Hanging Out With Arsonists
Lots of eyebrows were raised by the news that Texas Republican Senator John Cornyn was the only senator to miss the vote on the $800 billion stimulus bill. Cornyn was at a Republican Party fundraiser in New York City, prompting MoveOn.org communications director to comment, "He's not just fiddling while Rome burns -- he's hanging out with the arsonists."
"Hanging out with the arsonists" is exactly what Cornyn is doing. Intentionally. He's playing to the base, stoking their, dare I say, bitterness. Reader response to the The Dallas Morning News Trailblazers blog post about this indicates Cornyn's efforts are working. "God Fearing Conservative" writes, "MoveOn continues to show how incompetent and out of touch they are." "Antonio" says, "This is TeTexas, not San Francisco. Here, we've got better things to do than listen to a bunch of maniacal leftists."
On the other hand, MoveOn is doing the same thing as Cornyn, but from the other end of the spectrum. Cornyn may be lighting the fire, but MoveOn is all too happy to fan the flames.
Both Cornyn and MoveOn represent old-style politics of division. Most Americans have moved on (pun intended ;-), but these events demonstrate that we haven't put out the fires yet.
See Me. Feel Me. Touch Me.
Rodger Jones, in The Dallas Morning News Opinion blog, complains that too much stimulus money is going to education and not enough to roads. He asks, "Do you prefer more money going into things you can see with your own eyes and drive on with your own car? I do."
Rule #1 for Congressmen: when you direct money to your district, make sure it's in the form of something the voters can see and touch. That rule is a snide putdown of voters, who are assumed to be too dumb to recognize that expenditures that you can't see can sometimes be better investments. I am disappointed that the The Dallas Morning News editorial board members reinforce the validity of that old rule.
May I Have a Word? Screwed Up
Rod Dreher, in The Dallas Morning News Opinion blog, reports that Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH) has withdrawn his nomination to be Commerce Secretary, citing ideological differences on the stimulus and the census. Dreher asks, "Has any new president had so many early cabinet misfires? What's his problem, anyway?"
Perhaps in this case, Obama's problem is his desire to have a cabinet of highly qualified experts and not ideological soulmates. Judd Gregg would have been the third Republican in Obama's cabinet. Given the hyper-partisan nature of Washington politics, the surprise here isn't that it didn't work out, but that it almost did.
As for the Bill Richardson, Tom Daschle and Nancy Killefer withdrawals, perhaps Obama's problem is the high standard he set for his administration. Intense public scrutiny is turning up issues in the nominees' pasts that either wouldn't have been discovered in the past or wouldn't have been showstoppers for confirmation.
In short, President Obama does seem to have more problems than usual getting his nominees confirmed, but so far, it seems like the problems are for all the right reasons -- attempts at achieving bipartisanship and avoidance of the appearance of scandal. On the other hand, it would be less embarrassing for him and the nominees if the vetting identified such issues and/or recognized their seriousness before the nominations were made in the first place. For failing that, Obama ... what's the word? Screwed up.
Greatest. President. Ever
On this, Michael Landauer, on The Dallas Morning News Opinion blog, asks "Was Lincoln the best president ever?"
The answer, without a doubt, is yes. Lincoln saved the Union. Lincoln ensured out our nation would have a new birth of freedom. The only President who comes to close to Lincoln in stature is George Washington. The reason he stands a step below Lincoln is because of the great supporting cast Washington had. Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Hamilton, Franklin. Did Washington stand out from them? Undoubtedly. But could Washington have brought about the founding of a new nation all by himself? Certainly not.
Contrast the Founding Fathers with the politicians of Lincoln's day. James Buchanan earns the title of worst President ever for a reason. His incompetence while the nation slid inexorably into civil war is unmatched. (For economic disaster, Herbert Hoover and George W Bush earn honorable mention, but the disaster of the Civil War exceeds any mere economic depression.) Lincoln had to rescue the Union single-handedly, or seemingly so. For that, he earns the title of best President ever. Happy Birthday, Mr. President.
5 comments:
Rodger Jones continues to reveal himself to be the biggest idiot on the Belo editorial staff. And that's quite an achievement.
Idiot is too strong a word. Maybe he would improve his reputation if explained himself more in followup dialog. Words don't always come out right the first time.
What do you mean words don't come out right the first time? The guy's supposed to be a writer, for God's sake. My words, on the other hand, that he's an idiot came out exactly right. And this instance isn't the only one that proves it.
Even good writers need good editors. But I don't want to try to defend Rodger Jones. My point was that he ought to defend himself more often.
According to the AP, 65 historians rated Lincoln the nation's best President. Washington ranked second. James Buchanan was ranked as the worst President. Those historians must have been reading my blog!
By the way, George W. Bush ranked 36 out of 42. Sounds about right, if just a tad high. ;-)
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