Rahm Emanuel: Gutless coward.
By Moe Lane Posted in Democrats — Comments (13) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
And if he's not, he'd better get on the stick pretty quick and publicly eviscerate David Ignatius. Like Tony Blankley (who is equally contempuous), I quote the article in question's last two paragraphs:
And here's what Emanuel doesn't want to do: Fall into the political trap of chasing overambitious or potentially unpopular measures. Ask about universal health care and he shakes his head. Four smart presidents -- Truman, Johnson, Nixon and Clinton -- tried and failed. That one can wait. Reform of Social Security and other entitlements? Too big, too woolly, too risky. If the president wants to propose big changes to entitlements, he can lead the charge.
The secret for the Democrats, says Emanuel, is to remain the party of reform and change. The country is angry, and will only get more so as the problems in Iraq deepen. Don't look to Emanuel's Democrats for solutions on Iraq. It's Bush's war, and as it splinters the structure of GOP power, they're waiting to pick up the pieces.
Read on.
Mind you, I call this cowardice; I do not call it foolishness. It could very well happen that the Democrats will succeed in their strategy of brazenly ignoring their alleged mandate*, now that they have taken power (and can rely on high incumbency rates to keep them there). Welcome to politics: the good guys don't always win.
The contempt that Rep. Emanuel shows for his constituents and his Party followers, on the other hand, is no less breathtaking for being so risk-free. While there are many, many, many competing narratives (I believe that the term of art among the Left is 'frame') about why the Republicans lost Congress, the general consensus is that there was to be some sort of change. This is not change. This is a willful decision to not change, in fact. The fact that he and his will probably be able to get away with it is immaterial; it remains a fact that there are expectations by the Democratic Party's membership about what their leadership should be doing, and that the Democratic Party's leadership is showing very little sign of obeying.
Say what you like about the progressive movement - the things that I say about them would curl your hair - but at least enough of them have the elementary self-respect to actually want to follow through on what they believe in. Which is a characteristic apparently not shared by Rep. Emanuel and his faction.
Unless, of course, Ignatius misrepresented him. In which case: it's 72 hours and counting. Surely you have more respect for your own good name than to just let this slide, Rep. Emanuel?
Surely?
Moe
*And thanks to Rep. Emanuel, quarreling with that particular adjective is now problematic for his apologists. Although they will certainly give it a game try.
**Some will no doubt take issue with the fact that I am castigating the Democratic Party's leadership on their behalf. If this leads to them taking the task back up themselves, excellent. Shame is always a wonderful motivator.
If it does not so lead them, well, tell your troubles to Jesus; the chaplain's gone over the hill.
"Priceless!"
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“The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant; it's just that they know so much that isn't so.” – Ronald Reagan
he learned at the knee of WJC to stick his finger in the air (take your pick "which" finger) and see which way the wind is blowing before committing himself to tentatively support a position (dependent, of course, upon continued polling data)
Gamecock, DeVine conservative Op-Ed for The Charlotte Observer
"One man with courage makes a majority." - Andrew Jackson
do democrats believe they can control Congress with their vicious and rabid hatred of America in general and the military in particular?
as we have:
- a Republican party that rolls over and plays dead every time someone says "bipartisan";
- a Republican party that thinks that their job is to behave like Democrats with a longer name;
- a Democratic party that so hates one man that they are willing to sacrifice the future of the nation to satisfy their need to see him fail;
- a "free" press dedicated to lying and concealing, to advancing an agenda of defeat;
- a culture that thinks that there is nothing special about this most special of nations and people, that America is the problem;
- an electorate that cares more about Monday Night Football and American Idol than it does about their country and their future;
John
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Liberal Alchemy: The ability to transmute Lead into a denser form of Lead
Gamecock, DeVine conservative Op-Ed for The Charlotte Observer
"One man with courage makes a majority." - Andrew Jackson
Even though I don't watch either of them and care more about the future of our country than any of the programs I do watch. By the time more Americans are concerned about the future of the country than watch either of these programs it will be too late. The whole point of our democracy is to create an environment in which it is safe for more people to be interested in those shows than in the future of our country. And I'm not so certain that is a bad thing.
the last time they controlled Congress for 40 years, and for at least 25 of them the Democratic Party was controlled by essentially the same people who run it now.
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If "pro" is the opposite of "con", what is the opposite of "progress"...
Senior Writer
Ignatuis really doesn't seem to care about Emmanuel's attitude toward governing. Hope that the country suffers, and then step in.
I'm motiviated--aren't you?
"Who will stand/On either hand/And guard this bridge with me?" (Macaulay)
If these democrats have given any thought to what might happen when these highly trained, well informed, all volunteer forces return suffering humiliation at the hands of the only enemy able to defeat them, the democrats themselves?
This isn't your hidden in the bush, out of touch, thousand yard stare wearing Vietnam Vets, who are unprepared to be ambushed by the media. This is a plugged in, turned on, fully engaged digital combat environment dwelling military that sees the attacks by the democrats real time, and recognizes them as the actions of the enemy while they hold the line in the combat zone.
But then as someone else pointed out, these are the same democrats that ran the country for much of the forty years they were in the majority. And I really doubt any of them use a camera phone, PDA, laptop, or even carry a cell phone. So maybe they really have no clue, not just acting like it.
Support the Mission - Honor the troops
Exsolvo Orbis Terrarum
return to reinvigorate a Reaganite GOP to replace the gutless stupid party we have now.
Gamecock, DeVine conservative Op-Ed for The Charlotte Observer
"One man with courage makes a majority." - Andrew Jackson
sums up how the troops at least will interpret the Dems moral position in today's cartoon
John
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Why would God create something like whiskey? To keep the Irish from ruling the world of course.