Monday, September 18, 2006
With friends like Scarborough...
Today I've seen a lot of buzz on the column written my Joe Scarborough. In this column Joe advises Republicans campaigning for Congress to run from President Bush in order to be re-elected.
Believe me when I tell you that when it comes to Bush bashing, yours truly takes a back seat to no-one. So one would suppose that Joes recent rants on Bush (who can forget his segment asking if Bush was an idiot) ought to have me standing and cheering right? Hardly.
Mr. Scarborough's approach here actually is an honest assessment of the situation from a truly conservative point of view. He is not rooting for the Democrats to gain control with this column. Joe is trying to save control of the House and Senate for the Republicans.
Frankly the advice he gives is self evidently correct. Pay attention to the news and you see time and again where the President or Vice President touches down in some section of the country that features an incumbent Republican in a fight for his or her Congressional career, and that candidate has prior engagements which preclude said candidate from being seen with the President/Vice President. In fact, about the only political ads featuring Republican candidates and George Bush in the same room are being run by Dems. Obviously the President is radioactive and it just makes sense for people who want to win elections to distance themselves.
The question then must be, given the example presented by the last 5 plus years of this administration, can we expect the newfound independence of your average Republican incumbent to last past election day? Example after example can be seen of these very same Congress members rubberstamping the administrations agenda. Are we to believe them now that they claim enlightenment, or can we make an accurate guess as to future performance based upon past votes?
Let there be no doubt for the American people as they consider their choice. You can vote for Republicans, who have demonstrated time and again that if the President wants it he gets it, no questions asked, (until this election cycle) or you can vote for their political opposition. Voting Democrats into power guarantees that this President will be checked.
I would like to focus on a couple of items in particular in Mr. Scarborough's editorial. First he slams President Clinton:
Joe riles me up with the following pile of crap:
And what is this balderdash attacking Dems for the "failings of the future"? What does that even mean?! I would suggest that Joe start consulting a better fortune teller because (based upon past results as previously discussed) Democratic control of Congress and/or the Presidency is actually a great barometer of success and prosperity for America. Indeed the past examples of a Republican stranglehold on political power is a great predictor of things to come should we continue down that path. America is clearly disenchanted with the path we are on... and Joe just wishes we would continue down that same old worn out path for the next couple of years.
Believe me when I tell you that when it comes to Bush bashing, yours truly takes a back seat to no-one. So one would suppose that Joes recent rants on Bush (who can forget his segment asking if Bush was an idiot) ought to have me standing and cheering right? Hardly.
Mr. Scarborough's approach here actually is an honest assessment of the situation from a truly conservative point of view. He is not rooting for the Democrats to gain control with this column. Joe is trying to save control of the House and Senate for the Republicans.
Frankly the advice he gives is self evidently correct. Pay attention to the news and you see time and again where the President or Vice President touches down in some section of the country that features an incumbent Republican in a fight for his or her Congressional career, and that candidate has prior engagements which preclude said candidate from being seen with the President/Vice President. In fact, about the only political ads featuring Republican candidates and George Bush in the same room are being run by Dems. Obviously the President is radioactive and it just makes sense for people who want to win elections to distance themselves.
The question then must be, given the example presented by the last 5 plus years of this administration, can we expect the newfound independence of your average Republican incumbent to last past election day? Example after example can be seen of these very same Congress members rubberstamping the administrations agenda. Are we to believe them now that they claim enlightenment, or can we make an accurate guess as to future performance based upon past votes?
Let there be no doubt for the American people as they consider their choice. You can vote for Republicans, who have demonstrated time and again that if the President wants it he gets it, no questions asked, (until this election cycle) or you can vote for their political opposition. Voting Democrats into power guarantees that this President will be checked.
I would like to focus on a couple of items in particular in Mr. Scarborough's editorial. First he slams President Clinton:
So what if Bill Clinton misbehaved? At least that president found time to personally negotiate terms of subcommittee markups -- even if he was defiling the Oval Office at the same time.Defiling the Oval Office? How many people died as a result of President Clinton's misbehavior? I can point to deaths by the thousands promulgated by the lies of President Bush. Ask me which was worse for this nation. The peace and prosperity of the leader getting some on the side or the endless war and debt of the leader who lied us into this mess. Which of these men is truly the defiler of the office?
Joe riles me up with the following pile of crap:
But these Republicans have one advantage that Clinton's party lacked in 1994: Their opponents are Democrats. The Party of Pelosi. The party that is so tongue-tied on its best political issue that I still can't tell you where it stands on Iraq. Nor can they explain how they would balance the budget or stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons.Please be honest here. Do you really believe that Nancy Pelosi is such a negative figure in American politics? Ask me which of the following I would like to have hung around my neck if I were running a tight race in Montana or Virginia. I can be saddled with Nancy Pelosi or George Bush. Do you think either Democratic candidate is actually going to have to make a point of running away from Pelosi? The whole point of the article is that Republicans ought to run away from the President, but somehow Pelosi is a Democratic boogeyman. Well three cheers for Nancy, because she smells like a rose compared to the effluence seeping from the White House.
That failure to present an alternative vision is in stark contrast with Gingrich & Co., who spent 1994 drawing up a legislative package, a plan to balance the budget and enough position papers to strip an Amazon rain forest.
This year, maybe Democrats can beat something with nothing. As for Republicans, their only chance of survival is blasting the president for mistakes of the past and attacking the Democrats for their failings of the future.
And what is this balderdash attacking Dems for the "failings of the future"? What does that even mean?! I would suggest that Joe start consulting a better fortune teller because (based upon past results as previously discussed) Democratic control of Congress and/or the Presidency is actually a great barometer of success and prosperity for America. Indeed the past examples of a Republican stranglehold on political power is a great predictor of things to come should we continue down that path. America is clearly disenchanted with the path we are on... and Joe just wishes we would continue down that same old worn out path for the next couple of years.
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]
