Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Change Has Come

As of this writing, the Democrats have won control of the House and two undecided Senate races that are still hanging in the balance are likely to go to the Dems, as well. The people have spoken.

As I have said before, there wasn't any real choices. But, the people chose what they felt was the lesser of two evils. They opted for change and change is what they got.

My advice to the Dems is this:

Now it's time to govern. There is no one to blame anymore. You will be the ones blamed, if you do not do the jobs the people have sent you to do. You can blame the President all you want, you can blame the GOP all you want, and you likely will. But you are in the driver's seat in Congress, you are responsible for one third of the mistakes now. So continuously harping on how screwed up everything is, will not work. It's time to come up with solutions, not complaints.

We will be watching you closely. And if you fail to produce, the same voters that put you there, will take you back out. Screw it up too bad, and you will see just how badly you can lose what you have worked to gain.

To the GOP, I say this:

You failed. You did not do what the people sent you to do. You were the majority party in both houses and yet you failed to come up with solutions to the many problems, we face today. You allowed yourselves to become drunk with power. And you did not do the will of the people.

By becoming part of the corrupt establishment you campaigned against, you put yourself in this predicament. If I were you, I'd look long and hard at what got you put out, re-evaluate, and make all the necessary adjustments. Because the Dems are not likely to do much better than you.

After the honeymoon is over, the hard work will begin. I cannot say that I have much confidence in the way they will govern, if they pursue the typical Democratic agenda. You must be ready for 2008, whining and crying will not get the job done. Prior planning is necessary, if you to re-gain what you have lost.

And to both parties, I say this:

Compromise will be the key. There is no mandate here. The nation is just as split as it ever was. The pendulum has leaned slightly left, this time. That same pendulum can lean back, next time.

13 comments:

Always On Watch said...

I guess that we're going to see what kind of governing the Dems are capable of. The Dems now have two years to prove themselves.

The Republicans alienated their base; the election results prove that.

Anonymous said...

Regarding the oft-repeated and totally baseless "no plan Dems" charge, you should review the course of action laid out in Speaker Pelosi's First 100 Hours posting. You could also take a weekend and read (be warned - a big 1M link to the pdf) the 528-page document known as Senate Amendment 4936, the "Real Security Act of 2006", submitted by Senate Democrats and rejected along a strict party line vote. I'd be happy to post a relevant synopsis if you have no interest in researching the very detailed plans the Democrats have, all of which directly address the concerns you mention in this post of yours from yesterday.

That said, George Bush and Karl Rove and friends would like nothing better than to have the Democrats take responsibility for correcting the Iraq debacle, the obscene debt, the Katrina shame, and a host of atrocities perpetrated on America and the world. Were the Democrats to come in on their white chargers ready to restore America, to "FIX" the problems, they'd fall right into the hands of clever Republican strategists planning for 2008. There is only one group that should FIX the messes we're in right now both at home and around the world, and that group is the Bush Administration.

If the Bushies are smart, they'll suggest the Democrats provide ways to fix all that's been broken. This is a political strategy not widely known (sarcasm), and so I'm sharing it now. When someone with an ounce of cleverness makes a terrible mess of things, they wisely welcome those with new power and invite their suggestions. These anxious-to-have a-say, often naive, elated and optimistic, novice players can easily fall into the trap. They provide options for recovery. The other side, knowing how deep a mess they're in, offers to implement these plans. The CATCH is that they do so feebly and the result is failure. They get to say, "That's what the Dems wanted us to do and we did it. We cooperated and their plan failed."

Being the party completely out of power for the last 6 years, the Dems did not create the messes currently afflicting us, and guess who'll be pointing fingers and saying, "We told you they couldn't do it" if things aren't like happy smiling Disneyland all over the world by 2008? More accurately, by the beginning of the 2008 election cycle, which has already begun.

The Dems will bring their ideas and plans for governance, including plenty of suggestions to assist Bush in fixing the messes he and his cronies have made. Hopefully the American electorate will realize that it's a tall tall order, especially given that the Dems will no doubt be facing resistance from the White House on many fronts for the next 2 years.

Contrary to your assertion LA, there are still people to blame. Accountability has been missing during the entire Bush Jr years. If Dems make good on their campaign promises, they will return a sorely missed accountability to Washington. The Dems will be responsible for one third of the mistakes made after the 110th Congress convenes in January 2007, but you cannot saddle the party that has been out of power this whole time with that responsibility until then.

But now it is their time to govern, and you can be assured that the Dems will be watched like hawks from all points on the political spectrum. Putting aside the unreasonable fringes of left and right, I am hopeful and expecting that we will all be pleasantly surprised.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for your hopeful message Patriot. I am originally from a place where politicians are very powerful and politics is for the most part detested. I respect American's being suspicious of government power in general, but I find it depressing to read cynical commentaries on the system, or on the Democrat's chances for that matter.

A.C. McCloud said...

Being the party completely out of power for the last 6 years, the Dems did not create the messes currently afflicting us, and guess who'll be pointing fingers and saying, "We told you they couldn't do it" if things aren't like happy smiling Disneyland all over the world by 2008? More accurately, by the beginning of the 2008 election cycle, which has already begun.

Interesting theory. It's risky though, since the dems might actually fix things and take power for the next 16 years. And to say Bush doesn't want Iraq to succeed ignores his own legacy. If the dems come in and 'fix' Iraq he looks good on the vision thing. That's why the fix will likely be to give up and come home rather than leaving any impression of a success.

The dems victory has proven a few things wrong. One, Rove wasn't hacking the Diebolds. Two, Osama bin Laden wasn't in the tank for the GOP, and wasn't being fabricated or paid by the CIA as was insuinated by Walter Cronkite 2 years ago. Three, Rove wasn't cooking up any October surprises--it was the Dems and MSM.
And four, neither Kerry's idiocy nor Clinton's finger pointing did any damage, it probably helped get the lefty vote out.

LA Sunset said...

AOW,

//The Republicans alienated their base; the election results prove that.//

I haven't had time to pore over the stats just yet, but from what I am hearing, independents swung the election (as they usually do).

LA Sunset said...

Hi Patriot,

Thanks for visiting.

You make some interesting points, but let me focus on these:

//I'd be happy to post a relevant synopsis if you have no interest in researching the very detailed plans the Democrats have, all of which directly address the concerns you mention in this post of yours from yesterday.//

Fire away. Because I really do not have a lot of time right now to comb over 500+ pages of material. (Maybe later, but not now. I have too much going on) And quite frankly, neither does the vast majority of the electorate. Which naturally poses the question, why didn't the Dems release the plan in simple campaign terms, if it was such a good plan?

//Contrary to your assertion LA, there are still people to blame. Accountability has been missing during the entire Bush Jr years. If Dems make good on their campaign promises, they will return a sorely missed accountability to Washington.//

The people did not vote them in power to blame anymore. The have been given a chance to show what they can do. Blaming Bush for all the ills and claiming that they cannot fix 6 years of missteps overnight, will be reminded of how badly the Dems blamed Bush for the recession he inherited, and other things.

The Dems sold their complaints and the GOP shot themselves in the foot. It's interesting to note in all of this is, many Dems that replaced Republicans yesterday, are CONSERVATIVE Dems. Many are against gun control, one I think is pro-life. Many of them may not always vote the party line. If they do and it goes against the majority of their constituencies, they will be back out in two years, guaranteed.

//Putting aside the unreasonable fringes of left and right, I am hopeful and expecting that we will all be pleasantly surprised.//

Both parties need to do this. Both parties need to return to reason and not allow the extremes to dictate. But we will see how Pelosi governs. If she bypasses Jane Harmon for the chairmanship of the Intelligence Committee for a more left leaning member, we will know then how she intends to run the House.

LA Sunset said...

Hi Anonim,

//I find it depressing to read cynical commentaries on the system, or on the Democrat's chances for that matter.//

Honestly, if you had lived through the LBJ, Jim Wright, Dan Rostenkoski, and Jimmy Carter eras, you'd know precisely why I am so cynical.

LA Sunset said...

AC,

//One, Rove wasn't hacking the Diebolds.//

Ahhh, but he has craftily set up the dems by allowing them to win, so they could ultimately fail in 2008.

You aren't hearing many complaints about voter fraud now, are you? Maybe Rove is a genius, after all. Move over Machiavelli, the Rovian style of politics has overtaken Niccolo and his following.

;)

A.C. McCloud said...

I read where the democrats got out their base, while the repubs lagged. People are going to look back on the Clinton Fox News thing, Kerry, and wonder if they energized the moonbase.

Anonymous said...

Here's a primer of what's inside Senate Amendment 4936, the "Real Security Act of 2006" that was killed by Senate Republicans voting along strict party lines:

1) Begin a new era of sensibly dealing with the quagmire that is the U.S.'s occupation of Iraq. Democrats would begin redeployment of U.S. troops out of Iraq to face terrorist threats around the world, including the new countries hosting Al-Qaeda since the Iraq war began. It also provides for real Congressional oversight to avoid further big-money losses to crooked defense contractors, accustomed to no-bid contracts and a tolerance for fraud and abuse.
2) Refocus America on the real war on terror by making sure the U.S. continues to pursue Osama bin Laden and bring him to justice and increase levels of Special Operations forces to kill and capture the terrorists where they are and to better protect Americans at home.
3) Provide updated tools, consistent with true American values, so we can bring terrorists to justice, while also following the law and the Constitution and work to revise the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act as needed to ensure intelligence agencies have the tools needed to defeat the terrorists.
4) Implement all 41 recommendations of the 9/11 Commission, including providing adequate resources for first responders, distributing homeland security funding based on risk, improving intelligence oversight, bolstering Congressional oversight of homeland security, strengthening public diplomacy and improving tracking of nuclear weapons material.
5) Equip the intelligence community to fight against terrorists by passing the Intelligence authorization bill, giving the CIA the resources to conduct aggressive and effective intelligence gathering. For the first time in 28 years, the Republican-controlled Congress has failed to pass the bill providing these desperately-needed resources.
6) Invest additional money to secure America's ports, rails, roads, airports, chemical and nuclear plants and mass transit systems by improving and increasing screenings and increasing security of containers and radiation screenings.

The Pelosi "Hundred Hours" piece is short enough to read in about 2 minutes so I will not summarize that.

why didn't the Dems release the plan in simple campaign terms, if it was such a good plan?

They did. Every time Dems were given a platform to speak, they laid out the basics on TV, the radio, wherever they could. But because these were delivered "in simple campaign terms" they were constantly ridiculed by Republicans as "not providing any details which shows that Dems had no plan", and the O'Reilly/Limbaugh/Malkin masses nodded their heads in agreement. These details that can only be encapsulated in 500+ page documents that according to you, no one has time to read. Republicans consistently misrepresented the Democrats to the public in this manner.

The people did not vote them in power to blame anymore.

Not quite. The people voted the Democrats into power because the people were sick of being lied to and were sick of corruption and because the people are demanding (and deserve) accountability. No, the Dems were not elected to just assign blame, but they were elected to bring accountability and justice where due.

The have been given a chance to show what they can do.

Yes they have.

If she bypasses Jane Harmon for the chairmanship of the Intelligence Committee for a more left leaning member, we will know then how she intends to run the House.

Pelosi will run a good House and she'll make the decisions she sees fit.

LA Sunset said...

Hi Patriot,

I'll start by saying that I read 3-4 newspapers per day (on average), I surf and read countless articles on the internet daily, and have read many periodicals like Time, Newsweek, and USNWR, as I run across them. I can honestly say that if there was any mention of this plan, it was mixed in with the litany of complaints.

I can say that the encapsulated version is not enough to analyze and evaluate this plan. (So I will make an effort to read the entire thing. I remember parts of what you present, others I do not. With all of the good press given to the Dems by a variety of media services, I do not believe it was effectively communicated. More time was spent on calling the President names and insulting him than presenting positive alternatives for debate.

But hey, they won. They have two years to make good on their promises. it'll be tough, because they will have to work with the President too. they will not be driving the entire train. It's easy to talk, it's harder to produce.

As far as accountability is concerned, how about William Jefferson? If you want to hold the GOP accountable (and we should), accountability belongs on both sides of the aisle.

I do think it would be a travesty to bypass Jane Harmon and a tactical mistake, as well. Remember this, if Pelosi screws this up. She'll be toast as far as the speakership is concerned. Her constituents may keep her in office, but she will risk losing her leadership position.

Anonymous said...

I look forward to the day that you people stop whining about the "liberal media" but I am not holding my breath.

No, the media did not adequately report on S.Amdt 4936 and given that the "liberal media" usually features Republians by a 2-to-1 margin over Dems, it's not surprising that you missed it. Plenty of positive alternatives for debate were offered and were immediately called "defeatist, cowardly, terrorist-sympathizing, etc". It's a lie to play it like Republicans weren't doing plenty of name-calling, especially when they were doing it to avoid engaging in honest, serious debate.

You're right. The Dems will not be driving the entire train, so if not much gets done over the next 2 years, no one will be able to lay all the blame on them. Bush will have as much to do with any stagnancy as the Dems. Over the last 6 years, the Republicans have proven themselves to be unabashedly partisan and completely obstructionist to anything that they didn't author, so we'll see how this all works out.

As far as accountability is concerned, how about William Jefferson? If you want to hold the GOP accountable (and we should), accountability belongs on both sides of the aisle.

With all your professed diligent newshounding, you missed this?

"Jun 15, 2006 (AP)— House Democrats, determined to make an election-year point about ethics, voted 99-58 Thursday night to strip Rep. William Jefferson of his committee assignment while a federal bribery investigation runs its course."

Meanwhile, Dennis Hastert is still Speaker of the House. Thankfully not for long.

On your last point, you should first get it straight that her name is Harman, not Harmon, and "travesty" is strong language for this. Second, since you're concerned about equal accountability across the aisle, then there's no way you should be supporting her so forcefully since she has been tagged along with the rest of the IC for possible distorted national-security contracting, costing the taxpayers millions of dollars, let alone her questionable AIPAC dealings. But then again, the Bush-happy crowd has liked Harman since she has often toed their line, and this crowd is also all too eager to threaten Pelosi with becoming "toast" if she doesn't do what they want her to. Harman has a lot of experience, but if someone else is better suited and/or with less baggage than Harman has, then so be it.

LA Sunset said...

Patriot,

No, the media did not adequately report on S.Amdt 4936 and given that the "liberal media" usually features Republians by a 2-to-1 margin over Dems, it's not surprising that you missed it.

Bias is not a monolithic entity, there are different levels of bias. But even with your explanation, I believe it's a poor excuse to wait on the media to report on something that you are touting, so highly. The Dems did a poor job of promoting it.

//"Jun 15, 2006 (AP)— House Democrats, determined to make an election-year point about ethics, voted 99-58 Thursday night to strip Rep. William Jefferson of his committee assignment while a federal bribery investigation runs its course."//

This is a pretty weak response. Big deal. He needs to be out of Congress, he was caught on camera accepting a ton of money. Try again.

//you should first get it straight that her name is Harman, not Harmon, and "travesty" is strong language for this.//

There are no grammar, spelling, or typo police here at PYY. Everyone makes a mistake now and then as far as that is concerned. I am much more impressed how someone presents a conceptual argument, than how well they type or spell. When you nitpick like this, it only demonstrates that your argument is not sound and shows that you want to vaunt yourself unjustifiably, at the expense of someone else.

You are welcome to comment here and disagree all you want, but don't insult my intelligence with petty BS. I will match my library with your anyday.

And yes, it would be a travesty if Harman were bypassed for someone else with less seniority. She is one intelligent woman, even if she isn't as leftist, as others that Pelosi would rather see in the position.