That blast wave you felt was the shock from the sudden implosion of the Republican Party. Now it can fade into the black hole of racism and corruption it has become. The half-life of nickel 56 is only 6 days -- or approximately the length of Shelley Sekula-Gibbs's service in the House of Representatives -- and the decay of the radioactive Republican Party will be similarly swift.
Good to see that the Democrats, in their second act since regaining power, managed to overcome their reputation for party disunity by unanimously electing Rep. Murtha as the House Majority Leader.
Oh, wait. They actually voted against Pelosi's pick for the job and elected Hoyer 149-86. Way to show some unity and back the party leader's first decision.
I don't think it's so bad that Murtha didn't win. Pelosi's endorsement of him was not exactly resounding. And while I'm at times frustrated by the Dems' seeming lack of unity, I do believe it is more important for our elected representatives to have independent judgement. If the Repubs didn't emphasize so heavily the need to be "team players" all the time, perhaps there would have been more scrutiny and debate regarding some of the administration's decisions in the past few years.
I'm not sure what you would consider a resounding endorsement. A number of the Hoyer supporters were complaining about strong-arm tactics and threats being used by Pelosi and her allies to convince them to vote for Murtha. This after Pelosi had earlier stated publicly that she wouldn't get involved in the race.
I certainly agree that we want our representatives to have and exercise independent judgment and that the Republicans solidarity can be a bad thing for the country. However, it is equally important that the Democrats understand enough about basic politics to avoid stressing the areas where they disagree rather than the areas where they agree. Politics 101 is that only an idiot would publicly support candidate A, a close ally, over candidate B, a rival at the 11th hour, after pledging to remain neutral, when candidate A was trailing by a huge margin. There is no way that an endorsement 24 hours before the election was going to sway 32 representatives, particularly when anyone with any knowledge of the situation knew who Pelosi would have preferred. It was a horrible move politically.
I'm concerned that this is a sign of a deeper problem with Pelosi-- the ability to hold a grudge and demand for total loyalty. Hoyer and Pelosi ran for minority whip in 2001-- Pelosi won and felt that Hoyer undercut her authority. Now, she's using her power to settle the score. From the Post
"For the most part, lawmakers, Hill aides and some outside advisers -- even some close to her -- say they are at a loss to explain why Pelosi has held a grudge for so long, because she clearly has the upper hand as leader of the House Democrats. They suggest that part of what rankles her is that Hoyer is not beholden to her and feels no compulsion to publicly agree with her on every issue. This, allies say, she sees as a sign of disloyalty."
If this indicates that Pelosi is going to be a blue version of Rummy and Cheney, I fear the Dems are not going to hold the House for long.
I think Qian has it right: it's good to see that democracy thing working, even if it can be ugly at times.
There were strong arguments both for and against Murtha as Majority Leader. I don't have a strong opinion one way or the other. The important thing will be whether the 110th Congress can successfully propose and pass good legislation. I have unlimited confidence that the 110th Congress will be an improvement over the 109th in that regard.
5 Comments:
That blast wave you felt was the shock from the sudden implosion of the Republican Party. Now it can fade into the black hole of racism and corruption it has become. The half-life of nickel 56 is only 6 days -- or approximately the length of Shelley Sekula-Gibbs's service in the House of Representatives -- and the decay of the radioactive Republican Party will be similarly swift.
Has Lott's house been rebuilt yet?
Good to see that the Democrats, in their second act since regaining power, managed to overcome their reputation for party disunity by unanimously electing Rep. Murtha as the House Majority Leader.
Oh, wait. They actually voted against Pelosi's pick for the job and elected Hoyer 149-86. Way to show some unity and back the party leader's first decision.
I don't think it's so bad that Murtha didn't win. Pelosi's endorsement of him was not exactly resounding. And while I'm at times frustrated by the Dems' seeming lack of unity, I do believe it is more important for our elected representatives to have independent judgement. If the Repubs didn't emphasize so heavily the need to be "team players" all the time, perhaps there would have been more scrutiny and debate regarding some of the administration's decisions in the past few years.
I'm not sure what you would consider a resounding endorsement. A number of the Hoyer supporters were complaining about strong-arm tactics and threats being used by Pelosi and her allies to convince them to vote for Murtha. This after Pelosi had earlier stated publicly that she wouldn't get involved in the race.
I certainly agree that we want our representatives to have and exercise independent judgment and that the Republicans solidarity can be a bad thing for the country. However, it is equally important that the Democrats understand enough about basic politics to avoid stressing the areas where they disagree rather than the areas where they agree. Politics 101 is that only an idiot would publicly support candidate A, a close ally, over candidate B, a rival at the 11th hour, after pledging to remain neutral, when candidate A was trailing by a huge margin. There is no way that an endorsement 24 hours before the election was going to sway 32 representatives, particularly when anyone with any knowledge of the situation knew who Pelosi would have preferred. It was a horrible move politically.
I'm concerned that this is a sign of a deeper problem with Pelosi-- the ability to hold a grudge and demand for total loyalty. Hoyer and Pelosi ran for minority whip in 2001-- Pelosi won and felt that Hoyer undercut her authority. Now, she's using her power to settle the score. From the Post
"For the most part, lawmakers, Hill aides and some outside advisers -- even some close to her -- say they are at a loss to explain why Pelosi has held a grudge for so long, because she clearly has the upper hand as leader of the House Democrats. They suggest that part of what rankles her is that Hoyer is not beholden to her and feels no compulsion to publicly agree with her on every issue. This, allies say, she sees as a sign of disloyalty."
If this indicates that Pelosi is going to be a blue version of Rummy and Cheney, I fear the Dems are not going to hold the House for long.
I think Qian has it right: it's good to see that democracy thing working, even if it can be ugly at times.
There were strong arguments both for and against Murtha as Majority Leader. I don't have a strong opinion one way or the other. The important thing will be whether the 110th Congress can successfully propose and pass good legislation. I have unlimited confidence that the 110th Congress will be an improvement over the 109th in that regard.
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