Just what does that involve? Let’s say you are in the US military, you are sent to fight a war. You rely on your government to supply you with the best support it can muster, right? Except for people like Duke, who are on the take. Contracts don’t go to those best qualified, but those who pay people off.

I really don’t care if Randy is gay. Good on ya’, I say. But when such a man issues diatrbes against gays, isn’t there something wrong?

Similarly, I don’t care if Dick Cheney’s daughter is gay. But when she works for her father’s reelection, supporting a party that actively works to support discrimination against gays, isn’t there something wrong? Mary, Duke, what’s with the whiteface?

And moving on, when Colin Powell, Condoleeza Rice, Clarence Thomas and Ken Blackwell mouth their sweet somethings, how do they feel the morning after? Is it all simply a question of gettin’ yours? Are you any different from Mary Cheney and the Dukester?

Witness the past few years. We’ve had that paragon of Republican moral virtue, William Bennett, admit to a serious gambling jones. We’ve had fright-wing DJ Rush Limbaugh admit to being a junkie. We’ve had the virtuous Bill O’Reilly pay off an ex-staffer because his desire to rub certain condiments all over her “spectacular boobs” became public. We’ve had right-wing journalists being paid with tax dollars to become shills for the executive branch, including one who was given White House access while simultaneously running a male hooker ring!

We’ve got the chief-of-staff of the House Majority Leader pleading guilty to serious crimes. We’ve got the chief-of-staff of the Vice President under indictment. We’ve got the Senate Majority Leader under investigation for securities crimes. And all this happening when their own party is in control of virtually every lever of government.

Is it just me? I’m looking for a bit of outrage from those who claim the moral monopoly. From those who “support our troops,” support “family values.” I’m looking for a bit of outrage from those who really believe that homosexuality is a sin. Are you out there?

I’m looking for something from the 30 percenters. Give us just a few slender tendrils that show there is still some monofilament connecting you to a sense of right and wrong, to morals grounded in something other than me, my and mine.

Please, explain. But in doing so, please find an excuse other than Clinton to explain it away.

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