Upholding Standards on the Right

Captain Ed gives some appropriate criticism to the VP for telling Senator Patrick Leahy to F-himself:

Forget, for the moment, the breathless reporting from the Washington Post. Forget the fact that just about everyone I know says this word from time to time. We are talking about one of our nation's leaders speaking to a representative from Vermont on the floor of what has been called the shrine of democracy. It's absurd, it's unimaginative, and it's completely inappropriate -- even more so than when John Kerry slipped the ol' effenheimer into a Rolling Stone interview to look hip. I didn't like it then, and I sure as hell don't like it now.

Mr. Cheney, you are the Vice President. We expect you to act with proper decorum during official business in our capitol. You owe Senator Leahy an apology.

One of the things I admire about my fellow right-wing fanatics is that we usually hold our own politicians to the same standard we demand from our opponents. Frequently, the standard is actually higher since we expect so much less from the left. I second Captain Ed's call for an apology.

UPDATE: Unfortunately the comments on Captain Ed's post seem to be leaning toward "No Apology Needed". Oh, well. I did say "usually".

UPDATE: On the positive side, Michelle Malkin has weighed in on the proper side. Not only does she reiterate both of Captain Ed's points (unbecoming and uncreative), she gives examples of how to do it proper:

You're a mouse studying to be a rat.
- Wilson Mizner
I regard you with an indifference bordering on aversion.
- Robert Louis Stevenson
If only you'd wash your neck, I'd wring it.
- John Sparrow
The best part of you ran down your mother's legs.
- Jackie Gleason

She even has a semi-contest where you can post your own examples in the comments section. Of course Churchill and Twain figure rather prominently. My own entry:

"Scorn and defiance. Slight regard, contempt,
And anything that may not misbecome
The mighty sender, doth he prize you at." -- Henry V