We all know that DailyKos is a great site, the grandaddy of so many others, and that Markos is a sharp guy. Every once and a while we are reminded that Markos is also a great writer and thinker. Today is such a day. I'm posting his excellent post, "Right and Wrong" in toto. I think it's as about as a concise, no bullshit rendering of what's happening with the modern Republican party as I've read in a long, long time. I hope you'll read the whole thing.

Right and Wrong

In the days after the discovery of Deep Throat's identity, many people noted how Watergate would be impossible in today's political climate -- where partisanship trumps the truth inside a GOP machine so deeply entrenched in this country's governance structure that it controls the White House, House, Senate, Supreme Court, most appelate courts, and the media. And where the GOP can do no wrong, regardless of the ethical or criminal transgression.

It is quite instructive and shocking, even with this administration, that the outing of a CIA agent, her front company, and god knows how many other agents and operations, is met with a collective shrug from wingnut circles. While a blow job gave them the vapors, a genuine breach of national security gives them no pause, gives them no reason to abandon "the architect". Political power trumps everything -- even the safety of our nation.

Given what we know of the case, we know that Rove violated his non-disclose agreement. We know that Rove acted unethically, without regard to the consequences of his actions. Whether a crime has been committed remains to be seen, but shouldn't matter a whit.

The technical letter of the law isn't a shield from accountability, an antidote to endangering national security, an amnesiac from the lies McClellan -- and by extension Bush and Co -- spewed to the American people two years ago.

Right-thinking people -- even Republicans -- should look at these unfolding events with horror. I would certainly feel betrayed and angry if a Democratic administration thusly endangered national security and undermined our non-proliferation efforts. I wouldn't make apologies for it. I wouldn't rationalize it, attempt to distract with irrelevant, tangential points. I would demand accountability.

But to modern-day Republicans and their apologists, they can do no wrong. No Republican's action is worthy of scorn or censure. They are perfect. Flawless. Immune to error. Godlike.

How someone could be reduced to that level is beyond me. Republicans have now sent notice that they place allegiance to party and power above their allegiance to the United States of America. To them, the elephant flies above the Stars and Stripes.

The Democratic majorities were undone in large part to the endemic corruption that afflicted the long-entrenched Democratic majorities in the House and Senate. It's the curse of any party that rules for too long, the insidious creep of hubris, corruption, and sense of entitlement which we, as a species, can't seem to avoid.

The GOP is now facing those very same pressures, and exposing that corruption and hubris in spectacular fashion to the American public. A party that believes it holds a "permanent majority" is under no pressure to behave ethically and work for the common good above all else. Their missteps have been big. Their crimes increasingly brazen.

And their own partisans, their foot soldiers, refuse to hold their party accountable. Rather, they join in the rationalizations and embolden their leaders to stay the course. No crime against the nation is bad enough for these guys. No ethical violations too distasteful. They applaud and cheer from the sidelines, as though their nation and their party is somehow well served by such shenanigans. Neither are.

I don't care about the Republican Party. They can continue to rot from within. But I do care about this country and so do a lot of folks who suddenly don't like what they're seeing. The GOP can continue to pretend that rot smells like roses, even as the stench nauseates the rest of us.

That disconnect can only help quicken their eventual exit. The big question, however, is how much damage they will inflict on the nation's national security before they're gone.

--all emphasis mine

Not much I can add to that.

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