Question for my Dem friends here: Do any of you still support DeWeese? I had a strong Dem buddy of mine tell me over the weekend that he feels “DeWeese should be in jail, right next to Veon”. While DeWeese hasn’t been charged in the case, if ignorance was against the law, surely the Wily Wordsmith would be no more. Fate seems to be starring down DeWeese though, no? Once a leader loses the support of his own caucus (i.e., Newt Gingrich in ’98, and Denny Hastert in ’06, to a lesser extent), it’s virtually impossible to be effective in waging legislative battles. DeWeese’s support appears to be at a low right now, with little chance of reversal. Another question for Dems might be: who best fills the void left by DeWeese?

I am a Democrat, but DeWeese lost my support a long time ago. If he was not so arrogant, he would step down as majority leader.I don’t expect him to give up his cushy job unless so much pressure is applied by his caucus that he is forced out of his position. It would not surprise me if voters elected him to the House again despite Bonusgate and all his other shenanigans that have been reported over the years. That’s sad!!

Keith McCall should be installed as the next majority leader. His behind-the-scenes leadership has been instrumental in passing much of this past year’s legislation, esp. since Rep. DeWeese commands the same respect of the alternate party as Pres. George Bush.

His leadership would give us a continuity of what’s been good in Harrisburg while he is unafraid to promote the fresh faces to give us more of what can be better.

Call me old fashioned, but I believe in the concept of accountability, which means that a leader is accountable for what happens under his or her watch and resigns when something goes wrong. It was Profumo who had the affair, but Prime Minister Harold MacMillin resigned. Similarly, we frequently read about military scandals that result in commanding officers resigning, even though they did not know of the misconduct. The reason is that they should have known.

This notion of accountability is closely related to that other old fashioned concept, shame. In Japan, leaders who were accountable for the failures of others neverthless committed ritual suicide as a result of shame.

Now I would not favor suicide. But, where is the shame? How arrogant to pretend to be a victim. Clinton should have resigned, Bush should resign, and DeWeese should resign. I am afraid that all three are shameless, but they are hardly blameless.

DeWeese should resign, because it is the right thing to do. This isn’t about him. He doesn’t own his office, as much as he acts like it is an entitlement. He should resign because under his leadership, those around him abused their positions, and his resignation and the election of new leadership is what is necessary to restore public confidence that leaders will take steps to know what those under them are doing, or face the consequences of being held accountable.

DeWeese, as a former Marine, knows that is the right thing, the Corps thing, to do. He doesn’t do it because he is incapable of feeling shame. He should be ridden out of town on a rail if he fails to do the right thing and step aside.

I draw your memory back to January 2007. Rather than let John Perzel steal the Speakership, Bill DeWeese did an honorable thing and withdrew his name for Speaker and instead chose Dennis O’Brien in a show of bipartisanship. This choice led to the Speaker’s Legislative Reform Commission and more positive change than we’ve seen in either the House or Senate during the past decade. Kudos to Bill DeWeese for picking Dennis O’Brien and for leading the House Democrats this session during a tumultous two years. The House Democratic Majority accomplished a lot for the people of PA — energy reforms, prominent education funding, a smoking ban, health care changes and let’s not forget open records that so many people cried out for and said couldn’t be done with DeWeese in charge.