How did Tuesday's Closed Door Senate Session play in America's Heartland? Just ask Cindy Sheehan and the hypocritical callers to Milwaukee talk radio.
In the formerly blue collar city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, we know all about accountability and transparency. It's practically in our genes. You see, we obtained these characteristics from the generations before us, who taught us that above all else stands honesty, and integrity, and a hard day at work. And yes, you probably already know this from watching Laverne and Shirley reruns.
In the wake of a pension scandal in local county government a few years ago, a rash of accountability-focused organizations have arisen from the former ashes of apathy. One such organization, "Citizens for Responsible Government", attends county board meetings and other public functions to watchdog local leaders.
Local talk show hosts routinely address matters of perceived corruption and concern - usually relating to left-leaning politicians. And their ulterior motives usually involve something green and crinkly. But still, the effort is there, even if their clearly biased political and financial motives are somewhat questionable.
Unfortunately, their focus on accountability apparently stops at the Illinois state line. You see, if you follow Highway 94 through Chicago, merge onto Highway 80 through Indiana and Ohio, and head another 184 miles down I-76, you'll find yourself in Washington D.C. It's not that far really - a few hours by plane or a solid one day drive. This is the place where you will find our elected representative, F. James Sensenbrenner - the man who leads the entire House of Representatives in lobbyist-inspired campaign contributions. This is also where you will find the irresponsible lies that led us to the War in Iraq. If you watch the right combination of media channels, you'll also learn that this is the place where a CIA agent was outed by one of the high ranking members of the current administration.
But how does all of this play in formerly blue collar Milwaukee media? And what do we hear in the echo chambers of the big three wingnut talk shows? Oh we hear about accountability. We hear about corruption in government. We hear all about how we are all "Standing up for what's right" and how we are "Shining the light of truth on a Lie." But despite what you might think, they aren't talking about Washington - they are talking about City Hall and the Governor's mansion in Madison.
For example, today's big story on one local talk show was the tale of a member of "Citizens for Responsible Government", who was escorted from a county board meeting for opening his public comment with an insult to one of the board members. "First of all, let me start by saying I'm glad you decided to come to work today," he said, referring to recent news articles about the attendance policies of one of the board members. The host and the subsequent callers made me so proud, as they talked about the value of free speech in a public forum, and the American values and sacrifices that allowed this type of speech to be possible. "Public officials work for us," caller after caller echoed. "They should answer to their constituents, even if there is criticism being offered."
But my moment of blissful ignorance quickly ended, as I soon remembered the suburban perspective - They love free speech, but only when it is speech that they agree with. This same host and these same callers railed on Cindy Sheehan for weeks on end. "I believe she has the right to free speech," they said. "But lets be honest, she should shut the hell up and go home. The President of the United States isn't accountable to Cindy Sheehan."
One of the same talk show hosts acted as Master of Ceremonies when Bush's re-election campaign rolled into town - the very same campaign that would not allow dissenting opinions or even T-shirts within miles of these appearances - very public appearances of the President and Vice President.
Exsqueeze me? Sprechen Sie Hypocrisy? Local government is accountable to each and every constituent. I agree with that, of course. But so is every level of government.
If local talk show hosts really want to "Shine the Light of Truth on a Lie," they would be well served to start with the lies that led up to the Iraq war. They should talk about the lack of transparency of evidence, and the overly transparent treasonous actions of Libby, Cheney and Rove. They should talk about the lack of accountability related to record budget deficits at a national level, and the security risk involved with funding those deficits with Chinese loans. Record amounts of pork spending, nearly doubling every year since Bush took office? Haliburton overcharging for services? Lack of adequate body and humvee armor?
Accountability and transparency does not stop at the Illinois state line. It's time for Milwaukee and vicinity to do some mental long haul truckin'.
Midwestern Disconnect #1: Free speech is absolute in matters of constituents relationship to public officials. UNLESS said public official is a Republican who is too important to be bothered with grieving military mothers or dissenters at campaign stops.
Midwestern Disconnect #2: Accountability at a local level is a good Midwestern Conservative cause. Accountability at a national level is simply Liberal obstructionism.
Midwestern Disconnect #3: Wasteful spending can only be conducted by Democrats, even with a Republican-controlled House, Senate and Oval Office. Teddy Kennedy used Jedi mind tricks on good fiscal Conservatives and forced them to blow hundreds of billions on a poorly-justified war and unprecedented levels of pork spending.
With these thoughts in mind, Tuesday's brilliant Senate maneuver by Harry Reid to declare a closed door session under Rule 21 is already a done deal in the minds of my suburban neighbors. See Midwestern Disconnect #2. It's at a national level. It's a demand for accountability and transparency. Therefore, it's Liberal obstructionism. If you move the same action to the Republicans in the state senate, demanding accountability from Democratic governor Jim Doyle, it's simply strong Conservative leadership - Demanding accountability at a local level always is, you see...
When the "Thirty Something Democrats" took over the House chambers on Tuesday night, Kendrick Meek (D - FLA) said something that resonated with me.
"It took an act of leadership and courage [to close the Senate chamber], I'm saying courage... If we had the power here in the House we would have exercised it, to GO SEE THE WIZARD AND GET SOME COURAGE, and fight on behalf of the American people."
Citizens for Responsible Government in Milwaukee, Wisconsin couldn't have said it better. It's the same exact language, but one side of the aisle applies it globally, and the other side applies it selectively.
Now it's time for local talk show hosts and government watchdog groups to take a trip down the Yellow Brick I-76 to go see the wizards in Washington, find some courage, and demand accountability along with the other 62% of the country who no longer approve of this now criminally indicted administration.
Furthermore, it's far past time for Conservatives in the Midwest to finally abandon the hobgoblin of little minds - the now infamous "foolish consistency" that has hounded them since the day that the Bush administration's lies began to unravel.
It's time for them to join us and demand accountability at all levels of government.
Posted two days ago at the Political Cortex. Please join us there!
