Pusillanimous Partisanship
By Geoff Metcalf (11/12/07)
Our civilization survives in the complacency of cowardly or malignant minds - a sacrifice to the vanity of ageing adolescents... --Albert Camus
The recent piece by Karl Rove in the Wall Street Journal http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110010843 made some salient points. Sure, it was partisan and reflected in many ways the antithesis of the Pelosi/Reid crowd thesis…but give the devil his due…he was right.
The mean spirited petty partisan pulp that pervades the District of Criminals is pretty much personified by the Democrat Leadership AND Karl Rove…opposing sides of the same currency. However, the Rove analysis doesn’t suffer from partisan tang.
There really is something inherently counterintuitive about the parsimoniousness of partisanship. The diametric opposite blood sport imperatives of what passes for political debate really is sufficient to gag most maggots.
http://www.newsmax.com/metcalf/partisanship/2007/09/17/33327.html
Democrats promised "civility and bipartisanship" with less sincerity than a would-be lothario at closing time seeking companionship. What they delivered was rude, crude, rank, ‘gotcha’ partisanship.
At the same time we hear presidential wannabes dissing President Bush for his lousy approval rating, they sin by omission failing to acknowledge a congressional approval rating that has plummeted to the lowest point in history.
Sure the Rove piece is a spark to shame recalcitrant partisans off the dime (billions of dimes) to pass an appropriations bill. “It's been at least 20 years since Congress has gone this late in passing any appropriation bills, an indication of the mess the Pelosi-Reid Congress is now in.”
However the “fiscal discipline” he alludes to is a fiction (or rather a fantasy) in D.C. Democrats want to spend $205 Billion more than the president and the Bush plan is already grossly inflated.
Once upon a time Sen. Everett Dirkson said, “A billon here, a billion there, pretty soon it adds up to real money.” Today Reid and Pelosi claim $22-Billion is a “relatively small” difference. I guess it depends on their definition of ‘is’, ‘relatively’ and ‘small’?
Speaking of etymology and redefining conventional understanding of words, how can ANYone with an IQ bigger than their shoe size dare to claim that a TRILLION dollar tax increase is anything close to ‘tax reform’?
“Failing to pass a budget, proposing a huge spike in federal spending and offering the biggest tax increase in history are not the only hallmarks of this Democratic Congress”…just among the most glaring.
All this “we are FOR the troops but against the war” is duplicitous semantic slobbering. Every democrat (as a mantra) prelude every ‘get out’ speech with the mandatory "support our troops," preamble. As John Stossel would say, “Give me a break!”
These are the same Democrats who tried to cut off funding for our military (while under fire). These are the same Democrats who tried to finesse an emergency war-spending bill with billions of dollars of self serving pork. These same disingenuous dupes are stalling an emergency supplemental bill with funding for body armor, bullets and mine-resistant vehicles for no other apparent reason than ‘neener-neener’ partisan advantage. ‘For the troops?’ my Airborne butt!
Democrats promised "civility and bipartisanship." Instead, they flipped off the GOP, locked them out of budget negotiations between the two houses, and have launched hundreds of investigations, requests for documents, interviews et al. Why? Because they could (and it fueled their pettiness).
Rove is correct when he says, “Congress has not done its work. And these failures will have consequences.” He goes on to say the Dems have squandered their opportunity…and they have. However, likewise President Bush has squandered opportunities and committed serial blunders.
I don’t know what I don’t know, but maybe in the wake of both parties eschewing principles for “short-term partisan advantage” the republic could do with a major big-time ‘do over’.
Recently Paul raised more money in a 24-hour period than any other Republican candidate. “Some 37,000 people, 21,000 of them new donors, contributed $4.3 million to Ron Paul's campaign” on Guy Fawkes Day. Guy Fawkes Day? Check out ‘V for Vendetta’ on DVD to get an insight into the spirit that moves the Ron Paul insurgency.
According to the Orange County Register, “We believe it shows a considerable constituency…for an honest candidate who says what he thinks rather than what has been poll-tested, and for the kind of constitutionalist, limited-government philosophy that many Republicans and conservatives (as well as libertarians) used to think they supported.”
Principles do matter and focus grouping and polling notwithstanding, there really is a hunger for liberty.
The renaissance of liberty transcends demographics. Ron Paul is both a symptom and catalyst that cannot be marginalized. This spirit is contagious and General Issue politicians ignore it at their own peril.
Although the Reids, Pelosis and Roves continue to ignore the elephant in the living room, they should be careful where they step.
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