They really ARE evil

Sometimes I think I give the right-wing Republicans a bad rap. Maybe I just let my contempt for Bush or their positions on various issues like abortion rights or the environment or, oh, I don't know, teaching creationism in the public schools, get the better of me.

Then I find out that several Republican Congressmen are standing in the way of toughening animal cruelty laws in the wake of the Mitchael Vick fiasco, and I realize, nah, I'm not being too hard on them. As The Washington Post reports, they are scum.

In the wake of the Vick scandal, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has been spotlighting a number of GOP votes against the anti-animal fighting bill, including that of Sam Graves (R-MO) and top House GOP leaders. Only two Democrats - Reps. David Boren (D-Okla.) and Ruben Hinojosa (D-Texas) - voted against the bill.

Meanwhile, I see the prosecutor in the Vick case is going to recommend the low end of the penalties for his case. Just to remind you, that case is this:

In documents filed in U.S. District Court in Richmond, the Atlanta Falcons quarterback said he helped put dogs through test-fighting sessions as recently as April and agreed with co-conspirators to kill dogs that didn't perform well. The dogs were then executed by methods such as hanging and drowning, though the documents do not say that Vick participated in the killings.

Oh yeah, that's a guy who should get the low end of the penalties.