Republican leaders seem like Palestinian leaders

Democratic Congressman William Jefferson and $90 thousand in cold cash are the "stars" of an FBI criminal investigation.

So how are congressional Republicans reacting?

According to USA Today’s Deadline they’re upset. They don’t like what’s happened.

So they're ready to declare themselves the party of honest government? Not quite.

USA headlines:

GOP challenges FBI raid of Jefferson's office

Displaying bipartisanship for one of their own, House Republican leaders are expressing concern that the FBI's search of the Capitol office of Louisiana Democrat William Jefferson crossed the constitutional boundary between the White House and Congress.

Tuesday, House Majority Leader John Boehner called the weekend raid "the Justice Department's invasion of the legislative branch" and predicted the issue would "end up across the street at the Supreme Court."…

In the Washington Post we learn:

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) said that he is "very concerned" about the incident and that Senate and House counsels will review it.

House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) expressed alarm at the raid. "The actions of the Justice Department in seeking and executing this warrant raise important Constitutional issues that go well beyond the specifics of this case," he said in a lengthy statement released last night.

So what should people do about leaders like that?

Glenn Reynolds at Instapundit has a suggestion and some commentary:

CUT THEIR PAY AND SEND THEM HOME

GOP Congress members are objecting to the FBI raid on bribery suspect Rep. William Jefferson. I'd approve of this bipartisan spirit if it weren't just an example of the only kind of bipartisanship you can really count on from Congress -- standing shoulder to shoulder in defense of insiders' perks and against the interests of the voters.

That sounds pretty good to me.

Watching Republican leaders this past year has me thinking of what people often say of Palestinian leaders: They never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.

JinC Update: Glenn updated with this from Freeman Hunt:

Sort of like a man who catches his cheating spouse in the act and all she can say is "I can't believe you didn't knock!"