Richard Burr, Moral Midget

Thanks for Brother Doc for pointing out our Senator Burr's involvement in a rancid little piece of Senate puritanism. Burr is one of a mean gang of seven Republican senators who've used a parliamentary maneuver preventing action on the reauthorization of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).

It took a special person to denounce Burr and his fellow senators, but not a flaming liberal or even an HIV activist. No, it's Michael Gerson who points the finger at Burr, Gerson, who was a loyal Bushie from 2000 to 2006, writing speeches and giving advice on domestic policy.

Gerson says, "It is the nature of the Senate that the smallest of minorities can impede the work of the majority. But it takes a conscious choice -- an act of tremendous will and pride -- for members to employ these powers against an AIDS bill with overwhelming bipartisan support."

"Rigid, stingy and indifferent to human suffering." Those are the adjectives Gerson uses to describe Burr & his comrades and their perversion of "conservative values."

So much for the Mr.-Nice-Guy image that Burr likes to cultivate. Turns out, he's just a dick.