iOS app Android app More  Larisa Alexandrovna  Larisa
Alexandrovna  Posted January 30, 2009 | 12:28 PM (EST)
Republican Senator Howard Baker once asked "What did the
President know and when did he know it?" when it became clear
that then-President Nixon was involved in the Watergate scandal.
Back then Republicans were about small government, fiscal
responsibility, and the rule of law. Back then Democrats were
about accountability, labor fairness, and limiting corporate
influence in government. Much has changed since those days, when
Congress acted as a check on the Executive Branch and a single
break-in was enough to spark a serious Congressional inquiry
into White House dirty tricks and abuses of power.  The
Republicans in office now are by and large social reactionaries
who have helped expand government powers, depleted the US
Treasury, and disregarded the rule of law. Democrats have not
done better. When Speaker Pelosi declared that the impeachment
of President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney was "o