[Mb-civic] Tide Turning

Thu Mar 31 14:40:27 PST 2005

the tide is turning the question is how deep is the damage that elements of
the far right have done and will do

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Michael Butler" <michael at michaelbutler.com>
To: "Civic" <mb-civic at islandlists.com>
Sent: Thursday, March 31, 2005 5:37 PM
Subject: [Mb-civic] Tide Turning


>
> ------ Forwarded Message
> From: Hawaiipolo at cs.com
> Date: Thu, 31 Mar 2005 15:35:36 EST
>
> Is the tide finally turning? Is there hope that this cabal of unethical
> idiots might be turned out of power? Pray , my friends , pray....MD
> >
> >Headline: GOP conspiracy theorizing: A side-effect of hubris?
> >Byline: Dante Chinni
> >Date: 03/29/2005
> >
> >(WASHINGTON)There are some basic rules in politics. When the public is
> >with you,
> >claim a mandate by the will of the people. When the public is against
> >you, claim a strong personal compass that isn't swayed by polls. And
> >when you think your control and approval are slipping, talk about the
> >conspiracy working against you.
> >
> >With those simple rules in mind, we turn our attention to the
> >Republican leadership and House majority leader Tom DeLay.
> >
> >After facing several rebukes from the House ethics committee for a
> >variety of offenses - everything from having an interest group pay for
> >his travel to having federal aviation authorities help track down
> >Democratic lawmakers in Texas - Mr. DeLay recently told a Christian
> >conservative group that he had met the enemy and it was "a huge
> >nationwide concerted effort to destroy everything we believe in." This
> >"syndicate," DeLay said, was attacking the conservative movement by
> >launching vicious personal attacks against its leaders.
> >
> >Ah, we know we're through the looking glass when DeLay turns to the
> >words of Hillary Clinton for inspiration. It was Mrs. Clinton,
> >remember, who was greeted with chortles when she decried the "vast
> >right-wing conspiracy" out to destroy her and then-President Bill
> >Clinton.
> >
> >Who knows? Maybe DeLay is right. Maybe there is a secret cabal
> >somewhere, right now plotting against him and the conservative
> >movement. But, if it exists, at the moment it's about as successful as
> >the 2004 Kerry campaign. For all the efforts of the "syndicate,"
> >DeLay's targeted party controls all three branches of the federal
> >government. And maybe, just perhaps, DeLay has faced a series of ethics
> >complaints because he has been dancing right on the edge of House rules.
> >
> >President Bush hasn't been so extreme when he talks of the image
> >problems he faces. There's no "syndicate" in his way, only "the filter"
> >that he says the media put on the news. But the more the president
> >reaches around the so-called filter and speaks at neatly packaged
> >events to sell his Social Security reform plan, the more people seem to
> >be tuning him out. Polls show support for his plan for private accounts
> >is waning. And as he finally starts to acknowledge that the proposal
> >won't solve Social Security's long-term solvency problems, it's hard to
> >imagine how support will grow.
> >
> >What's happening in Washington is that perception and spin are starting
> >to run into real life and the dissonance between them is growing more
> >obvious. There simply may not be a lot of support for the GOP's agenda
> >right now or its methods.
> >
> >The president and his party emerged from last fall's elections with an
> >extremely narrow win on paper that they tried to claim as a mandate.
> >They reached for big, broad goals. That's their choice, of course, but
> >it's a risky strategy, particularly in the US in 2005, which is much
> >like the US of 2000: divided and not much interested in radical changes
> >- especially partisan ones.
> >
> >The nation's reaction to the media's No. 1 topic of the past several
> >weeks, the fate of Terri Schiavo, may signal an awakening to reality.
> >Ms. Schiavo's situation and her family's battle over her life and death
> >are terribly sad. But is anyone actually surprised that people are
> >upset that Congress got involved in the case? One poll showed 82
> >percent of Americans - even 68 percent of evangelical Christians -
> >thought Congress's action was wrong. Is it a shock that Americans, who
> >hold their independence and ability to make personal decisions sacred,
> >would object to Congress intervening in the case of one person?
> >
> >That's not to say that politicians didn't vote their conscience in
> >Congress or that Mr. Bush didn't deeply believe in signing the bill
> >Congress passed. What it does say is this: The ruling party is so sure
> >of itself, it stepped into the middle of a family dispute, even though
> >doing so put the party at odds with what it has historically stood for
> >- lack of government interference.
> >
> >Yes, people will argue that Democrats were involved in passing the
> >legislation as well, and they were. But it was GOP leadership in the
> >House and Senate that brought the issue to Washington. They decided
> >they didn't like the rulings that came out of the Florida courts, so
> >they'd supersede those courts in this one case - as if it was somehow
> >different from thousands of other dilemmas they simply ignore.
> >
> >There are few electoral mandates ever big enough to support that kind
> >of action. And if the Republicans don't soon do a quick mental
> >accounting and acknowledge they're facing a divided and skeptical
> >country (as the US often is), they may find that 2006 and 2008 are
> >unhappy election years. Americans love confidence in their leaders, but
> >they don't like hubris.
> >
> >* Dante Chinni is a senior associate with the Pew Project for
> >Excellence in Journalism. He writes a twice-monthly political opinion
> >column for the Monitor.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >(c) Copyright 2005 The Christian Science Monitor. All rights reserved.
> >
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> >
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