Box Turtles Bad, Genocidal General’s Daughters Good

Just keeping my national GOP straight–well they seem to be making sure everyone is staying straight, but that’s a different story.

Today we get some Weller follow-up. First, from yesterdays Sun-Times, a suggestion to change committees. I’m curious about the bellicose Sun-Times editors–how would they feel about a Member of Congress marrying one of Saddam’s offsprings? I’m not kidding. Remember, I generally supported the war and still think we would have eventually fought a war in Iraq, I just wish we would have done it in a drastically different manner and on a different timeline. I have no use for Saddam, but what’s the difference here? How is Rios Montt’s daughter not a problem given her father is currently under house arrest for charges stemming from the campaign she helped run?

The Daily Southtown takes Weller to task:

We’re not going to try to tell Weller whom he should fall in love with. But we are concerned about the potential conflict of interests that his relationship with Rios Sosa presents. Weller is a member of the House International Relations Committee, and his betrothal to a high-ranking official of another country presents an obvious situation in which voters will have a right to wonder whether he is voting in their best interests or the best interests of the woman he loves. The people of Guatemala and its neighbors also will have a right to question American policy and Weller’s role in it.

Weller’s Democratic opponent, Tari Renner, is trying to make the marriage, which has not yet been scheduled, an issue in the campaign. Weller is dismissing the questions as “unfortunate” and “beyond the bounds of decency.” We disagree. Weller needs to explain himself to voters, tell them how they can be sure he is representing only them and he needs to seriously consider getting off the International Relation Committee and seeking another appointment.

The Pantagraph takes a relatively tough line:

Weller’s staff was right in saying “love has no boundaries,” but there are some boundaries that elected representatives have to draw in the name of U.S. security. We can’t say Weller has crossed that line, but he’s sure tiptoeing down it.

Let me set up a rather easy to imagine story. Rios Montt is installed in a military coup. Charges dismissed and he continues where he left off slaughtering Mayans. The US considers sending troops to avoid genocide and in doing so target the leadership of the Party for arrest. What does Weller do?

This isn’t marrying an MP from Great Britain. Hell, it isn’t marrying a member of the Guatemalan assembly that is from a truly democratic party. This is marrying a party leader in a party whose very leader is under arrest on charges of trying to subvert an election and has a history of enforcing his will through the slaughter of innocents.