If we’re to believe Democratic Party activists (now THERE’S an oxymoron), all we need to do is return a Democratic majority to Congress this coming November, and we will have change. The blog heelers at the Big Boy Blogs insist that voting for Republicans-in-donkey-clothing like Warner, Casey, Kaine and Webb, just to name a few, will enable the Democrats to take over committee chairmanships, to get subpoena power. Well, maybe not:
As the start of the fall campaign looms and House Democrats remain within realistic reach of reclaiming the majority, party leaders are beginning to explore the delicate question of what happens if they win.
Rusty from being out of power for 12 years, Democrats are rethinking how they should parcel out coveted committee chairmanships and the other plums that would come with House control at a time when the party’s potential chairmen are increasingly being portrayed by Republicans as liberal extremists.
In fund-raising appeals, on the Internet and in stump speeches, Republicans raise the specter of a Judiciary Committee headed by Representative John Conyers Jr. of Michigan, a banking committee steered by Barney Frank of Massachusetts, a tax-writing committee led by Charles B. Rangel of New York, and an energy panel under the leadership of John D. Dingell of Michigan.
Democrats and others call it a tired scare tactic with more than a whiff of bigotry because Republicans often point to gay and black Democrats who would lead committees. But faced with the attacks and pent-up ambitions of rank-and-file lawmakers, Democratic leaders are hinting they might abandon party tradition and award sought-after slots not solely on the basis of seniority, but instead follow the Republican lead of also weighing such factors as legislative record, diversity and work for the good of the party.
“Seniority is a consideration, but merit of course must come first,” said Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the Democratic leader, who has approved a review of party rules so Democrats are not left scrambling should they reach their political goal.
Somehow, I can see the knives being sharpened for John Conyers as we speak.
As former Republicans, now Democrats, take office, do we really expect them to support long-standing, actually liberal, office holders who have been fighting the Bush Administration (and often the Democratic Party leadership) while this country has run so hard to the right? REALLY? Isn’t it more likely that they will do what Reid, Schumer, Clinton and Emmanuel already do, which is to ape the Republicans:
Since winning the majority in 1994, Republicans have not hesitated to pass over senior lawmakers for chairmanships in favor of members more in tune with the leadership’s ideology or more assertive in fund-raising than their rivals.
Representative Joe L. Barton of Texas was handed the Energy and Commerce helm over more senior lawmakers, as was Representative Richard W. Pombo of California on the natural resources committee and Michael G. Oxley of Ohio on the Financial Services Committee.
Representative Jerry Lewis of California was picked to head the Appropriations Committee in 2005 over a more senior opponent after a fierce fund-raising contest that saw Mr. Lewis dole out more than $1.3 million in the Republican campaign effort in 2004.
As for Conyers, those sharpening the knives are whispering in the eager ears of New York Times reporters:
And some Democrats are nervous about the prospect of a Judiciary Committee led by Mr. Conyers, who has raised the prospect of impeaching President Bush, a notion that Ms. Pelosi has sought to bat down.
Anybody who thinks that someone like Conyers will get guaranteed support to unleash the power of Judiciary in today’s Washington is fooling themselves. The Democrats vote for war just as fervently as the Republicans, vote for the destruction of social services, vote for the expanding police state … they just want to be the new managers. Will people like this, so enriched by the current corrupt system, REALLY want the crimes of the last several years brought to light? They didn’t push for investigations after Iran-Contra, an earlier Constitutional crises which involved many of the same criminals involved in the current administration.
Whisper campaigns like this piece in the Times are just the beginning. As is true of so much that goes wrong in our country, the courtiers at the seat of power will often BRAG ahead of time about how they’re going to screw over the peasants.
Change will have to happen locally, and it will not be helped by rotating the asses who sit at the trough in DC, not right away. It will take a very long time … maybe we’re too far gone. Don’t fool yourself, though, that Republican-lite will be part of making that change happen.
In the new year, a new Congress will, even if the Democrats win, most likely be yet another Feast of Fools. After all, it is traditional for the procession to be led by an ass when beginning that celebration. We will all certainly be fools if we expect honest change to come out of it.
They will only change if we make them, and we can only make them if we REPLACE most of them. Until the American people are willing to do that, we will celebrate meaningless ceremonies before things go right back to status quo.
