SIGN OF THE TIMES

This is a great sign:

Let's make it prophetic, shall we?

In related news, Democrat Rep. Parker Griffith has announced he is changing parties.  Effective immediately, he is now a member of the Republican Caucus.

"I believe our nation is at a crossroads and I can no longer align myself with a party that continues to pursue legislation that is bad for our country, hurts our economy, and drives us further and further into debt," Griffith said.

Rep. Griffith, a radiation oncologist, cites the health care legislation as the tipping point for his decision.

"I want to make it perfectly clear that this bill is bad for our doctors," he said. "It's bad for our patients. It's bad for the young men and women who are considering going into the health care field."

His record, thus far, has been more conservative than many RINO's, so he should be a welcome addition to the Caucus.

While the timing of his announcement was unexpected, Griffith’s party switch will not come as a surprise to those familiar with his voting record, which is one of the most conservative among Democrats. "He has bucked the Democratic leadership on nearly all of its major domestic initiatives, including the stimulus package, health care legislation, the cap-and trade energy bill and financial regulatory reform. "He was one of only 11 House Democrats to vote against the stimulus.

Democrats are coming out swinging, of course.

Liberals countered that Griffith was essentially a Republican all along, and Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said he should give back the money Democrats have contributed to his campaign.

Funny, I don't recall Arlen Specter returning all of his contributions to the RNC when he switched sides, although he did say he would "upon request".  The FEC finally had to rule in favor of the Club For Growth back in June to send out letters to Specter campaign donors to urge them to ask for refunds.  Turns out he voluntarily only returned a mere $225,000, out of the $7.5 million remaining in his coffers as of June 30th, all of which were private donors - no word on whether he returned any monies given by the RNC.  I'd guess no.  The FEC gives with one hand and takes away with the other, though, because the ruling also stated that Specter is not required to return the contributions, even upon request, and all requests must have been made by Oct. 15, 2009.

Rep. Griffith should be held to the same 'upon request' standard, but here's hoping he is actually a man of principle and will return every socialist Red cent donated by democrats. 

Something tells me this will be a good fundraising year for conservatives, so he'll make it up later.