On Iraq and 9/11

I still don’t know why the Democrats fell in line behind Bush on Iraq so easily. Why did they let him get away with his “dissent is un-patriotic” line? And c’mon, Sen. Kerry, how could you really have believed he would exercise his authority responsibly?

I think the Democrats voted the way they did as a political calculation. It didn’t work. Next time, try actually standing up for what you believe. Maybe the voters will then see you as an actual alternative, instead of just Republican-lite.

The Media

In 2006, I want to hear more about issues than polls. More about issues than who is ahead at the moment. And far more about issues than the partisan spin doctors.

Not one of the major networks did a good job. NPR did a good job. Heck, British sources provided better coverage of the isues than many American sources.

On Paniced Democrats

A lot of Democrats seem to have a “world is falling” mentality. Let’s put this in perspective:

• Nixon was initially elected partly on the basis of ending a war he had secretly helped to prolong, and we all know how his re-election campaign went. And a Democrat got us into that war.
• Not too many centuries ago, you didn’t lose an election. Rather, you lost the war, and all your men were killed, your women raped, children enslaved, and resources looted.
• We survived Watergate, Vietnam, Panama, etc. We can survive this.

On Daschle

He deserved to lose. He encouraged weakness among Democrats and had nothing but failed strategies as far as I can remember. He was clearly out-witted by Lott at just about every turn. Too bad the Democratic senators couldn’t manage to replace him sooner.

Gay Marriage

I am extremely sad that people are reducing tolerance and civil rights through constitutional amendments.

Unity

I think there is a slim chance that this will happen. The Democrats are rightly ticked about all the partison rancor, dirty tricks, and intentional divisiveness perpetrated by the Republicans and are not likely to just fall in line again.