Opinion: If a Liberal Had Done That ...

(Oct. 5) -- Can you imagine if the scandals surrounding the current crop of tea party candidates were instead the actions of liberals?

Imagine if a liberal candidate for high office had a 10-year-old love child he'd just recently told his wife about; would the right stay silent? And then what if this pugnacious candidate threatened to "take out" a reporter who used freedom of the press to reveal this information. What if this same candidate had forwarded a bunch of racially bigoted and sexually graphic e-mails and bragged about it?

Would Barack Obama have become president of the United States with this history? He was raked over the coals for going to a guy's house for coffee. Bill Clinton didn't have a love child when he had his extramarital affair, and he was impeached for it. But tea party favorite Carl Paladino thinks he can be the next governor of New York.

And what if a liberal had said he or she dabbled in witchcraft and became a Christian because the Hare Krishnas wouldn't let her eat her beloved meatballs? Obama is falsely accused of practicing one of the world's great religions and still criticized for having gone to the same Christian church for 20 years, but anti-sex, evolution-denying Christine O'Donnell is heralded as Sarah Palin's mini-me.

And if this same Democratic candidate had been accused by the IRS of not paying taxes, used campaign funds to pay bills, defaulted on a mortgage and falsely stated an educational background, somehow the right-wing message machine, cable news and talk radio would be in overdrive.

How would the right react if a liberal had a daughter who got pregnant before getting married? You can be sure you'd have GOP opponents railing about family values, especially if she then flaunted herself on "Dancing with the Stars." And what if this left-winger quit her job as governor after a couple of years to make gobs of money after already attending five colleges in six years? She'd be renounced as having no work ethic, just like those "welfare queens."

How would conservatives react to liberals who said one thing and did another? Paladino promotes smaller government while getting millions of dollars in tax breaks. Sharron Angle, the Nevada anti-government U.S. Senate candidate, receives government-run health care while living off her husband's pension. Anti-government crusader Rep. Michele Bachmann is a triple-dipper, getting government largess from three sources.

Republicans love to brag that they drum out those with questionable behavior: witness Tom DeLay, Duke Cunningham, Mark Foley and Larry Craig. But Louisiana Sen. David Vitter received a standing ovation from his Republican Senate colleagues after it was revealed he was on the phone list of the D.C. madam, and he serves to this day. So does Nevada's John Ensign, although it's unclear for how long. Meanwhile, the once-Grand Old Party is busy defending the antics and ethics of a current crop of ragtag wannabes, so desperate are they to regain power.

So, do me a favor, conservatives, apply the same standards to yourselves that you do to liberals. And don't talk to me about "values" until you exhibit some yourselves.