Why Democrats Suck (#1)

I take a lot of shots at Republicans and conservatives in my blog postings, but the Democrats can be just as bad. Okay, not just as bad, but just because they're not Republicans doesn't mean they're perfect. I prefer Democrats to Republicans in places like Congress because Democrats typically are a bit more liberal than Republicans - especially since the Republicans have gotten so tight with the Christian right, one of the many painful consequences of the Bush administration.

But not all Democrats get a pass here in the Blog-O-Rama, and today I have my sights set on Congressman Charles Rangel, a Democrat from New York who says we should bring back the draft in order to shore up the troop levels currently in Iraq and to make sure we have enough troops for potential future operations in Iran and North Korea. He also speculates - check out the CNN article here - that people in Congress might not have been so quick to vote for, and might be less likely to vote in the future for, operations in Iraq, Iran, and North Korea, if there was the potential that kids in their constituencies might be called to serve against their will.

Way to exploit the kids there, Chuck. Are you telling me that Iraq isn't already enough like Vietnam? Now they want to bring back the draft that people were dodging a generation ago, for the same reason(s) they'd dodge it now, if it came back? It would never pass, of course - not in Congress, where the people passing it would eventually have to run for re-election - but that isn't even the point. What do you think Mahmoud Ahamdinejad, President of Iran, and Kim Jong Il, the Dear Leader of North Korea, would think of us, the United States, if we brought back the draft? They each already believe that the United States has a secret plan brewing to invade each of their countries - how much warmer and fuzzier would they feel to learn that the United States is drafting legislation - which would surely be against the will of its people - that would begin a massive forced increase in our number of troops?

Part of his reasoning for why we need to bring back the draft is that it is inexcusable to send people back for second and third tours in Iraq; and while a more touchy-feely person might agree with this assertion, I disagree, because it is founded on a faulty premise - that of the war in Iraq being justified. It isn't. It never was, and never has been. If the stated objectives of this war - regardless of the reasoning behind those objectives - had been achieved as originally conceived, we would not be having this conversation. We would be out of Iraq. But we aren't - because the war has been bungled and mismanaged almost from day one. It is the Titanic, in the space between when it collided with the iceberg and when it sank. In 1912, there was nothing that could stop the Titanic from sinking once it started taking on water. In 2006, there are ways that the war in Iraq can be righted, but the problem is that President Bush, to right the ship, would have to admit fault, ask for help, and come to terms with the failures of his presidency. None of these things is likely to happen between now and when Hillary Clinton is sworn in as President on January 20, 2009. Bush will hand his failed war off to the next President just as Lyndon Johnson did in 1968 - and the best that we can hope for in Iraq is that Hillary Clinton does a better job of cleaning up than Nixon did.

This, then, is how the Democrats are so far reacting to re-gaining power in Congress. First, Nancy Pelosi takes a somewhat contentious stand when she backs John Murtha, of Pennsylvaina, to be House Majority Leader, instead of Steny Hoyer, the currenty Minority Whip and a man with whom she has had a strained professional relationship since they ran against each other for Minority Whip in 2001. I have no preference for either over the other, but find it interesting and a little unsettling that Pelosi’s first quasi-official act as Speaker of the House is to, essentially, thumb her nose at one of her collegaues. I’m all for thumbing your nose at folks, but the bloom isn’t even off the rose yet, you know? How do you expect the more conservative Democrats (and there is no small number of them, out there - Murtha among them), to say nothing of the Republicans, to play nice and invite you to join in all the reindeer games if you’re pulling this kind of shit before you even take your oath?

Second, today’s contestant, Charles Rangel - who was re-elected to his House seat with a staggering 94% of the vote - wants to bring back the draft. Apparently this is his little pet project in the House of Representatives. Unfortunately, this is not the best time to be trotting it out - not while we’re at war (even if it is a dumb war we aren’t going to win - which it is) and not as your party is about to come back to power.

The Dems are putting the cart before the horse, counting their chickens before they’re hatched, etcetera, etcetera. There was a lot of hope in the air on November 7th, when the Dems won back the House; and there was more hope in the air on November 8th, when it finally became clear that the Dems had also won back the Senate. I felt a lot of hope - and even did my best to turn a deaf ear to those pundits who were saying that the American people had voted less FOR Democrats than they voted AGAINST Republicans. I knew Nancy Pelosi was a little bit nuts, but was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt.

I’m not losing my hope that the Dems will begin the process of cleaning up the mess Bush has made in Washington and around the world, and I am not reconsidering giving Nancy Pelosi the benefit of the doubt, either. Yet. But these two examples prove that Democrats suck a little bit, too.