One Big Mess-a

ABC News' Rick Klein attacks Congressman Massa as the utterer of "[s]elf-contradicting, borderline paranoid ramblings" in what may -- or may not -- be a preemptive strike against someone who's going to have a lot of critical things to say about Democratic dealmaking in the health care debate.

It strikes me that any conservative who cares about maintaining credibility in the health care debate will resist the impulse to support Massa. Doing so will allow Obama to play "rope a dope." If a damning ethics report is released on the congressman, those who supported him will be used by the White House in an effort to portray the face of opposition to ObamaCare as unprincipled, even a little crazy.

Certainly, it's not hard to believe that Massa was run out of the House quickly because he was a "no" vote on ObamaCare. But it's also entirely possible that he committed a number of unsavory acts that are unworthy of a US Representative.

If conservatives embrace an unethical congressman simply because some of what he says proves to be of (transient) political advantage to us, how are we any better than Nancy Pelosi embracing Charles Rangel and John Murtha?