D is for Dodd, Daschle, Dumb and Dumber

Dear Senator Dodd,

You were treated as a VIP by Countrywide when you were also charged with overseeing them. You should acknowledge that your behavior in securing a loan through them does not pass the smell test at the very least.

You claim your wife provided the loan documents? Please. When -- for God's sake -- are any of you so-called leaders going to simply say "I am sorry. I recognize that this could have been handled differently. I will seek to do better. Please forgive me."

Is that too much to ask?

The American public has proven over and over that it can be forgiving and patient. Why bury us in legal briefs and third-party verifications after the fact? Why not just pledge to act transparently from the beginning?

Perhaps you've been in the Senate too long.

As for you, Senator Daschle...

I applaud you for stepping aside and for recognizing, ultimately, that you made some poor decisions. Good for you.

Why you needed to go through the process of trying to move your appointment to HHS along as far as you did is troubling. You did not pay your taxes. There is no way that you could not have known, from my view, that using a car and driver as often as you did was not taxable. If that is your excuse, then you are naive at best.

Drive your own car from now on. Simple.

To all Members of Congress:

We the people want you to lead us and we want you to succeed. We want to celebrate your talents and your hard work to reach such a position of responsibility. We want you to protect us and serve the greater good. We want you to believe that by working with other smart people you can solve the problems of the world. We elected you to a place we hold dear under a flag that many before you have died for -- many under horrendous conditions. Each time you make decision that is designed at its base to enrich yourself or your friends over the needs and necessities of the greater good, you spit in the face of the dead who helped build our democracy.

So, ask yourself:

Am I in Congress to serve the people, or myself? Be honest. It's a simple question. If you can't answer this question correcly, then what are you doing there? It is unethical and immoral for you to run for public office if your driving motivation is to serve your own ego. Illinois' disgraced former governor, Mr. Blagojevich may not have done anything illegal, but he made clear in plain language that he held the democratic process in contempt.

Am I in Congress to be a participant in a great democracy or a player in a small autocracy?

If you achieve a leadership position among leaders in the Congress, will you use your power to help people or to punish those who do not believe in your ideology?

Am I in Congress to practice the art of compromise or are you there to defend the dogma of the day served up by talk radio critics far from the "sausage factory" every day?

Finally, your legacy will depend on the small actions and kindnesses you take each day, not by large leaps of legislative action. You are the sum of your decisions, not your individual decisions no matter what cynical media pundits might suggest.