If the collective display of mass
stupidity had happened in March, apologists could have
chalked it up to Spring Break madness. But there was no
excuse for the sorry performance of leading Democrats in
Congress last week. Think of it as the film version of
"Dems Gone Wild," without the fun but still full of
jaw-dropping obscenity.
The shenanigans included a lecture on morality by
Sen. Ted (Chappaquiddick) Kennedy and Sen. Joseph
Biden's offensive attempt to speak in ghetto jargon with
the next attorney general, Alberto Gonzales.
When Kennedy thundered that "I wouldn't have" engaged
in talk about torturing terror suspects, I was hoping
Gonzales would stand up and say he wouldn't have driven
off a bridge and let a woman drown.
Biden, the Delaware loudmouth gunning for a top spot
in a John Kerry administration, called Gonzales "ol'
buddy," said "I love you," then accused him of being a
liar.
By the time the sun set Thursday and the TV screens
went black, Democrats showed they learned nothing from
the last election. In a few disastrous hours, they
torched their pledge to work in a bipartisan way with
President Bush.
And they threw out the window all talk about moving
to the center. With their shrill badgering of Gonzales
and the pandering challenge to Bush's electoral college
win, they inadvertently proved the wisdom of voters in
giving the GOP control of Congress and the White House.
How bad were the damn Dems? Put it this way: if
midterm elections were held today, the Senate debate on
filibuster rules would be moot. Democrats wouldn't win
the 40 seats needed to be obstructionists. That's how
bad they were.
Surprisingly, New York's senators were part of the
problem. Chuck Schumer took a cheap shot at Gonzales,
warning him that getting confirmed for attorney general
did not mean he'd be confirmed for the Supreme Court if
Bush nominated him.
Hillary Clinton was worse, showing she's back to
playing footsie with the wackadoo wing. Sternly, she
rose during the joint congressional session held to
certify the election results to decry "many legitimate
questions about the accuracy and integrity" of the
election. But her concerns were only for show, for she
put them aside by voting to certify the results.
Reminiscent of Kerry's defining comment about a war
bill - "I actually voted for the $87 billion before I
voted against it" - Clinton's move stands as the first
flip-flop of the 2008 presidential campaign.
But hardly the last. Bet your bottom dollar that, for
all the harsh attacks on Gonzales, most will vote to
give him the job. See, it's a mark of the Dems'
sophisticated and nuanced thinking that they can talk
one way and act the other. It's only stupid little
people who insist on leaders who say and do the same
thing.
Ah, but what talkers they are, those Dems. They,
along with two Republicans, spent virtually all day
going over memos from or to Gonzales that seemed to
authorize torture of enemy combatants. Never mind that
Gonzales began by saying he condemns torture and was
sickened by the abuses at Abu Ghraib prison.
His interrogators were intent on torturing him with
mind-numbing repetition and insults. Given 10 minutes
per round, some spoke for the full time without asking a
question!
In their zeal to punch around the first Hispanic
attorney general, no one thought about the other 99% of
the job of being the nation's top law officer. There
were no real questions about how Gonzales would keep us
safe from terror and crime or anything else most people
care about.
That would be too mainstream, too ordinary for the
exalted likes of Kennedy, Biden, et al. Give them fringe
or give them death.
Originally published on
January 8, 2005
