A Return to Sanity? Perhaps..........
The results of this year's midterm elections are in and it appears that a fair share of America has voted to repudiate the failed policies of the Bush administration. With Democrat control of the House and the Senate it is now conceivable that the insane posturings of Bush world may, at long last, be reined in and contained. Bush will not go away any time soon, but the possibility that the remainder of his tenure will be less chaotic than its first six years may be imminent. Unfortunately, most of the damage already done will be difficult (and in some cases impossible) to repair. But, some of the bleeding may now be stopped, and the prospects for a brighter, less dangerous, future may be on the horizon.
But we caution that despite the Democrat victory, several potentially grim prospects remain in place. Bush, as a case in point, is not going to alter his politics, or his plans, simply because he no longer enjoys a congressional majority. Indeed, his egocentricities are far too deeply ingrained to permit him to change colors in mid-stream. Further, it seems obvious that the make-up of the nation's legislative bodies was never one of his concerns. He has been so singularly minded as to be oblivious to the wishes, concerns, or objectives of so ephemeral a body as the Congress. That having folks who shared his philosophies in the House and Senate was a convenience for him is conceded. But he has, from time to time, encountered objections from both sides of the aisle; and never did those niggling encounters deter him from his self-appointed path. And now, even with a majority of the so-called "Loyal Opposition", we suspect that his modus operandi will not change. He may play nice with Nancy Pelosi (an activity no doubt as irritating to him as anything he can imagine). He may engage in friendly palaver with the likes of Harry Reid. And he may even offer the head of Donald Rumsfeldt as a token indicator of his willingness to cooperate. But let us not be lulled in to thinking that Rumsfeldt's departure has anything more to do with his (and Bush's) desire to avoid spending most of the next two years appearing before Congressional investigating committees. To assume a Democrat majority will somehow change "W" is to don rose colored glasses. And for that reason the legislative oversight process will have to be as vigilant as possible. And, on the positive side, at least it now can be pro-active.
Another quite legitmate concern is the degree to which the victorious mid-term party will now get its act together. That it pulled off a major election day coup is apparent. But we believe the Democrats did less winning than the Republicans did losing. And now that the balance of power has been altered we inquire as to what the victors will do with it? Their campaigns, as diverse and aggressive as they were, did not, after all, pose solutions to the vexing issues they spoke about. They legitmately groused about the egregious war in Iraq, but precious few of them (Joe Biden excepted) offered any reasonable alternatives to "staying the course". Bush accused them of wanting to "cut and run"; they argued against that assertion, but they really did not offer a definitive plan by which to end the conflict. And now they have a golden opportunity to do so. And they must do so as quickly as possible. Bush, after all, will do little more than assert the need for "victory" (a notion even he does not understand).
There is also the complex matter of the economy. Bush maintains that under his leadership the economy has prospered, that Americans are better off than ever (which is true if you confine the argument to the people he knows); that inflation is contained, that unemployment is lower than ever, and that his tax cuts are mainly responsible for these circumstances. But we have to hope that the new Democrat majority are aware that Bush's bragging lacks the patina of truth; especially as it pertains to the vast majority of American wage earners. This new Congress needs to examine these issues, preferably with a fine tooth comb, and they need to roll back the Bush tax cuts, re-direct them to the middle class, and then deal with the horrendous inequalities which continues to allow forty million Americans to languish without health insurance and which force millions of others to toil for a minimum wage so inadequate as to be shameful.
The new Democrat majority has the opportunity to turn back the stentorian rantings of the contemporary (and unjust) conservative cosmology. It can, in fact, remove the word "liberal" from the peculiarly convoluted conservative lexicon which has rendered it the equivalent of a four letter word. And, finally, it can return this nation to the path of sanity from which Bush has, with more success than we could have imagined, diverted it.
Garrett500--Garrett The Garrulous
But we caution that despite the Democrat victory, several potentially grim prospects remain in place. Bush, as a case in point, is not going to alter his politics, or his plans, simply because he no longer enjoys a congressional majority. Indeed, his egocentricities are far too deeply ingrained to permit him to change colors in mid-stream. Further, it seems obvious that the make-up of the nation's legislative bodies was never one of his concerns. He has been so singularly minded as to be oblivious to the wishes, concerns, or objectives of so ephemeral a body as the Congress. That having folks who shared his philosophies in the House and Senate was a convenience for him is conceded. But he has, from time to time, encountered objections from both sides of the aisle; and never did those niggling encounters deter him from his self-appointed path. And now, even with a majority of the so-called "Loyal Opposition", we suspect that his modus operandi will not change. He may play nice with Nancy Pelosi (an activity no doubt as irritating to him as anything he can imagine). He may engage in friendly palaver with the likes of Harry Reid. And he may even offer the head of Donald Rumsfeldt as a token indicator of his willingness to cooperate. But let us not be lulled in to thinking that Rumsfeldt's departure has anything more to do with his (and Bush's) desire to avoid spending most of the next two years appearing before Congressional investigating committees. To assume a Democrat majority will somehow change "W" is to don rose colored glasses. And for that reason the legislative oversight process will have to be as vigilant as possible. And, on the positive side, at least it now can be pro-active.
Another quite legitmate concern is the degree to which the victorious mid-term party will now get its act together. That it pulled off a major election day coup is apparent. But we believe the Democrats did less winning than the Republicans did losing. And now that the balance of power has been altered we inquire as to what the victors will do with it? Their campaigns, as diverse and aggressive as they were, did not, after all, pose solutions to the vexing issues they spoke about. They legitmately groused about the egregious war in Iraq, but precious few of them (Joe Biden excepted) offered any reasonable alternatives to "staying the course". Bush accused them of wanting to "cut and run"; they argued against that assertion, but they really did not offer a definitive plan by which to end the conflict. And now they have a golden opportunity to do so. And they must do so as quickly as possible. Bush, after all, will do little more than assert the need for "victory" (a notion even he does not understand).
There is also the complex matter of the economy. Bush maintains that under his leadership the economy has prospered, that Americans are better off than ever (which is true if you confine the argument to the people he knows); that inflation is contained, that unemployment is lower than ever, and that his tax cuts are mainly responsible for these circumstances. But we have to hope that the new Democrat majority are aware that Bush's bragging lacks the patina of truth; especially as it pertains to the vast majority of American wage earners. This new Congress needs to examine these issues, preferably with a fine tooth comb, and they need to roll back the Bush tax cuts, re-direct them to the middle class, and then deal with the horrendous inequalities which continues to allow forty million Americans to languish without health insurance and which force millions of others to toil for a minimum wage so inadequate as to be shameful.
The new Democrat majority has the opportunity to turn back the stentorian rantings of the contemporary (and unjust) conservative cosmology. It can, in fact, remove the word "liberal" from the peculiarly convoluted conservative lexicon which has rendered it the equivalent of a four letter word. And, finally, it can return this nation to the path of sanity from which Bush has, with more success than we could have imagined, diverted it.
Garrett500--Garrett The Garrulous
posted by Garrett W at 12:06 PM
0 comments
