PrintNovember 8, 2009
Cao-wards
With his supporting vote for Nancy Pelosi's version of American socialized medicine, Joseph Cao has not only exposed himself as the latest traitor to the GOP, but as another spineless representative in Congress.
We've already discussed how vulnerable Cao was to be bought off by the Democrats in order to support their measure of health-care radicalization, but not the cowardliness he showed as he chose to do so.
The Hill reports:
Word had spread that the vulnerable lawmaker informed his leadership that he was going to support the Democratic healthcare bill, and he refused to speak with reporters in the short distance from the elevator to House floor.When the time came for the vote on final passage, Cantor slid into the seat right of Cao to continue pressuring the freshman lawmaker to oppose the vote and deny the White House any bipartisan edge to its victory.
Once the tally board lit up 218-213, however, Cao was free to put his congressional voting card in electronic key slot and cast an "aye" vote for the bill his party has dubbed "Pelosi's healthcare bill."
He did it quickly, and quietly, while the rest of the chamber was applauding for having cleared the vote threshold needed for passage, the vulnerable Republican was recorded as voting for the sweeping $1.2 trillion measure. (emphasis added)
First, does anyone else find it odd, that our type-A personality "public servants" can't wait to get in front of a microphone when they have the opportunity to make themselves look good, but they flee like a bird when those same mics ask them to be accountable for their irresponsible actions? Eh, Cao was only taking a page from Senator Boxer's playbook, so who can blame him? The media seem to notice when they are being ignored, but they don't bother holding our representatives' feet to the fire over it, so we should expect a continuation of this type of gutless behavior.
Second, by waiting to cast his vote until after the outcome had already been determined, Cao acted like a Phillies fan who decided to change t-shirts after the final out of Game Six. As a result, he sounds more like a fair-weather fan, who like Olympia Snowe, received a phone call from history and decided to pick up than a man who's fighting to do the right thing for his constituents - as Cao claimed.
Cao is one of our congressional representatives who has the power to authorize this nation to go to war. Collectively, they ask the brave men of our military to risk their lives to fight for what we all purport to believe in. But when do these representatives have to stand up for their own convictions? When does one of them have to explain this is what I believe and why? Apparently never. They can just dodge those who question them or do their deeds quietly and hope no one's paying attention.
Sorry to bust your bubble, but we are.
J.C. Arenas is a frequent contributor to American Thinker and welcomes your comments at jcarenas.com
