Lautenberg was right

Sen. Frank Lautenberg - a New Jersey Democrat and the oldest member of the Senate - died today at the age of 89.

I was a critic of Lautenberg from the left, but he was right about some things. One of Lautenberg's best moments was in 2005 when he was one of few who called for an official investigation of the Bush regime's payoffs of columnists. In that Bush scandal - one of many - the White House used taxpayer funds to pay media commentators to promote Bush policies. The Bush regime paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to Armstrong Williams, Maggie Gallagher, and Michael McManus to spread right-wing propaganda.

The Democratic establishment should have listened to Frank Lautenberg when he called for a probe of this scandal. But that was "off the table", I hear.

Lautenberg was also a strong opponent of private school vouchers - an unconstitutional, wasteful, socially hazardous program adored by the Far Right and The Media. The "schools are factories" crowd that dominated the Republicans and infiltrated the Democrats sweated cannonballs every time a senator opposed this failed project.

This must be said every day for the foreseeable future: I'm well to the left of the Democratic establishment, but while the Democrats sometimes still have something of value to offer, the Republicans have utterly outlived their usefulness. Do you honestly think the party of Mitch McConnell, Paul Ryan, and Ted Cruz can really fly in 2013? Anybody today who'd make any real effort to put the GOP in charge of anything is only making themselves look like fools.