Wednesday, March 16, 2005

United in Dividing

The (r)epublicans finally got their victory on drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The question now is exactly what is it a refuge from? The animals and mother nature will find no peace while these men who view the earth as theirs, as opposed to being of the earth, run things.

In any case, a Washington insider tells me it’s much ado about nothing; that the little Republican trick of tacking it onto the budget diminishes the achievement given that there hasn’t actually been a budget bill since the (r)epublicans began running things there.

Sen. Ted Stevens (r-Alaska) said the majority had no choice but to pull that underhannded parliamentary maneuver because the Democrats “just can’t abide by majority rule.”

Well another majority at some point in time must have thought it was okay to set a remote part of the country aside for something other than, God forbid, industry. Where’s the respect for past leaders and past majorities? These conservatives conserve nothing.

In the end the scribe can’t help but think this isn’t about “reducing our dependence on foreign oil” at all. We went to war ensure that dependence. It’s really about shoving it down the other half of America’s throat. The Ann Coulter/Rush Limbaugh school of patriotism whereby anybody who doesn’t see things their way, should get the highway – place of birth notwithstanding.

Screw them.

Hats off to Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass) who, instead of going home to lick his wounds, went back to the Senate and took the fight to (p)resident Bush. Journalists don’t quite get it; they can only see Kerry’s activism through the prism of “will he or won’t he” run for President again. And then they pout about a lack of commitment and authenticity in the political class.

Kerry’s doing what you do in Europe after dropping an election. You go back and lead by example, familiarize the people with your positions, and give them another look at you. For example, the last president of Spain, Jose Maria Aznar, lost three elections before finally prevailing and governing for two terms. What Kerry’s up to is unique and we should be pleased to have a man of his talent going to bat for our interests.

Three Democrats voted for this thing. Daniel Inouye (202 224-3934) and Daniel Akaka (202 224-6361) of Hawaii, and Mary Landrieu of Lousiana (202 224-5824). Call them and tell them thanks a hell of a lot.

Sen. Norm Coleman, a (r)epublican from Minnesota, voted with the minority, which lost by a single vote. The reason? “I made a campaign promise,” he told the “New York Times.”

Good for him.

And now, here’s some poetry from Jean Arthur Rimbaud’s “A Season in Hell”:

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