Posted on 12/22/2005 11:26:37 PM PST by Angel
The right-wing takeover of this sensible country has been stopped. With this pleasant thought, we enter 2006.
In one golden week, three things happened that bore a common thread. In each case, mainstream positions won out over the bluster of blowhards. People of principle stared down charges that they were unpatriotic, loved Osama or hated religion. The results were gratifying -- not only to liberals, but to moderates and a good number of self-described conservatives, who have distanced themselves from their leaders' excesses.
For starters, the Senate said "no" to opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling. It has saved the refuge before, but this time the Republican oilmen turned the vote into a game of chicken. The drilling provision was first stuck to the budget bill. When lawmakers balked, it was unstuck and attached to the defense-spending bill. Once there, the gamesters figured they could smear anyone voting against it as uncaring about the troops.
The defenders of the wildlife refuge, which included several Republicans, did not cave. Sen. Maria Cantwell, Democrat from Washington, accurately called the bill "legislative blackmail." Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut announced that the defense bill was not going anywhere with drilling in it. The Democrat had just returned from a grand tour of conservative talk shows, where the hosts covered him with praise for supporting the Iraq war. Any charges of not backing American forces bounced right off his armor.
The pro-environment senators easily ignored the latest tantrum by Sen. Ted Stevens, the Alaska Republican obsessed with developing the refuge. And then they turned the tables on the opposition: Some questioned the patriotism of those who would load the "must-pass" defense bill with extraneous special interests.
In another vote, the Senate temporarily extended the USA Patriot Act past its Dec. 31 expiration date. President Bush wanted the anti-terrorism law renewed, but that wasn't going to happen without a frank conversation on his recently revealed surveillance activities.
Not long ago, anyone who wanted to contain the president's powers was smothered by accusations of leaving America open to attack. It's true that after Sept. 11, many of us agreed that the government needed more powerful tools to track the bad guys. That the rules had to change, however, didn't mean there should be no rules. The citizens have not signed on to giving Bush the right to wiretap Americans making international calls without a warrant -- especially since he already can do it in an emergency and ask permission later. The president says he may act as he pleases.
Vice President Dick Cheney bared his teeth and warned that politicians who criticize these policies will pay a heavy political price. Sen. Chuck Hagel, Republican of Nebraska, coolly responded, "My oath is to the Constitution, not to a vice president, a president or a political party." Expect to hear that kind of thing more often.
The third victory for rational thinking took place in central Pennsylvania. There, a federal judge ruled that "intelligent design" -- a crypto-creationist challenge to the theory of evolution -- is religion, and forcing it on science classes in Dover, Pa., was unconstitutional.
Judge John E. Jones, a Bush appointee, called intelligent design "relabeled creationism." He accused its backers of lying about their true intentions, which was to promote religion in a science class. And before the intelligent-design sponsors could utter the words "activist judge," Jones told them to get lost.
Actually, the tide first turned against the intelligent-design boosters in November. That's when the Dover voters removed school-board members pushing the scientific-sounding doctrine.
As far as I can tell, there's hardly a liberal in this story. The judge is a Republican. The voters who kicked out their school board come from a staunchly conservative community. It appears that the movement to sneak religion into science class -- which has commanded a national debate -- is the work of a noisy few.
All these events, one after another, suggest that the newfound courage of moderates is not a fluke. There never was this big groundswell to develop a wildlife refuge, make Bush king or teach creationism in the schools. The nation has begun to march in the other direction from the right-wing majorettes. May the parade grow long in 2006.
Copyright 2005 Creators Syndicate
LMAO!!!
The welfare grandmothers, abortion enthusiasts, condom throwing sodomites, gold-chained union "organizers", Hollywood drunks, race extortionists, college professors, permanently oppressed race victims, and all the other losers, parasites and humorless malcontents who makes up the Democrat Party base are WINNING. Hahahahahahahaha....!
Sorry! Didin't mean to leave out the athiests and the screeching feminists!
Angel, you've been around here long enough to know you should list the author (Froma Harrop) in the heading.
The writer denounces the questioning of patriotism (I don't recall that) from the conservative senators as a purely political maneuver, then praises it from the "moderates" when used as a purely political maneuver.
The problem I have with people who cackle over "turnabout" is that it is another example of amorality being praised by the left. It's like me, as a pro-gun voter, being anti-gun in order to defeat a pro-gun democrat. I've won a momentary victory but have trashed my morals.
Yet silly people like this writer giggle over it when THEIR guy does it.
Like a can of mixed nuts!
(de·lu·sion) (d[schwa]-loo¢zh[schwa]n) [L. delusio, from de from + ludus a game] a false belief that is firmly maintained in spite of incontrovertible and obvious proof or evidence to the contrary and in spite of the fact that other members of the culture do not share the belief.
This silly, rhetoric-heavy, fact-light column shows how deluded these people are.
No mention of the booming Bush economy, the successful election in Iraq, Bush's rise in the polls, the renewed support for Iraq in the polls, the resurgeance of Merry CHRISTmas, the decision about "separation of church and state" recently.
Dream on, libs, the graves you're whistling past are there for your party's future, like it or not.
These people have been smokin' too much of they're own product. Stopped? Hell, we're just getting warmed up.
Sounds like a roll call for loonies. I don't think you missed anyone. And, you hit the nail on the proverbial head.
The pro-environment senators easily ignored the latest tantrum by Sen. Ted Stevens, the Alaska Republican obsessed with developing the refuge.
Why is it that east coast elites and west coast tree huggers know more about what is better for Alaska than the people who live there?
"For starters, the Senate said "no" to opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling. It has saved the refuge before, but this time the Republican oilmen turned the vote into a game of chicken."
HOOREY! Big oil money loses out to big Environmental money! Between the shortage and the high gas tax, we'll all be getting bikes this summer. :)
"The pro-environment senators easily ignored the latest tantrum by Sen. Ted Stevens, the Alaska Republican obsessed with developing the refuge."
Yeah, screw Alaska! They're a red state. Who cares if we're forcing our morality on them? What are they going to do? Being 50th in population we can drag these backwoods hicks anywhere we want to go!
"In another vote, the Senate temporarily extended the USA Patriot Act past its Dec. 31 expiration date. President Bush wanted the anti-terrorism law renewed, but that wasn't going to happen without a frank conversation on his recently revealed surveillance activities...The citizens have not signed on to giving Bush the right to wiretap Americans making international calls without a warrant -- especially since he already can do it in an emergency and ask permission later."
Cause the American left LOVES to befriend people who hate us. Kind of makes you wonder what they're talking about eh?
"The third victory for rational thinking took place in central Pennsylvania. There, a federal judge ruled that "intelligent design" -- a crypto-creationist challenge to the theory of evolution -- is religion, and forcing it on science classes in Dover, Pa., was unconstitutional."
Cause as we all know Atheism isn't a religion. Even though it has an opinion about god, places of worship (science labs) and beliefs in things that can't be proven (like black holes) we can still teach it in schools, cause the schools are left wing ivory towers and we say what goes down in them...
"All these events, one after another, suggest that the newfound courage of moderates is not a fluke."
He means "moderates" in the French kind of way - remember, right now France has a "Conservative" government...
"There never was this big groundswell to develop a wildlife refuge,"
The groundswell was in Alaska, but since that's thousands of miles from LA and New York who cares?
"make Bush king"
Yeah, that's reserved for leftists like Bill and Hillary...
"or teach creationism in the schools."
Cram our religion of Atheism on the populace...
"The nation has begun to march in the other direction from the right-wing majorettes. May the parade grow long in 2006."
And the parade will stay sort of long...until we run out of beer, dope and money for bribes.
If you expected "sensible" arguments from Froma Harrop, you were sadly misinformed. Left-wing feminist screeching is her metier.
These people have a very narrow view of whats going on around them. They lose all sense of what is really happening around them. They believe what they want to believe.
I never thought I'd see the day that the democrats would try to sell themselves as trying to protect constitutional rights, and some thinking themselves to be conservatives, would buy off on it. I'll admit to having had concerns over the Patriot Act at times. That has been relieved significantly as the democrats have come to my rescue.
More lies from the left. ANWR wasn't going to be "developed" - a very, very small portion of the 10-02 area was going to be. Lies, lies, and more lies. That's all the left can offer because that's all they have. The truth is not on their side with any issue.
Ted Stevens has a number of times...Boxer always comes back with pictures of some poor little bird sitting in a nest and says the bird's habitat will be destroyed if the drilling is allowed, as though Stevens hadn't even said anything. Stevens comes back and calls her out as a liar (literally) and one of the richest people in America but won't allow the people who live in Alaska to develop their own land and make a basic living. Boxer returns saying she can't believe Stevens would suggest that she isn't telling the truth, and basically implies she knows more about Alaska than its own representatives. It's appauling.
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