Jim, surely you aren’t arguing that Republicans ought to have followed the Democrats’ example with Clinton, and tribally closed ranks around the besieged politician regardless of the moral principles involved. I don’t want to be part of a party that says, “Our guy, right or wrong.” I think a principled politician wants to hold power to do something, not just for its own sake. The Clinton affair revealed that many Democrats were happy to sell out their own professed views on women’s rights, sexual harrassment and suchlike, for the sake of raw power. That was disgraceful, and I don’t want to see the GOP act the same way. As Ol’ Trent’s BET shuck-and-jive proves, with Majority Leader Lott in place, you’d see the Stupid Party roll over on judicial nominations, affirmative-action rollbacks, and anything that the Congressional Black Caucus squawks about, simply as the price of keeping a compromised Lott in power. The party should be about principle, not personality. Granted, it’s easier to say this because Lott doesn’t seem to have much personality, but the point still stands.