By Michael J. Smith on Wednesday May 17, 2006 02:36 PM
Tim D calls our attention to this item in the UK Guardian, by American Spectator mad-dog Quin Hillyer:
Ancient wisdom says you can't beat something with nothing, and on Monday presidential adviser Karl Rove said, in effect, that's what the Democrats are trying to do this year to the Bush administration and its Republican allies.So far, what's not to like? But then:
There are those of us on the right who miss the days when centrists and even centre-right Democrats provided a bridge between the two parties in Congress. In the effort to woo those centrist Democrats, both sides kept their rhetoric in check. Meanwhile, the very nature of trying to appeal to a centrist group had the effect of keeping all lines of communication open, including those from the hard left to the hard right. A collegiality that once existed in Congress is now lost - notwithstanding a few Democratic throwbacks such as the famously independent and courteous Sen Joe Lieberman of Connecticut or the relatively junior Rep Jim Marshall of Georgia.I sure wish we had a branch of this wild-eyed hard-left Democratic Party in my state. Anybody else seen any sign of it, or is Hillyer on acid?But Lieberman and Marshall probably have the right idea: Goodwill and moderation, especially in demeanour and rhetoric, could serve the Democrats politically at the same time as serving the national interest. I sense that American voters right now yearn for good old-fashioned problem-solvers, for people who talk and act like statesmen.
Comments (4)
"There are those of us on the right who miss the days when centrists and even centre-right Democrats provided a bridge between the two parties in Congress"
notice this sez
a cr like lieberman can't any longer be a bridge
and a straight c like
reid won't be a bridge
how convise ....
indeed the balance has already shifted ....
inside the belt way
so far as both teams pros see it
only a string
of
baldly
ignorant miracles
can save
the pubs from
the dunking pool
next november
Posted by j s paine | May 17, 2006 3:59 PM
Posted on May 17, 2006 15:59
You have to take into consideration that someone as far to the right as Hillyer sees a right-winger like Lieberman as a moderate. I think that, in general, his political outlook is getting to be more the norm than the outlier. The Republicans (with the mostly willing help of the Democrats) have moved us so far to the right politically that we would have to elect a Congress full of Trotskyites just to acheive balance again...
Posted by Tim D | May 17, 2006 9:39 PM
Posted on May 17, 2006 21:39
"a Congress full of Trotskyites "
ahh what a lovely conception mister D
but to realize it
even on the screen
would require
the talents
of a dw griffith
Posted by jsp | May 18, 2006 10:44 AM
Posted on May 18, 2006 10:44
Anybody else seen any sign of it, or is Hillyer on acid?
I think the guy who used to pen the Defenders comic book for Marvel once saw a UFO and a gnome, but not while he was writing. Too bad I forget his name. We could email him for help.
Not only haven't I seen the specimen described, I just saw my favorite County Council candidate get something like 14% of the vote in the primary. Mind you, even in a non-partisan race, my so-called Pwog stronghold couldn't bring itself to vote for somebody with an actual Pwog taxation plan. I don't regret having worked on his campaign, though. You never know, if a few of us reward politicians who actually talk to us like we're adults and not children, it could start a trend. Not that I'm waiting up nights or anything...
Posted by alsis39.9 | May 18, 2006 6:04 PM
Posted on May 18, 2006 18:04