Senator Reid Opts To Fight
After Harry Reid went out of his way to call President Bush “a loser” earlier this week, everyone suspected that, rather than a simple poor choice of words, the sentiment expressed how the Senate Minority Leader truly felt about Mr. Bush. Now the Senator has confirmed this by his own mouth.
As noted in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Senator Reid was questioned about how the comment would affect his ability to work with Republicans. His response was to say, “I tell people how I feel about things. I don’t try to hide how I feel . . . I think this administration has done a very, very bad job for this nation and the world.”
Those comments should be the signal for Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist to pull the trigger on the Constitutional Option for judicial nominees, as well as any other methods by which he can use the Republicans’ majority status to advantage.
Given the opportunity to temper his earlier remarks, Senator Reid opted to attack the President even more. By abandoning any and all conciliatory tones, he has de facto declared that there will be no compromising on the Democrats’ part with the administration or Republicans in general. If the comity that so many in the minority claim to long for is being thrown out, then it is time for the Republicans to go ahead and start throwing around the weight they enjoy as the majority party in Washington.
But it should be understood that this is not just about slapping back after being slapped. The fact is that whichever party is in the majority, be it Republicans, Democrats, Greens, or Libertarians, enjoys the majority because the people of the United States have put it in that position. Those who sit in positions of power in Washington are there to do the people’s business. If the people have shown a preference for the Republican agenda through the electoral process, as they have done for six straight elections where the Congress is concerned, then the Republicans should feel free to pursue that agenda.
Of course, a regard for the rights of the minority party and its supporters, as well as a general sense of good manners, demands at least an attempt to govern in such a way as to provide maximum satisfaction for all who are willing to work together. If the minority party is unwilling to work in good faith with the majority party, a regard for the choice of the sovereign people demands that the majority pursue the agenda it was elected to pursue.
For some time now, Democrats have screamed that, if the Republicans use their majority to force their agenda over the objections of the minority, they will do the same when they are in the majority. The response to this is simple: Fine, then. Go out and win a majority in an election, and you will be free to do so.
One would think/hope that, in view of their reduced power as the minority party, the Democrats would go out of their way to avoid direct confrontations with the majority Republicans, and take their electoral defeats as a signal to be more willing to work and compromise with Republicans – within the Constitutional framework. They had that chance, and Senator Reid’s comments demonstrate that they’d rather opt for confrontation. So be it. Let the majority commence with the confronting.
As noted in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Senator Reid was questioned about how the comment would affect his ability to work with Republicans. His response was to say, “I tell people how I feel about things. I don’t try to hide how I feel . . . I think this administration has done a very, very bad job for this nation and the world.”
Those comments should be the signal for Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist to pull the trigger on the Constitutional Option for judicial nominees, as well as any other methods by which he can use the Republicans’ majority status to advantage.
Given the opportunity to temper his earlier remarks, Senator Reid opted to attack the President even more. By abandoning any and all conciliatory tones, he has de facto declared that there will be no compromising on the Democrats’ part with the administration or Republicans in general. If the comity that so many in the minority claim to long for is being thrown out, then it is time for the Republicans to go ahead and start throwing around the weight they enjoy as the majority party in Washington.
But it should be understood that this is not just about slapping back after being slapped. The fact is that whichever party is in the majority, be it Republicans, Democrats, Greens, or Libertarians, enjoys the majority because the people of the United States have put it in that position. Those who sit in positions of power in Washington are there to do the people’s business. If the people have shown a preference for the Republican agenda through the electoral process, as they have done for six straight elections where the Congress is concerned, then the Republicans should feel free to pursue that agenda.
Of course, a regard for the rights of the minority party and its supporters, as well as a general sense of good manners, demands at least an attempt to govern in such a way as to provide maximum satisfaction for all who are willing to work together. If the minority party is unwilling to work in good faith with the majority party, a regard for the choice of the sovereign people demands that the majority pursue the agenda it was elected to pursue.
For some time now, Democrats have screamed that, if the Republicans use their majority to force their agenda over the objections of the minority, they will do the same when they are in the majority. The response to this is simple: Fine, then. Go out and win a majority in an election, and you will be free to do so.
One would think/hope that, in view of their reduced power as the minority party, the Democrats would go out of their way to avoid direct confrontations with the majority Republicans, and take their electoral defeats as a signal to be more willing to work and compromise with Republicans – within the Constitutional framework. They had that chance, and Senator Reid’s comments demonstrate that they’d rather opt for confrontation. So be it. Let the majority commence with the confronting.
posted by JeffreyH | 3:49 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home