Ever needing material to fill a twenty four hour news cycle, the talking heads were all atwitter about the defection of Arlen Specter to the dark side.
The story fit their their template, something bad happening to the Republican is always worth reporting.
Only, this isn't anything particularly bad for the party.
Sure it appears that the Dems are that much closer to the to a filibuster proof majority, but since when has Senator Specter been a reliable soldier in the battle against expanding government or a staunch defender to a baby's right to be born? The recent stimulus fiasco is only one of many where he threw his Republican colleagues under the bus simply because he was out of step with mainstream Republican thinking.
His assertions that the party had moved to the far right away from him are some of the most humorous comments he's made with a straight face.
Anyone who has been paying any attention knows the alternate explanation is much more to the point.
The Republicans of Pennsylvania are finally getting their act together and demanding someone with principles carry their banner.
This has been in the works for some time as there are various groups looking to run candidates in primaries against Republicans who have been collaborating with the enemy.
This battle has been won without the anticipated fight.
Will Specter be a viable candidate as a Democrat when he's been portrayed for years as an evil Republican who wanted to steal childrens' lunches and prevent the homeless from taking walkin' around money and voting two, maybe three times? Time will tell.
Is Arlen Specter the first of many to fall under the threat of retribution by the own constituents? One can only hope so.
Party organizations tend to support incumbents with little regard for their value in furthering common agendas.
President Bush even helped Specter overcome a conservative primary challenge last time around.
So it is up to the grassroots activists to find candidates, support them and get them elected.
Specters' departure put Pennsylvania Republicans at a cross roads.
Given the opportunity to select a candidate that represents traditional values, they have also been given a tremendous responsibility.
Republicans in the mushy middle are always sharing their opinion to anyone who will listen that conservative candidates can't win, particularly in a state like Pennsylvania.
Many, I'm sure will be working behind the scenes to prove they are right.
This danger of embarrassing defeat should come as no surprise as with privileges come responsibilities.
The responsibility in this case is to present these American values to the narcissistic culture in such a way that they will understand that freedom over slavery to an all encompassing government is better for them.
They need to see that having the ability to build your own life is better than taking the one the bureaucrats decide to give them.
They need to comprehend that we are safer by exhibiting strength than by depending on the good will of those who hate us.
This means we have to go beyond simply calling our leftist opponents names like "liberal" or "socialist" or, more accurately, "fascist".
We have to explain why they are wrong, and in doing so, we have to overcome the work of the government indoctrination centers, sometimes called the public schools, and most of the media who hang on every word the President reads off the teleprompter.
This will require more effort and a better understanding of the issues.
We need to be more intellectually involved, as slogans will no longer do the job.
But, it's not as bad as it sounds.
Traditional American values outline the path we should be taking and our support for them is based on proven logic, not convoluted theory promoting ideas that have never worked anywhere they have been tried.
For those who claim to be Christians, we need to be fighting the battle the way George Washington did...
on our knees.
We need to put forth all the effort we can, but in the end, the victory will come, as Zechariah 4:6 tells us: "Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit," says the LORD Almighty.