Then there is Dennis Kucinich - the diminutive giant in the House of Representatives. The American Congressman from the 10th District of Ohio who refuses to be silenced. The Democratic candidate for President who passionately upholds his oath to protect the people and Constitution of the United States of America from all enemies both foreign and domestic. Not as an oral exercise when sworn into office - but as a moral exercise every day in office.

For Dennis Kucinich, nothing and no one will suppress his allegiance to his country and to his abiding principle of "strength through peace."

So when Speaker Pelosi tells the cowards in her House that "impeachment is off the table" because the fight to impeach is too hard, Kucinich doesn't believe her. No one ever told him being a Congressman would be easy. No one ever told him maintaining democracy was a cinch. When the President and Vice President commit acts as egregious as lying the nation into illegal war, illegally surveilling their own citizens, endorsing and allowing torture, and more, the strong don't stay quiet...Read More on Commondreams.org...

Today in Washington I was in the room as the greatest living American received a medal. George W. Bush, Nancy Pelosi and others were present. But will you ever hear this event occurred? To judge from tonight's major network evening newscasts, perhaps not. Cameras were allowed at the ceremony but I saw none from the major networks, though the international press was significantly represented. And will you recognize this great man's name when I say it?

The far-left in America and Europe has an underlying craziness for which I am deeply thankful. This craziness does have a redeeming quality: it is driven by a certain brave consistency. That keeps it from being merely comic. Even so, it comes to the rescue of conservatives just when things are beginning to look gloomy.

What is entrepreneur Vinod Gupta thinking? First it is reported that the InfoUSA CEO has been funneling millions of dollars to Bill Cinton, supposedly for "consulting." Gupta paid the good ol' boy $.2.1 million, and has promised him an additional $1.2 million. Gupta has also been flying the Clintons around in his corporate jet.

Now we find out from Newsmax that Gupta has placed Paul Pelosi, son of Nancy Pelosi, on his payroll to the tune of $180,000 a year. What's strange about this is that--a) Pelosi is supposed to be a full-time employee but he already holds another job, as home loan office for Countrywide Loans in San Mateo, California, b) as a home mortgage loan officer, Pelosi would seem to have little knowledge or experience in the kid of database business that InfoUSA is, and c) Pelosi was hired as senior vice president on February 1, just a couple of weeks after Pelosi became speaker of the house.

The latest Gallup poll shows Congress with an approval rating of 29 percent. This compares unfavorably with President Bush's approval rating, which stands at 33 percent according to the same poll. Moreover, Congress' 64 percent disapproval rating is one point higher than that of the last Congress just before the 2006 elections.

Why is this Congress viewed so unfavorably? Part of the explanation lies in the inherent unpopularity of the institution as it has evolved. At the beginning of the year, Congress' approval rating was only 37 percent even though every member of the House had just won the popular vote in his or her district.

However, the poor performance of the Reid-Pelosi Congress surely helps account for the decline since that time. As I noted the other day, Congress has started to resist the ethics reform it promised voters, legislation that might help reverse prevailing perceptions of Congress and make that body less inherently unpopular.

But it's not just Democratic addiction to the "culture of corruption" that's at work here. The fact is that this Congress has failed thus far to enact any high-profile domestic legislation. As the Washington Post puts it, "not a single priority on the Democrats' agenda has been enacted, and some in the party are growing nervous that the "do nothing" tag they slapped on the Republicans last year could come back to haunt the party."

Perhaps Nancy Pelosi should discontinue her foolish outreach program to anti-American Middle Eastern dictators and focus more on enacting the reform legislation she promised the American people.

UPDATE: John Hinderaker has more on this story at Power Line.

In a post from earlier today, John Hinderaker noted how House Democrats are keeping Andrews Air Force base hopping with their various taxpayer subsidized junkets around the world (and I'm not talking about Syria). Although the House Dems ran against the "culture of corruption" in Congress, the subtext apparently was their desire to gain control of the institution in order to take maximum advantage of that culture. The story of politicians running against corruption only to succumb eventually to the very corruption they oppose is familiar one. What's unique here is the absence of a transition period -- when it comes awarding themselves perks at the taxpayers expense, the Dems have hit the ground running.

But a closer look shows that the Dems never really curtailed their corruption when they were out of power. As noted here and here, leading House Dems including Jack Murtha, William Jefferson, John Conyers, Bennie Thompson, and Alan Mollohan have been major players in the culture of corruption.

The 12 years during which the House Dems were out of power could not have been pleasant. High caliber members like Dick Gephardt and Vic Fazio, despairing of the party's ability to recapture the majority and put them in a position where they could do good (as they see it), eventually left in frustration. Many who stayed probably did so because of the perks available even to minority members, as well (in some cases) as the opportunities for personal enrichment. Perhaps they figured that being a congressman beats working for a living; perhaps they were not much in demand in the business world. In any case, now that their power has been restored we shouldn't be surprised to see stories like the one about their travel excesses.

By 1994, when the voters finally got fed up with the Democrats and handed control of Congress to the Republicans, the Democrats had pretty much turned the institution into a three ring circus. Only three months after regaining power, the Democrats haven't reached their nadir of the early 1990s, but they're well on the way.

In the Examiner, Charles Hurt reports that the Democrats are losing no time awarding themselves perks, now that they are in the Congressional majority:

Congress is keeping Andrews Air Force base plenty busy this year ferrying lawmakers all over the globe at taxpayers' expense. Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi took his wife, nine Democrats and two Republicans - Reps. Dan Lungren of California and Mike Rogers of Alabama - on a whirlwind tour of the Caribbean last week. After stops in Honduras and Mexico, they stopped in the U.S. Virgin Islands, where the delegation stayed at the five-star Caneel Bay resort.

In a separate trip to the Caribbean last week, Rep. Eliot Engel of New York squired his wife and four Democratic members to Grenada and Trinidad.

All told, the military flew at least 13 congressional delegations to various destinations during the Easter recess -- at an estimated rate of $10,000 or more per flying hour.

Yes, and just think about all that carbon dioxide. More:

...House guidelines also stipulate that delegations include members of both parties to qualify for military planes -- a requirement that Speaker Nancy Pelosi waived for Engel's group and two other delegations.

Some of the excuses for the Dems' junkets bordered on hilarious:

Thompson's office said he toured the Caribbean because he now chairs the Homeland Security Committee and wanted to see vacation hot spots to "examine border security and port security." Three other members of the delegation also brought along their spouses.

"They are going from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. everyday," a committee spokeswoman told The Examiner. "They do not have down time."

At the Caneel Bay resort, where room rates reach $1,100 per night, the spokeswoman said Thompson and his wife paid the "government rate." But, according to the reservations department, Caneel Bay doesn't "offer any government rates."

Maxine Waters is one Congresswoman who really gets around:

Traveling with Engel and his wife were Reps. Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., Sheila Jackson-Lee, D-Tex., and Barbara Lee, D-Calif. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., who went to Belgium in a delegation led by Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., earlier in the week, also joined Engel's Caribbean trip. She brought her husband with her.

The Caribbean is nice this time of year, but some Congressmen prefer Europe:

Frank's trip to Belgium and London was related to his work as chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, according to his office. The trip, which also included Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Wis., was designed "to further understand the interrelationship between various issues related to the financial services regulatory structures" of the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union, according to Frank's office.

Rep. Jim Oberstar, D-Minn., also led a trip to Belgium over the two-week Easter recess. In February, Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, took a delegation there.

Makes sense to me. I mean, if you want to understand "financial services regulatory structures," you need to tour some Belgian banks so you can see for yourself. I'm a little unsure, though, how Belgium fits in with Oberstar's committee duties, which he describes as follows:

As the senior Democrat on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, I serve as an Ex Officio member of the Subcommittees on Aviation, Coast Guard & Maritime Transportation, Public Buildings & Economic Development, Railroads, Surface Transportation, and Water Resources & Environment. I have worked tirelessly to improve safety and efficiency for the traveling public.

I suppose he could be worried about the safety of those New York to Brussels flights. You have to admire Oberstar: putting his life on the line for his constituents!

Their twelve years in the wilderness reminded the Democrats of the perks they missed out on by losing the majority. Unfortunately, their conduct now that they're once more in charge is likely to remind the voters why they tossed them out last time around.

For Saint Paul, the road to Damascus was the road to Christianity and, from his point of view, the road to eternity.

For Nancy Pelosi, the road to Damascus is the path to peace. But since there is no way to envision "peace" being dispensed by a vicious, terrorist-supporting dictator like Bashar Assad, we have to conclude that Pelosi is putting us on.

I suspect that Pelosi sees the road to Damascus as the way for Democrats to seize the White House in 2008. In short, our burka-wearing, San Francisco grandmom is not doing foreign policy but domestic politics.

Lighting political matches in the oil-drenched minefields of the Middle East--It may or may not hurt the Republicans, but it's a heck of a way to treat America's national security.

Nancy Pelosi's trip to Damascus received rave reviews from an asortment of terrorists, but was the subject of concern in Israel and among certain liberal media outlets here at home. Now Lebanon's Daily Star weighs in, calling her trip a "fool's errand."

The Daily Star is unhappy that Pelosi told Syria's dictator that "the road to solving Lebanon's problems passes through Damascus." The Lebanon newspaper reminds the dilettante diplomat that "the spirit and letter of successive United Nations Security Council resolutions, as well as Saudi and Egyptian efforts in recent weeks, have been destined to ensure precisely the opposite [of what Pelosi is encouraging]: that Syria end its meddling in Lebanese affairs."

Nancy Pelosi's visit to Syria has met with the approval of Islamic Jihad and the terrorist from the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades who seized the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. But, to their credit, key elements of the liberal press in this country continue to be appalled by Pelosi's attempt at diplomacy with Syria. Thus, USA. Today finds that "Pelosi stepped out of bounds on [her] ill-conceived trip to Syria." USA. Today happens to disagree with the administration's policy of not talking to Syria. However, it understands that disagreement with the president is no excuse to "violate the long-held understanding that the United States should speak with one official voice abroad - even if the country is deeply divided on foreign policy back home." In other words, USA Today understands the meaning of loyal opposition in our democratic system.

The Israelis were not amused; the Washington Post was far from impressed, but Nancy Pelosi's trip to Syria is drawing rave reviews from terrorists. Indeed, a multipartisan terrorist consensus has coalesced to sing the praises of the House Speaker.

Khaled Al-Batch, a spokesman for Islamic Jihad, expressed hope that Pelosi would continue winning elections, and added that her Damascus visit demonstrated her understanding of the Middle East. Similary, Abu Abdullah, a leader of Hamas' military wing in the Gaza Strip, said the willingness by U.S. lawmakers to talk with Syria "is proof of the importance of the resistance against the U.S." To this terrorist, then, Pelosi's visit represents something like a reward for making war on the U.S. and its allies.

The aptly named Jihad Jaara, of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror group and the infamous leader of the 2002 siege of Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity, was perhaps the most eloquent of Pelosi's terrorist admirers. He gushed: "I think it's very nice and I think it's much better when you sit face to face and talk to Assad. It's a very good idea. I think she is brave and hope all the people will support her. All the American people must make peace with Syria and Iran and with Hamas?"