David Bachman writes…
Strictly speaking, voters who elected Senator Santorum aren't the only ones (as you stated) who have the right to remove him from the U.S. Senate. The Senate itself, as provided in Article I, Section 5 of the Constitution of the United States, "may…, with the concurrence of two thirds, expel a member." I believe this was done last year, in the lower House, to The Honorable James Traficant (I love the irony inherent in some formalities, don't you?). I'm sure your general meaning was that voters in states other than Pennsylvania have no voice in Senator Santorum's future as a Senator, and I haven't an argument with that. Still, I hope that you'll be as interested in knowing this bit of Constitutional trivia as I am in sharing it.
You're right, of course. But of course, the "honorable" Mr. Traficant was on his way to prison for a crime when he was booted out of the House. Santorum has been charged with no crime — though if he goes the route of many public moralists, he'll be caught in some men's room molesting the towel dispenser before the year is out.
I guess calls for someone's resignation usually strike me as grandstanding and kind of arrogant: "Yes, you've been duly elected to this position by the voters in your state (or district or whatever) but you've offended me so I demand you quit." Often, it's obvious that the person making the demand really doesn't want the offending party to quit. Democrats were calling for Trent Lott's abdication at the same time they were hoping he'd stay right where he was, driving minority voters from the G.O.P.
Hey, how about that statement of support from our semi-elected president? Ari Fleischer said, "The president believes the senator is an inclusive man." I think that means Santorum even wants people he considers immoral criminals to be a part of the Republican party. And I liked a comment that I spotted on a couple of websites. For all the right-wing's condemnation of the morals of men like Ted Kennedy and Barney Frank, neither one of them ever did an interview and brought up the topic of men humping dogs.