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12-5-06
Dawn and beyond in America
by Kevin Morgan
An important message was delivered to the people of the United States of America this week. On the surface it appeared to be about John Bolton's resignation from his UN Ambassador post. But it represents a changing of the guard to a world where diplomacy may get another chance from America. Bush realizes he is sunk in finding assistance in Iraq without replacing Bolton with someone who hasn't pissed off every middle-eastern country on the map. Bush needs Iran, Syria, and Saudi Arabia to keep Iraq from imploding.
Yet a political axis that had shifted far to the right reversed course in November in what could turn the GOP into the party of the political pariahs.
It is as if politics runs in an elliptical orbit. From the period before the sharpest curve, the trajectory seems to represent a motion having lasted so long that it could easily be mistaken for being permanent. This has caught Republicans unaware or unwilling to accept the message the public delivered when they reversed the control. But the GOP are staying the course. Repu-cons are vowing to keep Democrats from passing any meaningful legislation they might use for political gain in 2008. Ironic considering it was the absence of meaningful legislation that was Repu-cons downfall in November. They didn't learn that people want results that line up with common sense and put the middle class first. They still think people are willing to accept hollow slogans in place of recognizable improvement from the enormous debt the GOP created.
In fact, Repu-cons avoid even the mention of their greatest legislative restructuring, which was to sacrifice American jobs to China, while allowing them to compete head to head with American suppliers in our market. China sells to us and loans us money (billions) which they will collect with interest. Out of a sense of national pride they buy products produced by their own laborers. They are building a middle class, while we are giving them our jobs to make it possible.
No wonder flag burning and pork is all the GOP were recognized for debating. It's hard to brag about cutting education for the under privileged and granting huge tax subsidies for the elite. Or removing environmental safeguards that were recognized as essential 30 years ago in Congress.
Ironically, the most important changes Democrats can make may end up being the ones that they can't campaign on or use in their talking points. Raising taxes for the wealthy elite is still raising taxes. If they manage to force a withdrawal from Iraq, the GOP will use the carnage that follows as ammunition against the Dems who they will say abandoned the campaign and lost the war.
But the Democrats have the opportunity to make serious changes that will allow them to regain the mantle of the party of the middle class. Starting with funding and revamping "No Child Left Behind". And they can begin planning and investing for alternate fuels and emission controls to reduce the contribution to global warming. They can return oversight to the executive branch, and reduce the influence of lobbyists who have taken control of the legislative agenda. They can return sanity to our civil rights protections, reinstate Habeas Corpus, and restructure the electoral process so that getting a message out doesn't mean selling out to corporate America. Most importantly, they can return integrity and confidence to the American voting process.
If they can accomplish even a few of these things, they can maintain control of and increase their numbers in both houses of Congress. Whether the White House becomes Democrat or is given to another Republican, the Democrats will control the outcomes if they listen to the people.
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