There has been some discussion (also see here) that should the Democrats win back the House they should act like the party of Care Bears, turn a blind eye to Republican malfeasance, pretend the 90s and early 2000s didn’t happen and trail blaze a return to the era of good feelings.
Well, you believe those things if you’re an idiot or you’d like to see the Dems lose in 2008. Should Democrats return to power in one or both houses of Congress, they should do what the people elected them to do: clean house. That means providing oversight, both of Congress and of the executive branch. By any objective measure the Republican rubber-stamp leadership has installed a system of cronyism and corruption in the congress since taking control in 1994, while the executive branch has turned the knobs up on malfeasance to 11 since being installed in 2000.
If the Democrats want to remain a minority party for the forseeable future, they’ll take the dumbass advice of the chattering classes, providing a platform of appeasement with the very same Republicans who have treated Democrats like so much vermin to be squished.
Or, they can not be dumb, expunge the filth from our government and set America back on the path to righteousness.
It’s a pretty simple choice.
Two words:
Torches.
Pitchforks.
(And I’m a Republican.)
Seriously. They need to go in there like Hercules’ river through the Aegean stables, because I want my freakin’ country back and I want those who broke the law punished so painfully that their fates will be used a century from now to scare small children into good behavior.
Don’t you think there’s a danger Democrats could overplay their hand?
–|PW|–
There’s always that danger. But we havent truly played any hands in almost 12 years. I err on the side of doing something.
Oliver:
Still, I would argue ttha the Republicans’ current mess stems directly from their overplaying their hand.
If the Democrats win, I think the smartest move woudl be to try to disrupt the Republicans’ discipline by reaching out to moderates.
Note: I’m not advocating a lily-livered form of bipartisnship. Rather, I’m saying the Democrats may benefit from some ad-hoc coalition building on certain issues … particularly if creating veto-proof majorities is needed.
–|PW|–
i wanna bring a wrench, throw it into the machinery to stop the shit going on now, and then use it to fix it
I’m with Lex. I want my freakin’ country back.
If there is some chance they could “overplay their hand”, we will forgive them.
Well, whatever they do, I hope they are consistent. Going hammer and tongs after domestic enemies while instinctively appeasing foreign enemies will ensure they lose in 2008.
Either appease all the bad guys, or be tough with all the bad guys. No faux toughness against bad guys who don’t use violence while groveling in front of mad dictators with nukes.