In Greek tragedy, if a character ever became too arrogant or tried to resist fate and rise above his station, then he would be struck down and lose all. It’s called hubris, and now the Republican Party knows what it feels like.
I’ll admit against my better judgment, I continued to hope up until the last possible moment that perhaps the Republicans could hold on. Oh well. We’ve only ourselves to blame. Foley, Haggard, Rumsfeld … I’m looking at you guys.
I suppose I could make this column into a vehement attack on the newly elected left. My friend/political nemesis Andrew Hodges pointed out that 12 years ago Gingrich’s Contract for America won Congress back for Republicans.
Well, what’s the Democrats’ equivalent to that? Besides being against the Iraq war, what is the platform of the new Democrats entering Congress?
Moving past the crummy election, how are the Democrats going to deal with Iraq – do they think the insurgents called it quits as soon as they heard the election results?
Saying you are opposed to the war in Iraq doesn’t stop car bombings in Baghdad or bring American troops home or solve the giant problem of the Middle East. I genuinely hope the new Congress has a plan for Iraq because if troops leave too soon, we doom the Iraqi people to bloodshed; yet if we become entrenched too deep, then we’ll always be seen as occupying imperialists. Already there has been talk of a troop phase-out. Sure we want to bring our guys home, but if we don’t do this right, then the people of Iraq will have a whole new kind of oppression to live under: Islamic theocracy. That sure won’t make the United States any safer either. If Democrats want to prove they are serious, then let Iraq be the place where they do it. Yeah, Iraq is where the Bush presidency failed, but did the Democrats just use it for political points, or do they truly want to fix the problem?
The funny thing is, Iraq is just the tip of the iceberg. Has anybody bothered to look around this country?
There are now 300 million people in this country, of which at least one-tenth is below the poverty line. The United States of America, the richest country in the world, has a national debt in the trillions.
How do we improve children’s education, provide healthcare for the sick and elderly and manage to avoid economic collapse all at the same time?
Plus, we have to steer this country through a global socio-political atmosphere so convoluted we can hardly tell the difference between our friends (economic competitors) and our enemies (they buy our stuff).
Well, I sure as hell hope the people we just elected have some good ideas.
One thing is for certain – partisan politics will not solve any of these problems.
The one good thing I think this election might bring about is a return to the center. It’s about time politicians on both sides of the aisle stop thinking about winning and start thinking about the issues this nation faces.
Democrats can have their little victory dance as long as they get down to business in the new year. You can bet the new opposition party is going to hold their feet to the fire. That said, the Republicans need to realize maybe it’s finally time to return to being the party of sound conservative policy, not just the guys with the best attack ads.
This country needs leaders who are eager to tackle the issues, yet willing to compromise. Let’s see if we elected them.
