Another Mugging on Capitol Hill (Democratic Party, R.I.P.)

The Hill ^ | November 26, 2003 | Albert Eisele

[quidnunc]

The Democratic Party, one of the twin pillars of the American political system and a major force in Congress for much of the 20th century, died last weekend while working on Capitol Hill. It was 175 years old. The cause of death was injuries suffered from an apparent mugging while trying to rescue the New Deal, the New Frontier and the Great Society.

Capitol Police Chief Terrance Gainer said the victim’s body was found Monday in the excavation for the Capitol Visitor Center, shortly after Congress cleared the way for overhauling Medicare, the Great Society program created in 1965 that was considered the party’s most important legacy.

The time of death was uncertain, but it probably occurred between early Saturday morning and Monday afternoon, Gainer said.

Even though the body bore signs of a violent struggle, Gainer did not rule out the possibility of suicide, citing reports that the victim had been severely depressed since November 2000.

Gainer said he is investigating several leads, including a tip that three top House Republicans — Speaker Denny “Hardball” Hastert (Ill.), Majority Leader Tom “The Sledgehammer” DeLay (Texas) and Ways and Means Chairman Bill “Take No Prisoners” Thomas (Calif.) — were seen making threatening gestures toward the victim in recent days.

He also said two surviving Senate Democrats, John “Huey Long Didn’t Go Far Enough” Breaux (La.) and Max “Let’s Make a Deal, Any Deal” Baucus (Mont.), were considered possible suspects because of their involvement in efforts to help Republicans overhaul Medicare.

“There are a lot of potential suspects who wished the victim ill will,” Gainer said. He indicated that he intends to interrogate AARP Chief Executive William Novelli, Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie and conservative radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh.

Hastert, while denying that he or his colleagues had anything to do with the victim’s demise, said he has no regrets that Congress will now become a unicameral body, like that in Nebraska.

-snip-

[TASMANIANRED]

"Unicameral means that either the house or the senate has been eliminated in the legislative process. I doubt that either would be abolished if/when the Dems drop dead. "

If we are truely fortunate we can still have a 2 party system. Republican and Conservative.

Instead of having the privatization camel poking his nose in the tent we can at least try to roll back all the socialist bs that been forced on us since Roosevelt.

[billhilly]

All of my life the preachers have said at funerals, we are celebrating the life, not the death of the deceased, or words to that effect.

I think this is cause to reverse the sentiments and celebrate the death, for surely, nothing deserved to die more than the socialistic democrats. Long live the socialistic republicans.

[highlander_UW]

Yet failing to realize it's dead, the democratic corpse continues to twitch and flinch...a epithet about Bush the last words upon it's blue lips........

[skinkinthegrass]

Suicide Arkanscide, while in an unsound state of mind.

...with due respect.

[LADY J]

"Yet failing to realize it's dead, the democratic corpse continues to twitch and flinch...a epithet about Bush the last words upon it's blue lips........"

There is nothing democratic about the democrats. The word democratic does not describe anything about them.

[Jabba the Nutt]

Hate to be the skunk at the funeral. The Dem's are not dead. Our 'First Past the Post' electoral system strongly favors the creation of two parties. The current top dogs have been around since 1860. I doubt that this will change. The GOP was declared dead twice in my lifetime, in 1964 after Goldwater's shellacking and in 1974, after Nixon's resignation and the huge gains by the Dem's in the '74 elections.

[mugsaway]

Obviously an Arkincide!

[montag813]

This is why the Medicare prescription-drug benefit package is money well-spent.

The Media did not give Bush a moment's victory. Here is MSNBC's headline right now...scaring the old grannies

[Lancey Howard]

The dems are on their knees on the tatami mat with an open kimono and Bush has just handed them the shoto.

LOL!

[Grampa Dave]

What is left of the so called brain trust of al Qaeda keeps reading the NY Slimes, Washington Compost, LA Slimes and USSA Today while watching ABCNNBCBS liberal spin posing as news.

When they read the liberal line and watch it on tv, the al Qaeda brain trust believes that they are winning the war and most Americans hate GW and are ready to vote him out of office.

This is good as they are suffering from the same mental illness, extreme arrogance, that the Rats are suffering from at home.

This vast misunderstanding has been fatal to many of their leaders, and the current B/C team is even more confused of the grim reality America/GW poses for them.

[Consort]

...assuming no more homeland attacks,...

The population must not be allowed to assume that. It's not politics; it's common sense.

[aquawrench]

'Dumb ole Bush' has beaten them Again.

[Kevin Curry]

Let's see if I understand this "brilliant" strategy: Republicans steal and implement the Democrats' agenda, leaving the Democrats with nothing to peddle. In other words, we put the town pimp out of business by opening our own whorehouse.

[eyespysomething]

Exactly!

[demkicker]

Well said & unfortunately true.

[WOSG]

It is satire - it's the author's fault for mixing his nomenclature. 'non-partisan' is the term he needed.


This column has everything except the quote from Tom Daschle: He is "Deeply saddened".

[WOSG]

you'd think the Dems would have learned from Reagan not to go around mis-underestimating people. :-)

[WOSG]

If it was the Dems agenda, Pelosi and Kennedy wouldnt be calling it the end of Medicare as we know it. They are calling this a conservative trojan horse and think it will undermine the 'universal coverage' with all the options, choices like MSA, means-testing and other reforms.

What was passed this week was much more of a Conservative bill than all the previous precription drug bills that were passed by the senate this session and the house in the 2 previous sessions. Those previous bills were RINO+Dem bills, this one was a RINO+Conservative compromise.

Conservatives managed to make a good bit of lemonade out of this lemon, and the Democrats are the ones puckering about it. (And I say this as someone who, on balance, is against this - it is still too much big govt, but so is the medicare status quo every year.)

[WOSG]

"Economy: will be completely taken off the table by the middle of 2004."

If anything, this will be a positive for Bush in the next 6 - 12 months.

He can redo the 1984 campaign: "We cut Taxes. It worked. Re-elect me."

[WOSG]

The key thing is if we can make a permanent conservative majority ... the 1860-1930 era saw the Republicans as the majority, 1930-2000 the Democrats were dominant.
In both cases the dominant party was the party for governance. Meaning they drove the agenda.

We need a governing conservative consensus if we want a governing conservative majority.

We can have that if:
- we get the race hustlers out of business (end affirmative action) and get conservative minorities voting for a conservative party
- we stop the creation of liberals via the bias in the schools and universities
- we get balance in the media
- we take back the courts from the leftist activist judges

And last but not least: We keep the Republican party conservative. The Democrat party is riddled with socialists and is a lost cause. the only good thing would be for it to go into steep decline. let the real debate be between the moderate RINOs and the conservative Republicans, that is where 80% of the country lies .. only then is there hope for our politics.