Nothing speaks more clearly to the desperation of Representative John T. Doolittle's situation than his sudden attack on elements of his own Republican party. The congressman believes he has been cut loose, little better than a pawn in a diversionary tactic to save the skins of other members of the GOP. He sees the White House's hand behind the FBI raid on his Virginia residence and the later appearance in the nation's press of the criminal investigation.Doolittle's plaintive lament in the pages of the Auburn Journal did elicit some sympathy from a few constituents, but the reviews were decidedly mixed.
Then four days later, details of the search were leaked to a Washington, D.C., newspaper.
I do not believe it was a coincidence that the leak came the day before Attorney General Alberto Gonzales testified before Congress on charges that his office was overly partisan in its firing of eight U.S. Attorneys, especially considering Gonzales specifically cited his recent prosecution of Republican members of Congress as evidence to the contrary.
In my mind, these events clearly indicate that there was more behind the search of our home than the pursuit of justice.
The vultures are also beginning to circle, as potential candidates to succeed Doolittle begin to jockey for position. If he hangs on long enough to run for another term, his Democratic opponent from last year, Charlie Brown, who came within a few percentage points of taking him out, would have an excellent chance to defeat him. If, however, Doolittle could be persuaded (or forced) to stand aside, a new Republican candidate could presumably hold the congressional seat in a district that was tailor-made for the GOP. It increasingly appears that John T. Doolittle, a scoundrel who has long stayed one step ahead of the hangman's noose, is dead political meat. Will no one defend him?
john herstek wrote on May 8, 2007 6:46 PM:
Nothing like first-hand experience of the USA PATRIOT ACT, since he didn't read it, he can learn about it like the rest of us—what a dunce.
Dan wrote on May 7, 2007 8:50 PM:
He voted for the patriot act to protect our country from people like him. He's lucky they didn't need to waterboard him to get him to cooperate.
Felix wrote on May 7, 2007 1:12 PM:
I too enjoy the irony of a Patriot Act supporter whining about his besmirched reputation and the horror of having policeman pawing through his personal belongings. More to the point, if he and his cronies had done their job of being partners in government and keeping presidential power in check instead of being rubber stamps, there wouldn't be so much slime uncovered every day. Perhaps Mr. Doolittle would like to show a date for the search that would not have been a coincidence.
Even a sleaze-meister like Doolittle retains a few indignant supporters. Here's one who expressed himself in the April 25, 2007, Letters to the Editor column of The Sacramento Bee:
It's nice to hear one of the voices of moderation from Doolittle's shrinking troop of camp followers. I'm glad I took some time out from the busy work of destroying America to catch up on my newspaper reading! All that stuff about habeas corpus and due process and legal representation—you know, the stuff that Rep. Doolittle viewed askance until quite recently—is now suddenly very popular among his last defenders.
He's innocent until proven guilty
Re “If nothing to hide, why a raid?” letter, April 21: Liberals contend Rep. John Doolittle needs to step down. Whatever happened to “innocent until proven guilty”?
Don't forget the Duke lacrosse team and how they were nearly railroaded. But that's the liberal mind-set!
More of us need to speak up and denounce this cancerous attitude of liberalism that only serves to divide and spread hate among us the American people. Rain down on the liberal fires that will destroy America.
—Robert Nielsen, Roseville
Funny how that works.
