A New Day Dawns
The American people, however well intentioned, may not have been able to bring democracy to Iraq, but it looks like they may have begun to bring democracy back to Washington, D.C.
One of the great bits in this article is the description of Republicans' reaction to the Democrats' return of daylight to the legislative process:
"But Republicans are hoping Democrats stick to their guns and allow the minority a stronger voice on legislation. The opposition leadership said it would take the opportunity to put forward initiatives that could be potentially troublesome for newly elected Democrats in Republican-leaning districts who within months will have to defend their hard-won seats."
It's not that I expect Republicans to be sincerely contrite, or to view this as an opportunity to make laws that are more in line with what the American people want rather than what K Street wants, but I did expect them to insincerely express some fraternal desire to serve the commonweal, at least for a while. Instead, their first instinct is announce a strategy of highlighting wedge issues and focusing on the outcome of the 2008 legislative elections.
And by the way, what's up with Gerry Ford doing an interview with Bob Woodward in which he criticizes the war, but won't allow it to be released until after death--his death, that is, not the deaths of about a thousand servicemen he presumably felt should have been avoided? The Republican idea of public service has certainly taken a beating during the last couple of decades.
One of the great bits in this article is the description of Republicans' reaction to the Democrats' return of daylight to the legislative process:
"But Republicans are hoping Democrats stick to their guns and allow the minority a stronger voice on legislation. The opposition leadership said it would take the opportunity to put forward initiatives that could be potentially troublesome for newly elected Democrats in Republican-leaning districts who within months will have to defend their hard-won seats."
It's not that I expect Republicans to be sincerely contrite, or to view this as an opportunity to make laws that are more in line with what the American people want rather than what K Street wants, but I did expect them to insincerely express some fraternal desire to serve the commonweal, at least for a while. Instead, their first instinct is announce a strategy of highlighting wedge issues and focusing on the outcome of the 2008 legislative elections.
And by the way, what's up with Gerry Ford doing an interview with Bob Woodward in which he criticizes the war, but won't allow it to be released until after death--his death, that is, not the deaths of about a thousand servicemen he presumably felt should have been avoided? The Republican idea of public service has certainly taken a beating during the last couple of decades.
posted by Mockrates at 9:25 AM
3 Comments:
Gerald Ford was the asshole who gave us not only the Nixon pardon, but the Supreme Court tenure of John Paul Stevens as well.
He was such a wishy-washy nancy boy that he could not even keep America's promise to South Vietnam. I pray that his family would find peace in this situation, and I wish his soul no harm. At the same time, he embodies the politically and morally compromised and compromising nature of a great many Republicans of then and now.
He was a wart on the ass of the Republican party and why so many today follow his lead (despite the Tribune's assumptions that he would not be welcomed into today's GOP, which is a crock of shit) is beyond my ability to comprehend.
Limpwristed fellows like Ford are best left marrying uberfraus who make all their choices for them, rather than being non-elected Presidents losing wars and pardoning criminals.
What I love about S-Tard is that it's nearly impossible for a conventional-thinking outsider to get even a vague picture of his (S-Tard's) ideological leanings by reading most of his comments.
I fancy myself a Populist. I voted for both George W Bush (as one might elect syphilis over cancer) but proudly voted for Alan Keyes (you'll find a couple people who voted for him but relatively few who are proud of it).
I would love to vote for a Democrat, and in West Virginia I had the luxury. In Illinois, I would love to be able to vote for Dan Lipinski and supported Glenn Poshard over George Ryan.
My frustration with so many politicians is that they are so half-assed. George W is willing to get the US in an unpopular war and yet is unwilling to accept that war is hell and do everything in his power to make the win quick and decisive. Gerald Ford went to Northern Kentucky University in 1978 to criticize Carter's administration, after losing for us that Vietnam War, a truly incredible feat given that we had lost no major battles.
I think it was Sherman who said that if you are going to go through hell, you should go straight through. If you are going to have a war, then fight it and get it over and leave.
Conversely, if the Democrats really want to speak up for the downtrodden, how about a living wage that people could actually live on? How about protecting American jobs that pay minimum wages? Why do so many Democratic assholes point to how well the stockmarket was doing during the Clinton administration, as if it is possible to speak for both stockholders who want profit over princpal and labor. The "man from hope" helped a bunch of factories move out of Arkansas, Indiana, Tennessee, everywhere else in the US.
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