Just Another Manic Mandate

With numbers like these as shown in this WaPo poll (2/3 opposing senate fillibuster changes, a healthy majority of people oppose the social security changes, and the presidential job approval rating is, overall, under 50%) one wonders why the nation keeps electing Republicans to strong majorities to both Houses of Congress and the White House if this is how the nation feels about that party’s governance.
Oh wait. One thing to note is that on national security and terrorism, the polls still show that the President has well over 50% approval, which he will doubtless continue to have until such time as we have another large-scale foreign terrorist incursion in North America, thanks to decades of effective “liberals = pussies” propaganda. Seeing as we’ve only had one 9-11 type attack in 200 years, the odds are pretty good for Bush, all things told. (Then again, seeing as the one we’ve had was on this President’s own watch…)
One wonders, of course, how the Democrats will once again manage to blow it all, given such gaudy poll numbers. But wait and see: Democrats will manage nonetheless to snatch defeat where they can, even on the ability to block “extremist” judges (the number of which seems to range from a high of seven to a low of two in number). Fortunately (or perhaps not so fortunately), Democrats (with help) will block “reform” of social security… on both of these items, what will most likely happen is that a sufficient number of self-interested Republican lawmakers will thwart their own party’s “leadership” (lest they have to run against “you voted to destroy social security”). Indeed, if the judicial fillibuster is preserved (a most undemocratic check on a most undemocratic institution!)
we will owe it, once again, to Republican members of Congress.
Those who have plaudits for Harry Reid as the new senate minority leader lead me only to ask one question: why are you giving him plaudits? He’s not doing anything: on the one thing THAT MATTERED (bankruptcy reform), not only did he himself sell out to the banks, but so did half the Democratic delegation. Let’s not even talk about the estate tax giveaway. “Extremist judges”? I’m not going to argue that our nation’s district court and court of appeals judges are unimportant in any sense– but to make this THE ONLY ISSUE that the Democratic Party is willing to fight for? Doesn’t sound anything like good leadership to me… Nope.