Why we need a change

Nov. 1, 2006

If I‘m asleep at the wheel when my semi truck loaded with steel goes barreling through a day care at 70 mph, should I lose my job?
If I own a pit bull that‘s been trained to kill and I recklessly allow it to run free, am I to blame if it harms a child?
What if I‘m a member of Congress and I allow an incompetent president to run amok for six years, piling one disaster after another on my fellow Americans. Do I deserve to lose my job?
Yes, I imagine so.
You have to give Republicans credit: they’re very good at marching in lockstep.
While Democrats are often criticized as being the party that can’t agree on anything, there’s no problem of that sort with the G.O.P. They’re famous for sticking together even when all the evidence shows they’re dead wrong.
And for a party that claims to be the champion of self-responsibility, the G.O.P. never seems to take responsibility for anything.
For instance, although members of his own party claim that Rep. Dennis Hastert (R-IL) knew for years that Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL) was a sexual predator, the Republicans have the balls to keep Hastert in their top post as Speaker of the House.
And even though Donald Rumsfeld has botched the war to the point where battalions of generals have demanded his ouster, his Republican buddies have kept him in charge as Secretary of Defense while the bodies of young American soldiers keep piling up.
That’s sticking together.
But as a result, America has been marched from one disaster to another over the past six years with the ants of the 109th Congress blindly following any mad scheme that George Bush and Dick Cheney come up with:

• Involving us in an ill-considered, unwinnable war? No problem for Congress.
• Proof that the Bush administration lied about the causes of the war? No repercussions.
• Condoning torture for the first time in American history? No problem.
• Death toll of U.S. troops rising in Iraq? No plan in sight other than sending more of our guys to the slaughter.
• The latest: gutting the Bill of Rights to end our sacred right to a fair trial. Congress approves -- heartily.

By now most of America seems to agree that George Bush has earned the title of “worst president in American history.” Even conservative, Republican pundits are admitting as much on the political TV talk shows each night.
Until the disaster of Hurricane Katrina, many cars in Northern Michigan were plastered with “Bush” and “W” bumper stickers. They’ve melted away; now when you see someone with a rare “Bush” bumper sticker, you wonder if they’ve been in solitary confinement for the past year or so and missed the news.
You can’t blame President Bush for being in over his head. We knew going in that he wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed. He proved it in the debates.
But you can blame the Republican Congress for not reeling him in. That’s the purpose of the legislature under our constitution: to keep the executive branch in check so that someone who‘s dangerously incompetent in the presidency doesn’t lead America to harm.
Congress has failed on that score, and the great strength of the Republicans -- marching in lockstep -- has proved to be their fatal flaw.
Our Congress has lost its sense of balance. In Northern Michigan, Congressmen Dave Camp (R-Midland) and Pete Hoekstra (R-Holland) have voted with the Bush administration and their party line more than 95% of the time. Where is the representation in that? If our congressmen are only capable of kneejerk reactions to their party‘s demands, we can assume they no longer represent the people of Northern Michigan.
They only represent their party.
Similarly, when Rep. Camp accepted $35,000 from the infamous lobbyist Jack Abramoff while serving as vice chair of the Native American Caucus in the House of Representatives, it added credence to the charge that the Republicans are no longer a party “of the people.“ They are a party “of the rich, by the rich and for the rich.“
Currently, Rolling Stone magazine has a great article: “Time to Go -- The Worst Congress Ever,” by Matt Taibbi. Here‘s a quote:
“The 109th Congress is so bad that it makes you wonder if democracy is a failed experiment,” says Jonathan Turley, a noted constitutional scholar and professor of public interest law at George Washington Law School. “I think that if the Framers (of the Constitution) went to Capitol Hill today, it would shake their confidence in the system they created. Congress has become an exercise of raw power with no principles -- and in that environment corruption has flourished. The Republicans in Congress decided from the outset that their future would be inextricably tied to George Bush and his policies. It has become this sad session of members sitting down and drinking Kool-Aid delivered by Karl Rove. Congress became a mere extension of the White House.”
Amen to that.
Our Congress was charged with keeping the president under control through the checks and balances of the U.S. Constitution. They’ve failed to do their job. They‘ve let America down. On election day, send them a message.