Cantor has to go!

Suddenly, I can’t get Rep. Eric Cantor off of my mind.

Over the last decade, for whatever reason, I’ve managed to all but ignore Cantor. After his outrageously weaselly comments about leveraging federal assistance to Joplin’s tornado disaster victims against cuts in programs -- mostly programs he’s been ideologically opposed to his entire career -- the No. 2 Republican in the House won't let me ignore him.

To see the suffering of disaster victims as a tool in a never ending tug-of-war over ideology is beyond disgusting. It shows a total lack of empathy on Cantor’s part. Now when he flashes his wee grin/psychopathic sneer, I see an embarrassment to the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Now everything he says bugs me. When he speaks on behalf of the Ryan Budget, which would radically alter Medicare, if passed as is, it makes my skin crawl. When he instructs the president that there can be absolutely no discussion of tax increases to reduce the deficit, it's enough to make a goat puke.

Moreover, that he represents part of Richmond -- my home town! -- well, it is too much to bear. Cantor simply has to go.

The Democratic Party simply must pour whatever resources it can muster into an all-out effort to locate a strong candidate to run against Cantor in 2012. If Virginia's Democrats cynically allow Cantor's district to be safe for him, again, it will make the party look pathetically weak. Move somebody into the district, if necessary, but get it done.

Cantor has to go!

Click here to see what Jon Stewart has to say about this matter.

-- Art and words by F.T. Rea