OK, it looks like things might finally be turning for the better. I guess we’ll have to wait and see how it goes, but so far things look promising. First there was the Rumsfeld firing, and now word is that Bolton’s nomination is being pulled from consideration in the Senate. It seems as though reality may have finally caught up to the administration… Or, maybe it’s just plain old fear… I know that Pelosi and Conyers said that impeachment is “off the table,” but who knows what the future might hold if the upcoming hearings create a groundswell of public support for such a course of action. One thing is certain – Bush doesn’t feel as though he has the political capital at this point to force through an unabashed United Nations-hating maniac as our Ambassador to the UN (even though he, at the moment, still has a Republican majority in the Senate). And that’s a good thing for America. The election has shown him that he’s lost the battle for the hearts and minds of Americans and, it seems, he’s beginning to act accordingly.
And the Dems aren’t going to make it easy on him. They’re planning to jump right in and get to work the first day they take over the House and the Senate. Among other things, they’re said to be fasttracking minimum wage legislation and prepairing legislation that would require auditable paper trails for all electronic voting – two things that the Republicans have been fighting tooth and nail to keep off the agenda.
Some of our Senators, having suddenly sprouted balls, are even beginning to go after the likes of Exxon Mobil for propping up phoney global warming denial groups, and thereby derailing substantive discussion on the issue. It’s a very welcomed change from the bullshit of outgoing Senate Environmental Committee Chairman James Inhofe, who still maintains that global warming is a hoax… So, we can chalk another one up for reality.
And, he may not share our opinion on raising fuel efficiency standards (yet), but it sounds like John Dingell, incoming Chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and his counterpart in the Senate, Barbara Boxer, incoming Chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, are also planning to come out swinging. Here’s a quote from Boxer:
“Since his first day in office, President Bush has worked to roll back more than 350 laws and regulations that protect our public health and the environment. Any one of these rollbacks should be cause for a hearing in the Congress, should be a cause for consternation among the people. And I have to tell you, this has got to stop.”
And the list goes on and on. Congressman Henry Waxman, who is set to become Chair of the Government Reform Committee is prepairing his subpoenas as well… It’s going to take a long time, and a lot of work, but at least we’re starting to undo some of the damage that’s been done to our country… If there was ever a time to be in D.C., now would be it.
And, as if all that weren’t enough, American academics, emboldended by the current shift in public sentiment, are crawling out of their bunkers, making the case as to why Bush will go down in history as our worst president ever… Quoting the great orator, Michael Richards, I’d say it’s time to “stick a fork in his ass.” He’s done. And I think he knows it.
2 Comments
Oh snap!
I’m still confused about the “off the table” talk. My guess is that they (the Democrats) are thinking that it’s in their best longterm interest to keep Bush around as a foil. They’re thinking, perhaps correctly, that they can make the ’08 election about him. If they’re right, and they win, that gives the Dems the presidency and both houses of congress, and they could really make some headway in rolling back the bullshit of the past decade. I can see that, but I’d rather roll the dice, trust the American people, and try to get Bush / Cheney thrown out of office. Doing so might make ’08 more difficult, but it’s the right thing to do. The individuals who have done this to our country need to be held accountable.