David

Karki

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January 14, 2009

Congressional Republicans Won’t Be Allowed to Do Their Jobs, So Why Show Up?

These are not bright times for the few remaining conservatives in Washington.

Blinded by his unquenchable thirst for an unfilibuster-able 60 senators whom he can control, Majority Leader Harry Reid is flip-flopping around, refusing to seat a legally qualified appointed replacement from Illinois while simultaneously trying to quick-march into a seat a legally unqualified election thief from Minnesota.

Not to be outdone in the kneewalking-drunk-on-power sweepstakes, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has reversed all the rules changes implemented by the Republicans back in 1994, meaning that committee chairs will not be term-limited and can shovel pork to their heart's content until they die, there is no longer a floor motion to re-commit a bill to committee (the closest thing to a filibuster on the House side) and the minority party has no power whatsoever to do anything in her chamber.

Good to see she learned absolutely nothing for her party's having lost Congress for 12 years, except how to be a massive hypocrite (exceeded only by the GOP's stupidity and cowardice for not having given back as good as Democrats gave out when they had the chance) and an even bigger dictatorial thug the second time around.

To be sure, elections have consequences. As does 12 years of the GOP mismanaging Congress when they had it, thus leading to a most deserved thrashing at the polls. Not to mention the ignorance and stupidity of a substantial portion of the American electorate, handing virtually unchecked power to a Democratic Congress that had achieved the lowest approval ratings in the history of political polling (9 percent).

Despicable though both Reid's and Pelosi's actions are, they are entitled to try them. As is President-elect Barack Obama to dig us out of a projected $1.2 trillion deficit by spending an additional trillion dollars more. (What's next, a skydiver escaping gravity by taking off his parachute?) 

What conservatives and Republicans need to do is be smart enough not to jump aboard the Titanic and Hindenburg of political inertia. If Democrats are determined to jump off the cliff – and they are – then let them jump alone and wish them happy landings. Let them own full, inescapable responsibility for whatever Carter Administration redux – stagflation, misery indexes, foreign policy wimpyness – they would foist upon America.

And let the voters see what happens when Democratic ideas, which sound so good during elections, become reality, which turn out to be so bad during the four years between them.

Lastly, use the time spent during the strategic retreat to regroup and regain for conservatives the credibility that was so thoroughly squandered by the GOP. Come 2010 and 2012, as many new candidates and approaches as possible need to come from the states – not Washington. Reclaim the outsider label by having as few ties to the old guard as there can be. Demonstrate by practical example that this time, it's different.

For example, since Pelosi has rendered their presence in Washington irrelevant anyway, I'd suggest that GOP House members simply announce that for the next two years they are staying home and not accepting their paychecks. While they would be portrayed by the biased media as whining sore losers (Florida 2000 hypocrisy notwithstanding), this would offer several positive angles:

•  Accepting pay for a job not done (or not allowed to be done, as the case may be) is stealing. Refusing it would be a clear stand on principle, and draw a healthy contrast with Democrats.

•  If Pelosi is going to run a Democrats-only dictatorship in the chamber she heads up, the least the GOP can do is make sure that everyone knows that's what it is. Again, a contrast can be drawn with the Democrats who are doing what they've always done, only more so, while the GOP has learned its lesson and is willing to try new things and go in new directions.

• It jump-starts the potentially Herculean task of getting people to believe that the GOP is becoming something other than what it now is – Democrat lite. (And not all that “lite” at that.) You're not going to get listeners, much less believers, without some big and bold strokes.

• Finally, when Democratic policies inevitably make things worse, they will have no way to wriggle off the hook and avoid responsibility, even with the help of the media. It's hard to provide a snappy comeback to “Hey, we weren't even there.”

As the saying goes, desperate times call for desperate measures. When Napoleon and the Germans were at Moscow's gates, the Russians in both cases destroyed many of their own supplies as they retreated, so that the enemy couldn't subsequently use them. This also meant that the Russians had to do without them, but both times the strategy worked.

Conservatives have a similar scenario facing them. Here's hoping they retreat as strategically. 

© 2009 North Star Writers Group. May not be republished without permission.

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