuck being at war with the SecDef we have, not the one we wanted.
Former VP Chief of Staff, National Security Adviser, and all-around menace to White House society I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby refuses to take responsibility for lying to prosecutors and the grand jury. “I forgot,” he says. “I’m so busy in my job I can’t possibly be expected to remember what I did.” Strangely enough, though, he remembers the President giving him authorization to leak the rosy parts of the Iraq NIE to the press. Go figure.
Rick Santorum takes no responsibility for his actions in promoting the K Street Project these days, even though he proudly boasted of his work with lobbyists a couple of years ago. When the project showed its corruption, all of a sudden he can’t get away fast enough.
Pat Robertson utters crazy statements about Ariel Sharon, Hugo Chavez, and others on national television, then when everyone calls him a lunatic, he says, “I was misquoted,” or “I was set up.” So much for personal responsibility from one of its champions.
You see, I could go on all day. This is just another of the many cases where today's Republicans talk the talk, but don’t walk the walk. Looking at the people who lead the party, though, are you surprised?
