GOP makes much ado about the size of Pelosi's plane / The House speaker has had the use of a government jet since the Sept. 11 attacks

koppie

GOP makes much ado about the size of Pelosi's plane / The House speaker has had the use of a government jet since the Sept. 11 attacks
"They're trying to make something out of something that's not there. They have nothing else to talk about so they're making an issue of this.''

That sums it up.  This is typical GOP partisanship.  When Pelosi was elected House Minority Leader, the only thing the Republicans could say about her was she was a "San Francisco liberal."  Oh my God, really?  Not a San Francisco liberal!  Even among liberals, we all know that the San Francisco kind is the worst!

Honestly, I'm not even sure what "San Francisco liberal" means, or how it is different from any other kind of liberal.  You know who's really nutty?  Berkeley liberals and Santa Cruz liberals.  But Pelosi isn't from Berkeley or Santa Cruz.

When Democrats criticize Republicans, it's over things like corruption in policy making, corruption in war spending, and lying about military intelligence.  When Republicans criticize Democrats, it's over sleeping with someone or flying in a plane.  I think there's a huge difference here.

This brings me back to a pet theory of mine: Democrats aren't as dirty as Republicans.  We don't have stories about Democrats colluding with the oil industry or handing no-bid government contracts to our buddies because it doesn't happen.  Democrats sometimes have failings in our personal lives--we are human, after all--but even then I think the Republicans are worse.  You don't hear about liberals who preach for family values and then hire male prostitutes.  You don't hear about Democratic congressmen sexually molesting little boys.  Really, how the hell can the conservatives claim the moral high ground?  But that's a different essay.
But the real bottom line: why do the Republicans need to find something about which to criticize the Democrats?  Why do we need to maintain this pattern of animosity?  Especially considering the GOP just lost the majority in both houses of Congress.  Don't these people know how to play nice?