Republican + Hypocrisy = Scandal

Oh baby, we have us a real scandal! Why is it that Republicans always seem to think that they are:

• above the law
• morally superior
• genuine and truthful

Some notable examples: Newt Gingrich, who served his wife with divorce papers while she was recovering in the hospital and later criticized Democrats for having no family values and who was later a victim of his own back-bench bomb throwing; Bob Livingston, whose sex scandals cost him his chance at being speaker when Gingrich self-destructed; Bob Dole, whose line about "Democrat wars" is almost laughable now after Gulf War and the Iraqi Occupation; George H. W. Bush, remember "Read my lips: No new taxes!"; George W. Bush, who claims to be a compassionate conservative when he is in fact neither compassionate nor conservative; Tom DeLay, who has denied using the FAA to get back at the Texas legislative Democrats and whose fundraising tactics are reprehensible (money for favorable legislation).

Now, the Democrats have their notable examples, too. Bill Clinton screwed the American people while making them beg for more, just like Ronald Reagan did.

But now we have Jim West, mayor of Spokane. Here is a guy who loudly opposed gay rights, abortion rights and teenage sex while he led the Republicans in the state senate. Then he fought cancer, ran for mayor and won. Now, The Spokesman-Review, his hometown newspaper, has uncovered and reported charges that he molested two boys in the 1970s when he was a sheriff's deputy and Boy Scout leader. He, of course, denied those allegations, also noting that the accusers both were convicted felons.

But wait, there's more. He acknowledged that he did have relations with adult men after meeting on a gay chat room. Additionally, he "offered gifts, favors and a City Hall internship" over the chat room to someone he blieved was interested in him but was actually working for the newspaper. West maintains that this part of his life is private, while the newspaper says he is abusing his office.

KING-TV tonight showed excerpts from the online chat that had West urging discretion because he might someday run for governor. Dude, that is so not happening. Perhaps if he was just less of a hypocrite, things would have been fine. Of course, compared to the New Jersey governor, a Democrat who actually hired his lover as a counterterrorism expert, West would be pretty tame -- unless the molestation charges turn out to be true. I hope they are not.

-- Wenatchee, Wash.