Wednesday, November 12, 2003
Guns, Judges, and Aspirin
Clearly, I need to get some more Republican friends. Maybe they could explain to me what goes through the minds of Republican legislators when they make the decisions they do.
Item: Here in Wisconsin, the Republican-controlled legislature has passed a bill that would permit the concealed carrying of weapons in public. This inspired bit of public policy passed even though 70 of the state's 72 county sheriffs--who would presumably know the texture of their own communities and whether it's necessary or advisable for citizens to pack heat--are opposed to it and may exercise the provision in the bill that allows each county to opt out by refusing to issue the required permits. The Democratic leadership in the state Senate found itself ramming through amendments at the eleventh hour to try and make the bill more palatable--for example, you can't take your .44 into a hospital now. They were reduced to this because of the handful of Democrats in the legislature who serve as enablers for whatever Republican legislative pathology is on display at any particular time. (How come it's always Democrats who enable the Republicans and rarely the other way around when Democrats control the legislature?) As a result, Governor Doyle's expected veto may not survive an override.
Supporters of the bill observe that 45 other states have similar laws. But as the police chief of Menasha observed, "Why do we want to model ourselves after others? Why don’t they model themselves after us?" That used to be the very sort of thing we took pride in up here--the progressive state, the Wisconsin Idea, the place other places wanted to be like. The fact that it's no longer true is one of the most shameful legacies of our Republicans since they started taking marching orders from the Shi'ites who have controlled the party nationally for the last 20 years or so. (And, mind you, "shameful Republican legacies" is mighty long list.)
Item: Republicans in the U.S. Senate are holding a highly publicized 30-hour filibuster starting tonight to protest the hideous obstructionism of Democrats who have refused to permit confirmation votes on three of Bush's nominees to the federal bench. Republican leaders have promised to try and bring the three embattled nominees up for a vote in the middle of the night, but nobody thinks they will be successful. They also threaten a vote on the so-called "nuclear option," which would force a change in Senate rules that would essentially destroy the filibuster, a traditional parliamentary tool that Democrats have used to stall the confirmations of Charles Pickering, Priscilla Owen, and Bill Pryor (and the upcoming nominations of Carolyn Kuhl and Janice Rogers Brown). Nobody thinks that will pass, either.
An added side benefit of the judicial "crisis" is the way it lets Republicans play discrimination cards in reverse. Pryor is Catholic, so opposition to his nomination has been portrayed as anti-Catholic. Brown is black, so anybody who opposes her must be a racist. This, of course, is top-class excrement, but to the typical front-page skimming American who has other things to do with his time, it resonates even though it's false, and the Republicans know it.
All in all, this is hypocrisy so majestic that there are scarcely words in English to describe it. The so-called "vacancy crisis" on the federal bench is a sham. Ninety-eight percent of Bush's judicial nominees have been confirmed--a far higher percentage than Bill Clinton ever achieved. But because Democrats don't do the politics of aggrieved righteousness one-tenth as well as Republicans, GOP obstruction of Clinton's nominees was scarcely noticed. And as NPR reported this morning, the goal of this talkathon isn't to confirm these judges--it's to energize the Republican base and make judicial appointments an issue in the 2004 election.
I could go on. No I can't. It's making my head hurt. "Daily Aneurysm," indeed.
Clearly, I need to get some more Republican friends. Maybe they could explain to me what goes through the minds of Republican legislators when they make the decisions they do.
Item: Here in Wisconsin, the Republican-controlled legislature has passed a bill that would permit the concealed carrying of weapons in public. This inspired bit of public policy passed even though 70 of the state's 72 county sheriffs--who would presumably know the texture of their own communities and whether it's necessary or advisable for citizens to pack heat--are opposed to it and may exercise the provision in the bill that allows each county to opt out by refusing to issue the required permits. The Democratic leadership in the state Senate found itself ramming through amendments at the eleventh hour to try and make the bill more palatable--for example, you can't take your .44 into a hospital now. They were reduced to this because of the handful of Democrats in the legislature who serve as enablers for whatever Republican legislative pathology is on display at any particular time. (How come it's always Democrats who enable the Republicans and rarely the other way around when Democrats control the legislature?) As a result, Governor Doyle's expected veto may not survive an override.
Supporters of the bill observe that 45 other states have similar laws. But as the police chief of Menasha observed, "Why do we want to model ourselves after others? Why don’t they model themselves after us?" That used to be the very sort of thing we took pride in up here--the progressive state, the Wisconsin Idea, the place other places wanted to be like. The fact that it's no longer true is one of the most shameful legacies of our Republicans since they started taking marching orders from the Shi'ites who have controlled the party nationally for the last 20 years or so. (And, mind you, "shameful Republican legacies" is mighty long list.)
Item: Republicans in the U.S. Senate are holding a highly publicized 30-hour filibuster starting tonight to protest the hideous obstructionism of Democrats who have refused to permit confirmation votes on three of Bush's nominees to the federal bench. Republican leaders have promised to try and bring the three embattled nominees up for a vote in the middle of the night, but nobody thinks they will be successful. They also threaten a vote on the so-called "nuclear option," which would force a change in Senate rules that would essentially destroy the filibuster, a traditional parliamentary tool that Democrats have used to stall the confirmations of Charles Pickering, Priscilla Owen, and Bill Pryor (and the upcoming nominations of Carolyn Kuhl and Janice Rogers Brown). Nobody thinks that will pass, either.
An added side benefit of the judicial "crisis" is the way it lets Republicans play discrimination cards in reverse. Pryor is Catholic, so opposition to his nomination has been portrayed as anti-Catholic. Brown is black, so anybody who opposes her must be a racist. This, of course, is top-class excrement, but to the typical front-page skimming American who has other things to do with his time, it resonates even though it's false, and the Republicans know it.
All in all, this is hypocrisy so majestic that there are scarcely words in English to describe it. The so-called "vacancy crisis" on the federal bench is a sham. Ninety-eight percent of Bush's judicial nominees have been confirmed--a far higher percentage than Bill Clinton ever achieved. But because Democrats don't do the politics of aggrieved righteousness one-tenth as well as Republicans, GOP obstruction of Clinton's nominees was scarcely noticed. And as NPR reported this morning, the goal of this talkathon isn't to confirm these judges--it's to energize the Republican base and make judicial appointments an issue in the 2004 election.
I could go on. No I can't. It's making my head hurt. "Daily Aneurysm," indeed.
