July 29, 2009 | Comments
So, the committee Blue Dogs have cut a deal on the health-care debacle – or at least are apparently willing to do so. Senator John McCain (somewhat of a Blue Dog himself, unfortunately) warned us last night not to allow our expectations to get the better of us, and he was right. When the announcement was made this afternoon, you could practically hear the moans emanating from conservatives – and even not-so-conservatives – from coast to coast.
In a flash these would-be heroes apparently sacrificed the proud Blue Dog mantle for that of a more yellowish hue, thus eliciting comments from an angry (and I believe majority) public about blackmail, the Chicago way, bribery, threats, and family hostage-taking. I personally picture a passel of dark-suited bobblehead dogs, their silly loose noggins, complete with phony simpering smiles, nodding in unison in agreement to whatever the democratic leadership tells them they will now believe and execute. Never mind the voters, comes the mantra. Never mind the polls. Never mind liberty, whatever that is. We know what’s best for the masses.
Not all the Blue Dogs are on board with this, God bless ‘em. At the moment a few have expressed disappointment with their colleagues, and several democrats, Blue Dogs or not, have said they will not vote for this bill. I’m just left wondering what were those colleagues thinking? Burdened with a monstrous bill that virtually no one other than the public has read, what could have been changed that would suddenly make it palatable, affordable, humane and ethical to the Blue/Yellow/Bobbleheads? Has the path to euthanasia been excised? Or worse, accepted? Was torte reform suddenly injected into the text? Has mandatory end-of-life counseling been carved out and discarded? Has the truth been told about the dominance of the public option? Have the representatives en masse decided that yes, for the good of public opinion, they will abandon their Cadillac congressional coverage and enroll in this wonderful bill, as well? Did the committee members decide that perhaps the term “mentally retarded” should be deleted from the bill? Somehow I doubt much has been changed, because how can one edit and alter a document that he or she has not even read?
No, I have a feeling this has more to do with party loyalty, party leadership and strong-arm tactics. I envision wayward reps being called one by one into a small beige room, a single light bulb hanging from the ceiling. One by one each is told that his or her political future hangs on a speedy “yes” vote on this very-critical bill that, like the stimulus, multiple bail-outs, and cap-and-trade, will save America. Yes political futures do indeed hinge on these votes, but not, perhaps, in the way I envision these representatives are being told. I would think a “yes” vote on such a twisted, dangerous and vilified bill would itself be signing the death warrant on one’s political career, and I believe, regardless of what has been threatened or promised, they know that. Why, then, would this ostensibly more conservative-minded bunch choose to fast-track that fate when they could have been, and have been, heralded as heroes courageously defending the realm?
The bright side, I suppose, is that the Blue/Yellow/Bobbleheads’ previous persistence at least resulted in a postponement of the House vote on the bill, ensuring that the President and the House leadership’s goal of ramming it through before the August break will not be realized. Time is on the side of those of us who fear for the future of our country. The longer this awful thing is out there, the more that is revealed about the insidious content within its pages, the more illumination the American public is offered about its consequences. And the more opportunities American voters have to let their opinions be known. Their Representatives may try to ignore the emails and phone calls flooding into their offices, they may try to ignore the eruptions at town-hall meetings from sea to shining sea, but we know they are listening. Fingers jammed into ears block out only so much sound.
I don’t envy these men and women when they return next month to their home districts to the people responsible for sending them to Washington in the first place. It will be a stark reminder to them that it is these everyday people who are responsible for their jobs, not party leadership. Even if they decide for whatever lame reason to forego town-hall meetings or ribbon cuttings this time around, unless they lock themselves into their homes or catch a private jet to the Arctic Circle, the people will find them. At restaurants, grocery stores, shopping malls and movie theaters, the people will find them. And they are choosing to be the silent majority no more. I’ve witnessed this myself in more peaceful times; I can only imagine how dramatic it will become come August as they are reminded of just who it is they are representing.
Betsy Siino | Comments
To Protect and To Serve
July 30, 2009 | Comments (0)July 30, 2009 | Comments
What a ridiculous day to be an American.
It began on Tuesday with the image broadcast on every news channel of a lone picnic table sitting next to the White House swing set. This was the lucky picnic table chosen as the site of the illustrious “beer summit,” to be hosted by none other than the President of the United States, the celebrated leader of the free world. The camera doesn’t move. The media swoons. Press secretaries and reporters alike report on the beer choices likely to make appearances on the picnic table as seriously as if they are discussing the latest death toll in Afghanistan.
And the world watches. The world laughs. Today we are their fools. Again.
By now we are all plenty familiar with the events that led to this day: Witness sees two men seeming to break into a Cambridge home, witness calls 911, police answer call, police ask for identification from one alleged perpetrator who is a Harvard professor, professor (an African-American) lives in the house, professor cries racism, professor berates police, police officer (not African-American) arrests professor for disorderly contact, charges are dropped, reporter asks question at presidential press conference, president states the police acted “stupidly,” president calls it an obvious example of racial profiling, police cry foul and support sergeant, public cries foul and doesn’t support president….like I said, we all know the story.
So things just got a little out of hand in Cambridge that night, the political/PR/media machine tells us now. Okay. But today we made it all better, right? The three men, equally at fault (according to the president and the media, so no apologies necessary, none offered), sat down at what was changed from picnic table to cheesy white patio furniture and have a beer. The president was awarded his much-coveted photo opportunity, the professor footage he can use someday for lectures or documentaries or whatever. The president showed us what a regular guy he is, just having a beer with three other guys (VP Joe joined in, too). He got that regular-guy moment captured on camera, simultaneously mending race relations for all time. I just don’t happen to think the real regular guys out here are going to buy it.
Indeed we “regular guys” have been awarded embarrassment as we witness this lame attempt to mend what has become the president’s personal public-relations nightmare. How I wish Officer Crowley had politely declined the invitation to participate in this awkward spectacle – or at least received an apology. The officer was simply doing his job that night. I trust he left that day for his shift just as he and his brethren do every day, hoping and praying that at the end of the night he would return home, alive and well, to the family waiting for him.
When I was quite young and living in California’s San Fernando Valley, a neighbor came home late one night and saw a suspicious car parked in front of my family’s house. She called the police. When the police arrived the suspicious car took off, as did a suspicious someone who had apparently been hiding in the bushes near the house. I am forever grateful to that neighbor and to the LAPD, and any PD, to whom I would gladly shown my ID if asked. But now in the wake of what the president has called a “teachable moment,” maybe I won’t be asked. Maybe the 9-1-1 call will never even be made in the first place.
And that, perhaps is what we have learned from the president’s “teachable moment,” a term implying we are children, waiting at the hem of his robes for the pearls of wisdom only he can provide. We now know that the president has no intention of admitting that, though he knew nothing of the facts, maybe he had no business injecting himself into local police business. We have also learned to think twice before calling 9-1-1, but I’m still rather unclear about who is doing the teaching here, and who the learning. Explain that to me, would you please. Or, better yet, please don’t. I already know what I need to know.
Betsy Siino | Comments