Everyone needs to read Paul Waldman’s fine piece from this afternoon. Truer words were never spoken
The move by Republicans to change House rules to allow Tom DeLay to retain his leadership position if he is indicted shows more than a lack of concern with principle, a devotion to raw power above all else, or a contempt for the law. What it shows, yet again, is that the GOP is the audacity party. DeLay has attempted to bribe a colleague on the floor of the House, used Department of Homeland Security resources to try to find Texas Democrats leaving the state in a redistricting dispute, and engaged in what appears to be money-laundering and fairly obvious violations of Texas campaign finance laws. The latter is what he is about to be indicted for.
Democrats huff and haw, amazed that DeLay gets away with this stuff. How can he withstand the fury of a page A-18 story in the Washington Post? How can he go on, after getting a “reprimand” — i.e., “We know you broke the law, and though we aren’t actually going to do anything about it, we’ll ask you firmly not to do it again” — from the House Ethics Committee?
How? I’ll tell you how. DeLay just doesn’t care. He does what he wants, and never pays a price. The Democrats who think that a bad two-day story is going to clip his wings are the same ones who thought two draft-dodgers would never attack the patriotism of a war hero. Again and again, Democrats approach political battles by saying, “Now old boy, let’s discuss the rules under which we’ll engage while I tie on my soft, padded gloves – wouldn’t want to hit you too hard, you know. What are you doing with that knife?”
Republicans don’t win because of the merit of their ideas; they win because they fight a whole lot better than we do. In politics, being correct is largely irrelevant. As Bill Clinton has said on several occasions, “When people feel uncertain, they’d rather have somebody who’s strong and wrong than somebody who’s weak and right.”
The obvious response is that we’re outnumbered in DC right now and aren’t in a position to respond very well. In terms of raw numbers, that’s true.
But think about what DC was like in 1993 and 1994. Dems controlled everything, but Republicans were pushing us around. They manufactured scandals, blocked legislation, and filibustered constantly. The 104th Congress passed the largest deficit-reduction package in U.S. history, landmark crime legislation that included the Brady Bill, a sweeping education bill that rebuilt and expanded the college student loan program, NAFTA, and AmeriCoprs. Republicans then convinced voters that this was a “do-nothing Congress.” As memory serves, the mid-term elections in ’94 worked out pretty well for them. They weren’t exactly punished for obstructionism.
We shouldn’t throw up our hands in disgust at the Republicans’ repulsive tactics — we should be taking notes. Their way is rewarded; our way is punished. Time to give their way a shot.
There are a million explanations out there as to why Bush beat Kerry, but at the risk of sounding overly simplistic, here’s what I think happened: Bush smeared Kerry with a bunch of deceptive attacks, the public believed the attacks, Kerry lost. That’s it.
What did we hear throughout the year about Kerry from the Bush gang? Kerry wanted to raise the gas tax, he’d bring about government-run health care, he backed reckless defense and intelligence cuts, he voted to raise taxes 350 times, he was ranked the #1 most liberal senator, his economic plan would raise taxes on the middle class, and he’d turn over American security to a “global test.” How much of this was true? Not a single word. Does that matter? Not even a little.
Kerry stayed positive and stuck to the facts. Bush played on people’s fears and made up lies as he went along. Guess who won.
This DeLay scheme should make the obvious even more clear: Republicans know no limits and have no shame. With this gang, ethics and propriety aren’t standards; they’re punch lines. The GOP machine has two goals right now: advance a radical right-wing agenda and crush Democrats. The tactics we’ve been using for as long as I can remember just won’t be good enough to stand in their way.
Year after year, Democrats are amazed that the public thinks they’re a bunch of wimps and Republicans are strong and manly. Perhaps if we come out in favor of missile defense, they think, people will change their minds. Perhaps if we vote for this war we all know is going to be a disaster, they’ll see how much we care about Americans’ security. Perhaps if we go hunting, they’ll see we’re real men.
Well here’s an idea: perhaps the American people wouldn’t think you were a bunch of wimps if you weren’t such a bunch of wimps. And it’s not about how you vote on legislation or how often you go hunting. It’s time for an audacity transplant.