More Ranting Kossacks

There were a lot of stupid predictions in 02 by Republicans after the election. This report over at The Daily Kos goes to great lengths to detail some of them. But, the Democrats face the danger—based on the current rhetoric in the media and on the web—of making taking on the same gloating superiority complex.
(…it seems to affect each party when it regains control of some lost portion of government…)

Also over at the Daily Kos, there was this posting on FBI investigations in congress and states legislatures. The posting refers to this article from the McClatchy Washington Bureau. The quote I liked most from the article?

“But even without an undercover operation, Heymann and other observers say they have been pleased with the GOP-controlled Justice Department's willingness to pursue old-fashioned investigations, even if they hurt congressional Republicans in Tuesday's elections.”

The Kos writer glossed right over that part. Another thing the Kos writer left out was:

But Reid Weingarten, a former Abscam prosecutor who now is a high-profile Washington criminal defense lawyer, said he would bet that the flurry of congressional cases has resulted from evidence "falling in their (investigators') laps," rather than a programmed FBI hunt for corruption.

That sounds like a nice way of saying "leaked information". It’s interesting to note that the two major stings referred to in the article netted more convictions on Democrats than on Republicans. In Abscam, during the 80’s, one Democratic senator and 6 Democratic Congressmen were convicted as opposed to one Republican. And, in Operation Tennessee Waltz, which ran from 2003 thru 2005, a total of 7 Democrats were charged, as opposed to 2 Republicans.

Finally, the writer for Kos needs to be pretty careful about this claim:

This sort of nonsense is exactly what happens under corporate crony one-party rule. Let's restore the balance Tuesday, shall we?

There is a current wave of Republicans getting caught with their hands in the wrong places. But, given past history, it may be more of problem for the Democrats than the Republicans.