An Appeal From Center-Right Bloggers: Friends And Allies Of Rome, UNITE!

This will stay at the top of the page all day today. It's that important. If you're a blogger, and you read our site, go to Truth Laid Bear, and sign onto this movement. It's time that mountains were moved, and messages were sent. There will be no hiding from the status quo on this issue.

Yes, again bloggers are at the forefront. And we're signing onto the following:

We are bloggers with boatloads of opinions, and none of us come close to agreeing with any other one of us all of the time. But we do agree on this: The new leadership in the House of Representatives needs to be thoroughly and transparently free of the taint of the Jack Abramoff scandals, and beyond that, of undue influence of K Street.
We are not naive about lobbying, and we know it can and has in fact advanced crucial issues and has often served to inform rather than simply influence Members.

But we are certain that the public is disgusted with excess and with privilege. We hope the Hastert-Dreier effort leads to sweeping reforms including the end of subsidized travel and other obvious influence operations. Just as importantly, we call for major changes to increase openness, transparency and accountability in Congressional operations and in the appropriations process.

As for the Republican leadership elections, we hope to see more candidates who will support these goals, and we therefore welcome the entry of Congressman John Shadegg to the race for Majority Leader. We hope every Congressman who is committed to ethical and transparent conduct supports a reform agenda and a reform candidate. And we hope all would-be members of the leadership make themselves available to new media to answer questions now and on a regular basis in the future.

Signed,

N.Z. Bear, The Truth Laid Bear
Hugh Hewitt, HughHewitt.com
Glenn Reynolds, Instapundit.com
Kevin Aylward, Wizbang!
La Shawn Barber, La Shawn Barber's Corner
Lorie Byrd / DJ Drummond , Polipundit
Beth Cleaver, MY Vast Right Wing Conspiracy
Jeff Goldstein, Protein Wisdom
Stephen Green, Vodkapundit
John Hawkins, Right Wing News
John Hinderaker, Power Line
Jon Henke / McQ / Dale Franks, QandO
James Joyner, Outside The Beltway
Mike Krempasky, Redstate.org
Michelle Malkin, MichelleMalkin.com
Ed Morrissey, Captain's Quarters
Scott Ott, Scrappleface
The Anchoress, The Anchoress
John Donovan / Bill Tuttle, Castle Argghhh!!!

I bring this up because the last couple of days have focused around this in the household. It led to a "meeting of the minds" last night over the phone. Marcie and I spoke with Sabrina, and we're all in agreement. The new leader of the House must be one that won't cater to the Jack Abramoffs of the country. Further, those that have committed a crime--be they in the House or the Senate, liberal or conservative--need to go.

This Abramoff scandal is shaping up to be an albatross around the GOP's neck, especially, and going into an election cycle is really going to test their resolve. But, we've had enough of the garbage in Washington. The politicians there, long ago, forgot what the Founding Fathers meant by "elder statesmen" representing the nation. These politicos head to Washington with the singular goal to maintain their seat, and make a career out of simply sitting on their butts and spending our hard-earned money.

Now, the chickens have come home to roost. The Abramoff scandal, while not yet enough is known about it, will do this nation some good, hopefully. But it means that we have to force the hands of those on the Hill. They can't be allowed to cover up for their buddies. And while things look bad for the GOP because of who's connected to this scandal already, things will only get worse if they play the politics game.

This is also why we, at the Asylum, have been prompting people to quit giving money to the RNC and the NRSC. We don't get to choose where that money goes. It goes into a giant coffer that gets divied up amongst ALL the GOP candidates. Don't send them money when you know damn good and well it's going to end up in the hands of a politician instead of an elder statesmen. It's time for some new blood in DC, and it's time for the GOP to straighten up.

The party I love and belong to, for too long, has acted like little Democrats. They're overspending the budget. They're criticizing the president over the war. And now they're involved in a scandal on the Hill that makes Watergate look like a Tupperware party. (Hey, the Dems keep bringing up Watergate, so I can too.) This has got to stop. I hear far too many Republicans complaining about what's going on in Washington--the lack of support for the president, the lack of a spine to stand up to the Democrats, pork, overspending, ANWaR, the Patriot Act, not holding those accountable for the Katrina disaster, etc.--and they're fed up. They won't completely walk away from the party, but it is to a point now where they are becoming jaded about their own party.

In short, they've thrown their hands up and said "I just don't care because nothing will ever change."

This is that opportunity for change. And it's time for one. Everyone knows that I'm a man of the law. I uphold it. I respect it. I eat it, breathe it, sleep it, love it, and know it. I don't care if one of the heads that roll on Capitol Hill is my favorite congressmen. If they broke the law, they're gone. End of story. It could be a relative, and again I don't care; they're gone!

So, I put out the call to as many bloggers I know to sign on. Send the message to Congress that those that are involved in the scandal, should it be proved there was any wrongdoing, they need to go. Further, send a clear-cut, concise message to the House: Only a leader that is worthy of holding that post. That means no shenanigans with lobbyists, no backroom deals with Democrats, and no screwing around on the taxpayer's dimes. You want the position, you'd better be ready to do the job. The House can't afford to fall into the wallowing Hell the Senate has become.

And, we should be prepared for that, as well. Sen. Frist is retiring. He will no longer be the Majority Leader after January 2007. A replacement will be needed, and it had better be a good one. It needs to be someone who won't be afraid to get down in the mud and wrestle with the Democrats, nor can it be someone that's afraid of offending their precious sensibilities. The leader in the Senate must be a strong and wise individual that will work to pass the president's agenda, his nominees, and support the troops in harm's way.

But right now is the time to move and to strike on the House. This should be the first blow sent to our own party that enough is enough; we're mad as hell and we're not going to take it anymore. Straighten up, fly right, and do your jobs. The repercussions from the base won't be pleasent, otherwise.

And though we did not participate in the writing of this piece, Sabrina and I agree with this, and we have signed this post, along with Thomas, to make our voices heard, as well. We agree that changes must be made, and the GOP must stop it's wayward movement to the center-left.

Publius II
The Bunny ;)
Mistress Pundit

ADDENDUM: Hugh Hewitt has added a little twist to the idea of House people that want the empty job left by Tom DeLay's resignation. It's a questionnaire that potential candidates can fill out (through cut-and-paste, obviously). And despite it's humorous side, the intent is very, very clear.

If you're a status quo, dirtbag politician that has any ties to Jack Abramoff, or you'd be willing to sell your mother for some lobbyist money, don't bother applying. We want a change. We want accountability. We don't want the same old, same old. There should be no covering up of anyone involved with Abramoff. Let's get this cleaned up, and pronto. We have an election coming up this year, and the last thing we need are cover-your-ass politics being played.