Posted on 06/15/2005 2:02:41 PM PDT by Osage Orange
Is Dick Durbin America's Stupidest Senator?
by Paul M. Weyrich
Jun 13, 2005
Ever since the mid-1970s when Irving Kristol said Republicans were the Stupid Party, the label stuck. Oh, sure. From time to time Republicans did remarkable work, such as helping to enact President Ronald W. Reagans tax cuts or President George W. Bushs tax cuts. Both tax cuts helped to lift an economy out of a recession. But there are many more examples of stupidity, such as President George Herbert Walker Bush enacting the largest tax increase -- at that point -- in history after having said, when accepting his partys Presidential Nomination in 1988, Read my lips. No new taxes.
There is no point mentioning the whole list. In truth Kristols label stuck because more often than not the Republicans capitulated to the Democrats when it was unnecessary to do so. That caused the party faithful in parts of the country to collectively shake their heads while wondering how can these Republicans be so stupid. Their headshaking follows decades of questioning why their leaders were so naïve. Finally the faithful concluded that no one who got elected himself to office could be that naïve. He had to be stupid.
We need Irving Kristol back. We need another look at the political parties and what characterizes them. What was said of the Democrats was that they were the evil party. We had the party with an evil agenda versus stupid Republicans. There was no contest. No wonder the Democrats seemed to succeed on issues regardless of who won the Presidential Election.
We need Kristol again because Democrats are behaving like the stupid party. [Republicans have not improved much, although certainly they have improved.] The Democrats, in contrast, are making some of the stupidest mistakes ever known to the political world. For example, Howard P. Dean regularly has criticized Republicans as people who dont earn an honest living, as white Christians who exclude everyone else and as people to hate. You have, I am sure, heard the mantra. In addition, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton [D-NY] has spent months trying to show voters that she really is a moderate at heart. She recently traveled to a California fundraiser hosted for her re-election campaign and derided conservatives. She stressed that Republicans are the most power-grabbing group and that Republicans are undermining the Constitution.
On and on the Senator spoke. It seemed as if she had grabbed a Howard Dean speech by mistake.
Now we can argue whether making all these charges is stupid. That will be determined later by how much money is raised and how many candidates for election and re-election are successful. That is not the stupid part, at least not yet.
Here is an example of one of the most stupid acts I have observed in nearly half a century of following politics. It seems that Howard Dean needed some support, given all the criticism he has taken from Republicans and from fellow Democrats. To gather support, Dean visited Capitol Hill, where he had a favorable meeting with Senate Minority Leader Harry M. Reid [D-NV] and Senate Minority Whip Richard J. Durbin [D-IL]. Its fine that Senator Reid told Dean he was doing a fantastic job telling the truth and that the people love it. Never mind that money and activist recruitment is doing poorly. Give Dean time, Reid suggested.
Now Senator Durbin is supposed to be politically astute, even brilliant according to some media accounts. What stupid thing did Durbin do? He attacked the media. He claimed that the charges against Howard Dean and Senator Clinton were blown out of proportion. He claimed that most media follow Fox News Channels script and do what they are told. This, by the way, is the same media objective which studies have cited as being left of center. Durbin also suggested that media people ought to be ashamed of themselves.
Durbins comments didnt get that much attention. It was a busy news day. Let me tell you, as one from that profession, the worst thing one can accuse the media of is that they are following someone elses script. News people are, no doubt, furious about Durbins remark. They wont attack Durbin directly. They will either double the coverage the next time Dean makes a stupid statement or hardly mention Democrats when they have a victory. You might assume that such liberal media people when accused of being part of a right wing conspiracy would recoil in horror and mend their ways. On the contrary. These media folks, believe it or not, view themselves as being objective.
When the political problems of Howard Dean and Hillary Clinton get blamed on them the media doesnt like it. A story will illustrate their mindset. A friend bought a newspaper to beef up his Washington coverage. He asked me to help him hire a reporter who could write stories which might not be covered by the wire services. I introduced my friend to such a reporter. The reporter knew that we held coalition meetings covering many timely issues. He asked me if he could attend these meetings to obtain story ideas. My ground rules were that he could attend but could not write stories based upon the meeting.
If a Senator made an interesting statement the reporter would have to approach him outside of the meeting room to get a story. He agreed to my rules. The reporter attended our coalition meetings for almost a decade, resulting in his having known about numerous matters before they developed into major stories. He told me his colleagues frequently asked how he managed to scoop the competition. It was because of these coalition meetings.
After the reporter had attended the coalition meetings irregularly for nine years I called him to ask a favor. I needed a story written about a timely topic. He was hopping mad as if I had made an untoward remark about his family lineage. He barked that he determined what stories he wrote and that he didnt take orders from me or anyone else. He refused my request. This is how reporters think of themselves. Even though this fellow had attended what the media calls right wing cabals for years, he was not about to write a story because his host asked him.
When Senator Durbin tells reporters they are not independent and they are following the lead of another news operation he has tossed a grenade at the gaggle of reporters covering his press conference. The grenade will bounce back to him and his colleagues. Durbins press conference is even more stupid than the one the late Republican Senator William Lloyd Scott of Virginia held to deny Washington media allegations that he was the stupidest Senator at that time, thereby proving he was the stupidest Senator.
If the Democrats continue as they have been it will be evident that they are now on a par with Republicans as the stupid party. Can it be that both major parties in America are stupid? When you consider our immigration policy, an awful lot of Americans would agree with that idea.
Paul M. Weyrich is the Chairman and CEO of the Free Congress Foundation.
There are too many of them for any one to have that distinction. But he does rank up there.
No. Barabra Boxer is.
Jeffords could give him some competition.
You meant "down there", right?
He's in the top twenty for sure, though.
You got that right.
He's got a LOT of competition.
That's like a landscaper asking "which brand of dirt is the dirtiest?"
Is Durbin the stupidest? Today, yes. But there's always tomorrow.
Not at all. Liberals wil all think Durbin was attacking any colleague they hate. Weyrich should know that liberalism a fundamentalist religion, and nothing can shake their faith.
Separated at Birth?
.
Have to agree with those who say he's got plenty of competition. WOW! Does IL deserve better??? You'd think they'd would realize that...
Joseph Biden, IMO, is the dumbest.
Patty Murray will fight him for the "dumbest" title (and win), but Durbin is - as of last night - the "Senator Most Likely to Get American Troops Needlessly Killed Because of Political Grandstanding." I expect to see Ted Kennedy trying to retake that crown shortly.
Or maybe not, but he apparently speaks for that group.
You mean Pat Buchanan didn't make that up?
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