When Republicans Play Dirty
By Isaiah Z. Sterrett (03/11/05)
REPUBLICANS are swell politicians, n’est-ce pas?
Sen. Bill Frist, hardnosed Congressional bully—er, wait, that’s the minority party’s leadership—said that maybe President Bush’s Social Security reform plans should be put on the backburner. Then, pretending to be Al Gore five years ago, he retracted his statement. Oops! I guess the Republican White House never bothers to discuss minor issues like Social Security with the Republican Senate Majority Leader.
We also had CIA Director Porter Goss announce that his duties are simply “too much,” and that he’s “amazed at the workload” of his new job. That’s a strange point. If you go into the baking business, you’re probably entitled to be “amazed at the workload.” Same goes for those becoming personal trainers, zookeepers, or percussionists on Broadway. If you decide to oversee post-9/11 intelligence operations for the world’s sole superpower, you should expect a rather rigorous workday. If the job is really “too much” for Director Goss, he should quit. Attacking America will not be “too much” for terrorists cruising out of La Guardia, Reagan, or SFO. Islamofascists are pretty energetic.
In fairness, Goss’ performance, heretofore, has been just fine. His pronouncements about China are especially prescient. With that nation planning to increase its military expenditures by over 12%, we need to worry about it again. That’s bothersome to be sure, given that we rather have our hands full with Iran, Syria, and anti-comb dictator Kim Jong Il of North Korea. (Kim’s really had to get cracking on this nuclear war business. Without John Kerry to campaign for, he’s been bored to tears.) Goss understands that everything China spends beefing up its military puts the U.S.—and U.S. ally Taiwan—at greater risk, and he’s not afraid to say so publicly. Still, one has to wonder: is this the part of his job that he finds to be “too much”? The Communist Chinese hope so.
Here at home, the White House’s Social Security aspirations are doing about as well as Scorsese did at the Oscars. That’s not because the plans aren’t good, it’s because the administration has had some trouble marketing them. This isn’t as bad as it seems, mainly insofar as the legislation will easily pass the House, and probably pass the Senate, just as it is. President Bush has proven in the past that he’s more skilled at grassroots politicking than many expected, and one can bet with good odds that this is precisely what he has up his sleeve at the moment. Conservatives shouldn’t worry about 1600 Pennsylvania on this issue, but aiming a bit of scorn toward Sen. Frist is certainly in order.
Frist seems like a lovely fellow with a nice family and a pleasant demeanor, but that doesn’t really work very well in Washington, especially when you’re opposition is headed by people like Howard Dean. In Frist’s spot, we need someone a little bit meaner and a little less friendly—kind of like Tom Daschle, only moral. At the risk of being premature in my begging, I’m warning Republican voters now: Don’t even think about running this man for president. Whenever that notion finagles its way into your well-to-do minds, just think about Bob Dole. He was a nice guy, too.
I’d recommend dumping Frist, but for whom? Olympia Snowe? John McCain? Jon Kyl of Arizona would be acceptable, but there’s no indication that he’d be better than Frist. I love Norm Coleman, but he lacks proper experience, and Rick Santorum, as fine a job as he’d do, is too controversial—even now. George Allen of Virginia is probably the best choice, but if we gave him Frist’s job he might start thinking about running for the GOP nomination in 2008. (The press have already thought of it, but Allen’s keeping quiet on the subject. Like Santorum and others, he could do nicely as president, but I don’t particularly want him. We’re nominating Rudy or Condi in ’08, and that’s final.) In the end, we’re stuck with Frist; all we can do is hope he’ll wise-up.
In the meantime, before we get too excited about the next presidential race, Republicans should do the job they were elected to do. That means getting Social Security done this year, and aggressively addressing the looming and frightening issue of China’s military buildup. I only hope that’s not “too much” to ask.
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