Today's "loyal opposition" is far more oppositional than it is loyal. From hysterical attacks by elected officials to luminaries at Fox News Channel who make stuff up as they go along, to the right-wing media establishment, distorted reportage and commentary are unfortunately swallowed whole by a disturbingly large audience.
Supporters of the Iraq invasion claim we've "won" there and are cheer-leading us on to Afghanistan; in fact we're holding a tiger by the tail in Iraq and face an uncertain future in Afghanistan. Recently, National Standard editor, William Kristol, reaffirmed his original position vis-à-vis Iraq even though he has been and continues to be consistently wrong - - e.g. Shiites and Sunnis get along just fine, there's a functioning central government, and our presence helps to stabilize the region and protect us from terrorists.
In reality, ethnically-cleansed neighborhoods helped lower the level of violence; a central government exists in name only as the Kurds operate in a parallel universe; Sunnis we paid to stop killing our troops are furious they haven't been included in the Malichi government as promised, and there remain thousands of Iraqi refugees. Besides, Saddam Hussein's removal strengthened Iran, and allowed Al Qaeda to flourish; our support of Iraq's long war with Iran is often ignored. In sum, our interventions in the region have rarely produced positive outcomes. Somewhat ominously, Kristol supports administration proposals for Afghanistan. Could he actually be right this time?
In Congress Republican criticism has become an end in itself rather than a springboard for serious debate. When Speaker Pelosi said on a recent Charlie Rose show that she felt Republicans weren't being obstructionists but rather were following the dictates of deeply held ideological convictions, she seemed at first to be excusing "the party of no". Upon reflection, however, her point was really more damning than simply accusing the minority of bad behavior. After all, if Republicans are bound by an unyielding ideology they are unlikely to develop new ideas and solutions apart from codified political certainties, even ones that haven't worked very well in the past.
One often hears it said, despite all that has happened, that government shouldn't interfere or over-regulate markets - - that they will self-adjust, although there is scant evidence to support that view. Even former Fed Chairman, Alan Greenspan, said he had misjudged the capacity of the market to discipline itself. Yet Republican Paul Ryan of Wisconsin insists the country will begin to realize that his party tells the truth and people will reject a large government presence in their lives. Ryan may touch a nerve in some quarters, but at this moment, it has to be obvious across a broad spectrum of a financially threatened populace that government is its refuge of first and last resort.
On Sunday's "Meet the Press" John McCain repeated the suspect Republican talking points - - that his party had offered a viable alternative stimulus package, that they will present a budget plan of their own and that the only way to achieve real bi-partisan solutions is for the parties to sit down across a table and thrash out their differences. The problem with his last point is that Republicans keep coming up with the same proposals; in their current budget the only available numbers reflect once again that taxes are the defining element - - they would lower the bottom rate to 10% and the upper rate to 25%. If the Bush tax cuts transferred enormous wealth to the already wealthy, just imagine the capital enhancement that would accrue to that same group as a result of these proposals.
In truth it isn't always possible to breach the chasm that exists between conflicting entities. Republicans talk about jobs but pose solutions that depend on lowering taxes - - for people who are unemployed and businesses short on customers. Words are meaningless in the absence of sound ideas; playing word games is a pointless exercise that amuses some folks but does nothing to heal the nation's festering economic wound.
Rush Limbaugh suggested last week that the people of Fargo should find another word to use instead of "dike" as they struggled to shore up the banks of the Red River. He used North Dakota's distress for an adolescent attempt at what must pass for humor among his supporters. And his party of choice pitched a flimsy budget proposal that made them look almost as silly as their most favored standard-bearer.
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