Rather than using the legislative branch’s tools (legislation, hearings, withholding funds, and impeaching an executive run amok), Democratic leadership seems to be playing a political game; acting powerless to check corruption and arrogance without a supermajority - perhaps hoping to establish their hegemony in 2008.
This is a grave miscalculation. Democratic loyalists were not responsible for the 2006 power shift, it was centrists like me who distrust both right AND left extremes. If they want our marriage of convenience to last, Dems must woo centrists with moderation, integrity, and commitment to the rule of law. Instead they have re-authorized FISA, continued funding Iraq, confirmed an AG who isn’t sure whether water boarding is torture, and taken impeachment off the table; all while whining that their majority isn’t big enough. The timing of this gamesmanship is terrifying.
The Dems’ continued passivity won’t scare the center further left. Instead, it may encourage the center to splinter. This might mean untimely support for a third party, support for the (rare) rational voices on the right, or complete withdrawal from the process. Given the razor thin margin currently endorsing sanity, these outcomes would be catastrophic.
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