Yesterday the Republicans filibustered the Webb amendment, which would have given our troops equal time home as in combat. This was a certain show that the Republicans do not support our troops. So today they are supporting the troop. Senate is getting ready to take up debate on a Republican resolution condemning Move On over the Petraeus ad.
A few things come to mind on this resolution.
First off, we saw numerous attacks against John Kerry in 2004 when the Swift Boaters went into action. The same thing happened to Max Cleland. Two Vietnam heroes had their service trashed by Republicans, who had the greed of power. Luckily Barbara Boxer is putting in a resolution to also condemn those ads.
One thing I don’t think is being discussed is what this means. This resolution is the same thing as a censure resolution against Bush. Now when those resolutions get discussed, the Republicans take to the airwaves talking about what “a waste of time” they are. So just like the filibuster, the Republicans were against toothless resolutions before they were for them.
While speaking of condemning people, how about the American people condemning Senate? In the latest Reuters poll, that is exactly what has happened. Congress has an approval rating of 11%. Now the GOP will be quick to say “yeah – no one wants the Democrats in charge”. Well nothing could be further from the truth. In all recent polling, America prefers the Democrats controlling Congress over Republicans. Considering that, one can safely say that the low approval rating is easily attributed to the obstructionist attitude of the Republicans. You get die-hard Republicans that will give a low approval rating because they aren’t in charge. You also get Democrats that will give a low approval rating because of the action of Republicans.
This is very dangerous territory for the GOP. They have already written off 5 Senate races next year, and that number is very conservative. Of course that also puts the Democrats in danger. All signs are pointing to a Democratic controlled everything in 2008. Any sensible student of American politics know that is not the best thing. Having shared control sparks debate, which is how things get done in a democracy. Of course the current GOP attitude of “filibuster everything” stifles that debate (kind of a catch-22 there).
So we will are risking a constitutional crisis in this country. That might be a bad thing, but I don’t think so. Self fulfilling politicians have come up with enough ways to shred the meaning of our democracy so they can serve their own interests. That occurs on both sides of the aisle. Maybe it is time to have a new constitutional convention and fix all the problems we see now.
What America needs most is fresh blood in D.C. Both parties need new blood. Then, perhaps, things could get done in America and people would enjoy the government our forefathers died for, instead of despising it.