Healey Calls For Kerry Senate Resignation

The other shoe just dropped. Massuchusetts Lt. Governor Kerry Healey has accused Senator John Kerry of being AWOL from the Senate.

Healey, Bush's campaign co-chairwoman in Massachusetts, accused Kerry of having abandoned his duties in the Senate by missing 87 percent of the roll calls this year and 64 percent last year because he was campaigning for the presidency.

The Healey attack was followed later in the day by former Senate Majority Leader Robert Dole's call for Kerry to resign.

In calling for Kerry to resign, Healey became the public voice for national Republicans and Bush campaign officials who have been privately grumbling for months that the Massachusetts senator should be pressured -- by pundits, media columnists, and perhaps members of his own party -- to step down because of his nearly total absence from the Senate chambers since he launched his presidential bid last September.

When Kerry has skipped Senate votes on high-profile legislation, be it Iraq military funding or prescription drug policies, Republican officials have inundated reporters arguing that Kerry is hypocritical in bashing Bush on those issues while not taking the time to speak out and vote on them. The Bush campaign keeps a running log of Kerry's missed votes, now more than 130 pages long.

Here's a link to an online petition you can sign, urging Senator Kerry to resign. A passage that I found particularly amusing:

You have asserted that it is relevant to this campaign that President Bush allegedly missed a physical while he served in the National Guard decades ago – you and the DNC have described him as being AWOL, though he made up his missed time and was honorably discharged. The implication is that neglect of official duty is relevant to this campaign. If this is the case, then it is, by implication, relevant that your attendance record in the 108th Congress was a dismal 36%, i.e. you have failed to execute your duties to your constituents as their Senator 64% of the time in the last congress. Please explain why it is relevant that President Bush allegedly missed some time while serving his country in the National Guard decades ago, but it is not relevant that you have failed to represent your own constituents almost two-thirds of the time last session – i.e. that you were “AWOL” from the Senate. As you may be aware, 2 USC § 39 mandates that,” The Secretary of the Senate … shall deduct from the [salary] of each Member . . . the amount of his salary for each day that he has been absent from the Senate . . . unless such Member . . . assigns as the reason for such absence the sickness of himself or of some member of his family.” Please explain why you feel you are exempt from this federal law.

I love the Internet...

- Cassandra