Call me skeptical, call me cynical. I can’t help it.
When dealing with an alcoholic or a drug addict, you often encounter many broken promises. Many times when you hear those promises you just sit and wait for them to be broken, again and again. We watch them destroy themselves a little here, a little there; we watch them hit rock bottom and appear to get the message, but they soon revert back to their old ways.
After the 2004 election, the Democrats were again at rock bottom. Many shook their heads in disbelief, many refused to accept it. But they all felt the same disappointment, some to the degree that they sought counseling to cope with the reality of the loss. Others just got angrier.
Some Democrats appeared sincere in their troubleshooting assessments after the election. Many were, but many weren’t. The far left wing of the party got angrier and they continue to do so, the more they think about it. The centrists of the party have been giving serious thought as to how they can polish their image. They have accurately concluded that to win the White House, they simply must curb the personal vendettas and attacks, if they ever want to win back the Presidency. You can’t win a Presidency by telling what the opposition does wrong, without telling what you would do right.
As I watched the confirmation hearings for Secretary Of State Designee Dr. Rice, I am amazed that the most experienced and seasoned politicians have not realized what lost them the election. If they did, they would not have spent hours attacking Dr. Rice for what they just spent months attacking President Bush for. We just spent a whole year of hateful vile attacks and accusations of lying and conspiracy theories that the American people simply did not want to hear.
Dr. Rice and the President may have had faulty information and may have acted on that same faulty information, hastily. But, that does not constitute lying. Miscalculations are not lies, they are mistakes and we all have made them. But today, a whole cadre of Democratic Senators wasted a whole day of the people’s time calling Dr. Rice a liar and for what? The whole nomination was never in danger.
Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with asking hard questions. They need to be asked. I want them asked.
Debating the issues that we now face are necessary for our system to flourish. I have no trouble with debating policies; I have no problem describing problems as long as there are solutions proposed with them. But, to tie up a whole day when the outcome is never in question, indicates that many in the Democratic leadership do not learn lessons well.
So go right ahead. Call me cynical and call me skeptical, if you wish. I just don’t see a lot of evidence that there will be a kinder, gentler, and issues oriented Democratic Party anytime soon. And you can take that to the bank, if Howard Dean wins the chairmanship. But, if this is the course that Democrats continue to follow, then it should come as no surprise when they lose another election in 2008.
President-elect Gingrich won’t mind at all.
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