Another Long Walk
Another Long Walk
By William Rivers Pitt
t r u t h o u t Columnist
Wednesday 21 February 2007
The moment is as iconic as any within the pages of American history. Three prominent Republican senators - Hugh Scott of Pennsylvania, John Rhodes of Arizona and conservative icon Barry Goldwater - embarked upon the "Long Walk" to the White House in the summer of 1974. The purpose of their journey was straightforward. The sound and fury of Watergate had reached a brittle crisis point, and those three men were delivering a message to Richard Nixon: it was time to give up the fight.
The echoes of that moment color these times as vividly as if they had just happened. Nixon's imperial presidency was in ashes, along with what had become the awesome power of the Executive Branch, as Congress used the scandal to reassert its position within government. The changes wrought by that long walk stand today as one of Vice President Dick Cheney's prime motivators, for he was there to witness it all. His mission over these last years has been to take back what was lost, to stifle Congress and establish the permanent supremacy of a Unitary Executive.
We have arrived at a similar crossroads today. In the end, a similar solution may well be settled upon by a Republican Party saddled with yet another president who understands no limits to his power. The hubris of Bush's executive overreach has manufactured a deeply unpopular, overwhelmingly dangerous war that churns through soldiers and tax dollars with equal voracity. A half-dozen scandals of staggering breadth simmer on the horizon, as they are slowly and methodically exposed by newly-minted chairmen in congressional hearing rooms.
The November midterm elections granted new and necessary power to the Democrats; at a minimum, this new Congressional majority has done away with the thundering avalanche of one-party rule in Washington. The residual bitterness felt by Republicans suddenly deprived of control has created an atmosphere of insurrection within the ranks of the dispossessed; few of them are willing to charge once more unto the breach for an administration that led them into humiliating defeat.
One would think these two factors - newly empowered Democrats and angry Republicans - guarantee some sort of brave new political world dominated by this new majority, but as of yet, this has not materialized. The Senate has become almost useless, thanks to an astonishingly early start for the 2008 presidential run. Several of the most powerful Democrats in that body are in the race, and are therefore as tepidly cautious as long-tailed cats in a rocking-chair factory. House Democrats, while far more assertive, are faced with having to deal with this sleepy Senate if they wish to see any groundbreaking legislation make its way to the Oval Office.
The elephant in the room, however, happens to be the same 2008 race that has stalled out the Senate. All eyes and minds are focused on the massive crowd of candidates who have already come out, but the most important part of this next election has thus far been ignored.
Simply put, 22 of the 34 senators who have to run for re-election in 2008 are Republicans. Each has the dead-weight millstone of Bush, Cheney, Iraq and the scandals around their neck, and each knows full well that the weight of these burdens could easily pull them down into the darkest depths of defeat. In the worst-case GOP scenario, 2008 could become the kind of electoral wipeout that would make last November's annihilation quaint by comparison.
There is great hope that the Democrats will find a way to force Bush and the White House into a new direction, but in the end, this may not be enough. Bush and his people have become Zen-like in their ability to ignore the political opposition, majority power or otherwise.
In the end, it may very well take another long walk to curtail the flagrant abuses and stubborn foolishness that have become the sign and signal of our days. Close your eyes and imagine a hot summer night to come. The streets of Washington are quiet, save for the somber footfalls of three Republican senators - McConnell, McCain and Cornyn, perhaps - who have been tasked to deliver a simple message to the president. The potential for political defeat of generational proportions looms before the party. The time for willful intractability and the illusions of supremacy are gone.
The message: give it up.
LinkHere
By William Rivers Pitt
t r u t h o u t Columnist
Wednesday 21 February 2007
The moment is as iconic as any within the pages of American history. Three prominent Republican senators - Hugh Scott of Pennsylvania, John Rhodes of Arizona and conservative icon Barry Goldwater - embarked upon the "Long Walk" to the White House in the summer of 1974. The purpose of their journey was straightforward. The sound and fury of Watergate had reached a brittle crisis point, and those three men were delivering a message to Richard Nixon: it was time to give up the fight.
The echoes of that moment color these times as vividly as if they had just happened. Nixon's imperial presidency was in ashes, along with what had become the awesome power of the Executive Branch, as Congress used the scandal to reassert its position within government. The changes wrought by that long walk stand today as one of Vice President Dick Cheney's prime motivators, for he was there to witness it all. His mission over these last years has been to take back what was lost, to stifle Congress and establish the permanent supremacy of a Unitary Executive.
We have arrived at a similar crossroads today. In the end, a similar solution may well be settled upon by a Republican Party saddled with yet another president who understands no limits to his power. The hubris of Bush's executive overreach has manufactured a deeply unpopular, overwhelmingly dangerous war that churns through soldiers and tax dollars with equal voracity. A half-dozen scandals of staggering breadth simmer on the horizon, as they are slowly and methodically exposed by newly-minted chairmen in congressional hearing rooms.
The November midterm elections granted new and necessary power to the Democrats; at a minimum, this new Congressional majority has done away with the thundering avalanche of one-party rule in Washington. The residual bitterness felt by Republicans suddenly deprived of control has created an atmosphere of insurrection within the ranks of the dispossessed; few of them are willing to charge once more unto the breach for an administration that led them into humiliating defeat.
One would think these two factors - newly empowered Democrats and angry Republicans - guarantee some sort of brave new political world dominated by this new majority, but as of yet, this has not materialized. The Senate has become almost useless, thanks to an astonishingly early start for the 2008 presidential run. Several of the most powerful Democrats in that body are in the race, and are therefore as tepidly cautious as long-tailed cats in a rocking-chair factory. House Democrats, while far more assertive, are faced with having to deal with this sleepy Senate if they wish to see any groundbreaking legislation make its way to the Oval Office.
The elephant in the room, however, happens to be the same 2008 race that has stalled out the Senate. All eyes and minds are focused on the massive crowd of candidates who have already come out, but the most important part of this next election has thus far been ignored.
Simply put, 22 of the 34 senators who have to run for re-election in 2008 are Republicans. Each has the dead-weight millstone of Bush, Cheney, Iraq and the scandals around their neck, and each knows full well that the weight of these burdens could easily pull them down into the darkest depths of defeat. In the worst-case GOP scenario, 2008 could become the kind of electoral wipeout that would make last November's annihilation quaint by comparison.
There is great hope that the Democrats will find a way to force Bush and the White House into a new direction, but in the end, this may not be enough. Bush and his people have become Zen-like in their ability to ignore the political opposition, majority power or otherwise.
In the end, it may very well take another long walk to curtail the flagrant abuses and stubborn foolishness that have become the sign and signal of our days. Close your eyes and imagine a hot summer night to come. The streets of Washington are quiet, save for the somber footfalls of three Republican senators - McConnell, McCain and Cornyn, perhaps - who have been tasked to deliver a simple message to the president. The potential for political defeat of generational proportions looms before the party. The time for willful intractability and the illusions of supremacy are gone.
The message: give it up.
LinkHere
posted by Kangaroo Brisbane Australia at 7:29 PM
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