|
Michael J. Gaynor An Indiana emailer recently wrote to let me know: "It is the Job of either Party that is in the Minority to be the Loyal Opposition. You seem to be of the mind that we all must in lockstep agree about everything. What a Country that would be."
The emailer got the task of the minority right, but erroneously jumped to the conclusion that my criticism of the extreme leftist Democrat opposition is based on a desire for "lockstep agree[ment] about everything."
California's Senator Barbara Boxer and the tiny band on malcontents in the House of Representatives who disputed President Bush's reelection and delayed its certification for a few hours are part of the DISloyal opposition.
As is Senator Edward M. Kennedy, who has continued to try to undermine the cause of democracy in Iraq and helped the terrorist cause by attacking President Bush in kneejerk fashion, first calling for a delay before the Iraq elections and then minimizing their importance after.
Mary Jo Kopechne was killed in the auto accident that may have kept Senator Kennedy from being elected President.
Unfortunately, it did not keep him from being a fixture in the United States Senate.
Ms. Kopechne was a former campaign worker for Senator Kennedy's brother, Senator Robert F. Kennedy.
On July 18, 1969, Ms. Kopechne attended a party on Chappaquiddick Island, in Massachusetts.
Senator Kennedy and Ms. Kopechne left the party together.
Senator Kennedy drove the car in which they were traveling off the Dike Bridge into a pond, where it overturned.
Ms. Kopechne died in the car.
Senator Kennedy swam ashore.
Senator Kennedy claim to have tried to save Ms. Kopechne is unconfirmed.
What is certain is that Senator Kennedy only saved himself.
And did not report the accident until the next morning.
And later claimed that he had been dazed by the crash.
Senator Kennedy did plead guilty to leaving the scene of an accident and had his driver's license revoked for a year.
It has been suggested that Senator Kennedy had been driving drunk, had panicked after the accident, and even had tried to arrange a coverup of his involvement.
Nothing was ever proved.
These days the Senator suspects the worst of Republicans and is out to convince everyone that President Bush and the Republicans cannot be trusted.
Sure, Senator.
Who would doubt you?
A loyal opposition should promote its own ideas.
Not engage in obstructionism for its own sake or the sake of fundraising.
Like Senator Barbara Boxer, who followed up on her dimwitted delay of the certification of President Bush's reelection by defaming now Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and delaying her confirmation for a few days.
Great work, Senator Boxer!
Saddam Hussein and Osama Bin Laden must be pleased.
Yasser Arafat would be delighted.
And keep opposing President Bush's plan to let Alaska utilize its vast oil reserves, to reduce America's dependence on foreign oil.
That should please your Californian constituents.
The extreme leftist Democrats are long on opposition and short on loyal.
Difficult as it is to believe, Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley recently had the gall to compare cuts in President Bush's budget proposal for urban areas to the Sept. 11 attacks.
To their eternal credit, some of his fellow Democrats joined Republicans in deriding that vile comparison. Mayor O'Malley may run for Governor in Maryland next year. He is considered a rising star within the Democrat Party. Which is a badge of shame for that party. Mayor O'Malley was among a group of mayors and other local officials who held a news conference last Tuesday in Washington, D.C. to criticize President Bush's proposal to cut spending for community development programs by $2 billion. That's fair, and to be expected from a loyal opposition. But, Mayor O'Malley went way over the line: "Back on September 11, terrorists attacked our metropolitan cores, two of America's great cities. They did that because they knew that was where they could do the most damage and weaken us the most. Years later, we are given a budget proposal by our commander in chief, the president of the United States. And with a budget ax, he is attacking America's cities. He is attacking our metropolitan core." That's sick! Montgomery County, Md., Executive Douglas M. Duncan, who is expected to compete with Mayor O'Malley for the Democrats' Maryland gubernatorial nomination next year, said O'Malley "went way too far." That's for sure. "The president of the United States is fighting terrorism. It hurts our cause when people say things like that," Executive Duncan said. It hurts ALL of America! The District of Columbia's Mayor, Mayor Anthony A. Williams, a Democrat and president of the National League of Cities, also disassociated himself from "the harsh language that was used." The language was worse than harsh; it was hateful. Later Mayor O'Malley told The Washington Post that he didn't intend to equate the proposed budget cuts to a terrorist attack. "The point I am trying to make is, for America to be strong, we have to strengthen our cities. Because we're in the middle of a war, we need to be strengthening and protecting our cities, not weakening our cities," he said. That's what he should have said the first time. But, the zeal of the extreme leftist Democrats and the egregious examples of the excessively partisan likes of Senators Boxer and Kennedy have less prominent people like Mayor O'Malley moving from reasoned and responsible political criticism to reckless demagoguery in order to attract attention. --- Copyright © MichNews.com. All Rights Reserved.
|