The Goode, The Bad, The Ugly -- Oh, They're All The Same

Being in Virginia, I rarely expect my politicians to make me proud.

There's George Allen and his racist remarks during the 2006 campaign. There's Virgil Goode, the redneck congressman from southwestern Virginia who criticized a recently elected Minnesota representative for choosing to take his oath of office on the Koran. There's the old fool in the state legislature who said blacks should "get over" slavery. There's the homophobe state legislator who tried to shut down gay clubs in public high schools. There's the dummy, also in our august assembly, who tried to ban extremely baggy pants that expose underwear.

Wow. (All but the baggy-pants guy were Republicans, by the way.)

On the other hand, Allen lost his re-election campaign last fall, in large part because of the "Macaca" comment. Goode was condemned for his religious intolerance. Virginia, not long after the "get over it" comment, became the first state in the nation to formally express regret for its role in slavery. The state senate told the house to get real and quickly killed the anti-gay club measure. And the baggy-pants proposal also was DOA in the senate.

So, while we have an uncommon number of dumb politicians, their ideas usually are shot down.

One politician who has always had my respect, however, is John Warner. I've rarely agreed with him on the issues, but he has always seemed reasonable and gentlemanly. In recent weeks, though, the 80-year-old Republican -- and former husband of Elizabeth Taylor -- has stunned me. First, he and Chuck Nagel of Nebraska became the leading GOP senators to oppose Bush's escalation in Iraq. Then, a few weeks ago, Warner weighed in on Gen. Peter Pace's bigoted comments about gays. The day before, Pace -- chairman of the joint chiefs of staff -- told the Chicago Tribune that homosexual acts were "immoral." Warner told him he was full of shit.


"I respectfully, but strongly, disagree with the chairman's view that homosexuality is immoral," Warner said in a written statement. Now, that goes above and beyond the call of duty. Warner, as a Republican in a still fairly conservative state, could have kept silent on the issue. Instead, he joined the voices that are helping tip the nation toward acceptance of gay lifestyles.

For a change, I'm proud. Well, until I see shit like this -- from Mr. Goode again, this time spewing his racism on the U.S. House floor: