Our long national nightmare is receding.
The American people have rightfully performed a national intervention (possibly an exorcism?) against the fear, hate and division so long sponsored by the Bush Administration, rejecting the unrelenting negativity offered by Little Boy Bocephus.
So, the Dems needs to get to work on the promises of the First 100 Hours/Days:
* Day One: Put new rules in place to “break the link between lobbyists and legislation.”
* Day Two: Enact all the recommendations made by the commission that investigated the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
* Time remaining: Raise the minimum wage to $7.25 an hour.
* Cut the interest rate on student loans in half.
* Allow the government to negotiate directly with the pharmaceutical companies for lower drug prices for Medicare patients.
* Broaden the types of stem cell research allowed with federal funds.
* “Pay as you go,” meaning no increasing the deficit, whether the issue is middle class tax relief, health care or some other priority..
Most importantly, let any number of the newly elected Democratic members of Congress sponsor such legislation, especially the ones in ‘purple’ or tilting red districts and states. This should provide both instant credibility and do-ability, especially for new House members two years from now.
Curiously, the depicting of Pelosi by the mainstream media as some sort of fire-breathing demon from the Left Coast wasn’t as engulfing as expected.. Sure, plenty of this calculation was offered, spewn mostly by GOP members and their wind-up talking dolls but the mainstream press seemed less guilty of this type of rendering than initially envisaged.
Tied to this though is a question: just how was Tom DeLay initially portrayed when he became Speaker of the House? Beyond his hypocritical and illegal slitherings, was the DeLay narrative ever along the lines of a right-wing, uber-conservative congressperson assuming power?
Hardly.