The Congress We Deserve

If there is one thing we have learned from history it's this: it's probably too much to expect our congressmen to be excessively burdened by smarts, good sense, or good morals. Still, this article  (in the Times style section!) is an embarrassment. The Sanchez sisters show themselves to be silly, over emotional, and shallow (Loretta has a myspace page!). But, they always vote the "correct" way so all is forgiven. The thought that people like this having been voting on TARP, the auto bailout, the Iraq War, the Patriot Act, etc. is unnerving. 

The bulk of the article concerns Linda's pregnancy. Oh, you didn't know that a member of Congress is pregnant? And that she is not married? And that the "man" who knocked her up is the sort of non-commital bounder who says things like "we have the rest of our lives to get engaged, get married, have a party" when asked whether he is going to marry his pregnant girlfriend? I'll give Linda an "A" for keeping the baby and an "F" for good judgment. And I'll give the "Times" a "C" for at least publicizing this lapse, although one wonders how the Times would have covered this if Linda wasn't so "colorful". 

It goes without saying, I think, that a Republican woman who bent the rules to get her office painted a "special" color, who posed for sex kittenish photos, and who was pregnant with an out-of-wedlock child would not be getting this sort of glowing coverage.