Luke Judge

U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak, the underdog who beat Arlen Specter in Pennsylvania’s Democratic Senate primary, says he turned down a nice job offer by the Obama administration that would have kept him from challenging Specter.

That news has Washington Republicans all up in arms, outraged at such blatantly criminal and unethical behavior at the highest levels of American government.

Well. Kinda sorta. They are at least going through the motions of pretending to believe it’s an outrage, including calling for appointment of a special prosecutor and uttering that magic word they do love so well: “Impeachable.”

It just sounds so juicy and full of promise, doesn’t it? “Impeachable.” Certain mouths begin to water at the prospect.

But it’s laughable, and Republicans in Washington know it. You can see it in their body language and hear it in their voices, even as they profess to be appalled. These are people who can look the camera in the eye and tell you with a straight face that the sun will rise in the West tomorrow, but even they can’t work up much feigned anger at this.

Nor can the experts. Listen to Melanie Sloan, the head of CREW (Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics):

“There has never been a prosecution based on such facts and I find it impossible to believe there would be. I think this is really just politics as usual. Parties routinely do what they can to clear the field for preferred candidates.”

Listen to Richard Painter, chief ethics officer under the last President Bush, who says this “is nothing new and it hardly rises to the level of a major ethics controversy”:

Congress gives us plenty of genuine ethics concerns to worry about – particularly the role of campaign contributions which are de facto “bribes” (watch carefully what happens to the banking reform bill when it goes to House-Senate conference). Voters should not be distracted by media generated sideshows having little to do with what goes on in Washington.

Listen to Peter Zeidenberg, a former federal prosecutor with the Justice Department’s Public Integrity unit:

“Talk about criminalizing the political process! It would be horrible precedent if what really truly is political horsetrading were viewed in the criminal context of: is this a corrupt bribe?”

On the other side, of course, are such legal giants as Dick Morris, Sean Hannity and Karl Rove (who I see described on one conservative blog as “Carl Rove, who was George Bush’s legal adviser…).

If the White House had offered Sestak a job so that he would vote a certain way on a bill, or to buy his silence about an illegal or unethical act, this would have legs. But it’s nothing like that, and Washington Republicans know it. They also know that every administration since George Washington has tried to arrange the political landscape to its liking in exactly this manner. You’ve got a lot of people with ambition and talent jostling in Washington for position, and the folks at the top, at the White House, have always tried to stage-manage the process to protect their best interests. The same is true of every governor’s office in the country and in many a mayoral office as well.

What you’re seeing is the national GOP playacting — and playacting pretty poorly, with no heart in the performance — just to get the folks back home stirred up and full of hope.

drill Sets democratic senate primary, richard painter, straight face

Orange Park, FL

Things are going pretty well so far. We have a few people who actually want us to come back and teach them! Hopefully it all goes well. We have three people to be exact. Who knows where it’ll lead, but I’m sure it will turn out well.

I’m glad to hear everything is going well back home. I’m sorry to hear that Kendall just enjoyed a nice little foot surgery (which I also believe I have one, possibly two ingrown toenails, one of them not being on my big toe). I can only imagine just how much fun that must have been for her. But, Kendall is tough, and I’m willing to bet that she didn’t even cry.

Before I continue with anything: HAPPY BIRTHDAY BILLY, Mr. 15 YEARS OLD!!!!! How on earth are you 15?! You’re almost driving man!… Good job on making it this far, now keep on going!

As far as missionary boot camp is going, wow, I am gonna die! At least I can say we have decided to start at 5:30 in the morning instead of 4:30, but either way, Drill Sargent Jarvis is lighting our worlds on fire. We get up, and do the workout once in the morning, and once in the evening. The workout is this: 3 sets of 20 push-ups, 2 sets of 40 flat-leg (as in legs flat on the ground) sit-ups, 1 set of 25 squat thrusts, a 2.5 mile timed run, and then another round of push-ups, sit-ups, and squat thrusts. We’re doing it six times a week. Brother Jarvis, our wonderful Drill Sargent, is also planning out a diet for us, and I believe that rice and beans and other sources of high carbohydrates will be all we eat for the next little while. No sugary sweets, period. He has, however, promised that by the time he is done with us, we will both be the biggest and strongest two Elders in the mission. We’ll see. But, considering the workout is soon going to increase in difficulty, I don’t doubt it.

My pants are ripped along the inside seem of the pants, and that is because my legs are growing in size due to the excessive amount of biking we undertake each day. I don’t know if my legs have ever been this big before, but then again, they could have and I just didn’t realize it. Anyhow, my quads are 24 inches around (I got a tape measure;)). My Bi’s and calves are 16 inches (which I think is probably where they have been forever, I can’t remember…). I believe my chest is 45 inches around. And I can’t think of any other measurements. Dad, these are for you, so that you can track my progress. I took a “before” picture so that I can tell if this workout really works “after”. You’ll see pictures soon enough! Ahhh, I want to keep writing, but my Drill Sargent is on my tail, and I really need to get going.

Robbie emailed me–can you tell him I’ll email him back next week, please! I love you and I’ll write you a letter in the mail when I get back to the apartment!

drill Sets drill sargent, little foot, orange park fl, push ups sit ups, six times, sugary sweets