There are a couple of things I've been wondering about lately with regard to Congress. Does anyone care to answer?
The first thing is this: I saw this article in the NYT a couple days ago and haven't had the chance to diary it.
WASHINGTON, Nov. 7 — The United States Congress welcomed Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, with loud cheers and standing ovations on Wednesday, a sign that France had been forgiven for opposing the American-led war in Iraq.
Why in the world would the House of Representatives, which is controlled by Democrats, the majority of whom (in the House) voted against the war in Iraq, need to "forgive" France for standing in strong opposition to the Iraq war?
And the other thing I'm wondering about is more general. In recent historical memory, we've had Democrats in control of the White House and Republicans in control of the White House. We've had Democrats in control of Congress and Republicans in control of Congress. The trend seems to have been, if Republicans control any branch of government, serious compromise is warranted with them, and in some areas, flat-out capitulation.
But Democrats must control the White House and Congress before they will even dare to advocate an opinion on key issues. How the hell could Democrats allow this very timid premise to inform their thinking? And in 2008, when we have a Democratic President, I'm sure we'll see the bar lowered further yet.
What the hell are the Democrats thinking? Perhaps that one day the Republicans will 'forgive' them?