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In between elections, how is "the voice of the people" to be heard? I'm not sure. Opinion polls are nothing more than polls. Their wording can be questioned and they reflect the views of the totally ignorant as well as the careful and well informed. If we ran our country based on opinion polls, we'd probably still be debating whether building the Interstate Highway System would be a good idea. In a representative democracy, ignorance does not have to be followed, unless it gets together and forms a mob.
Somehow, sifting through the blockade of lobbyists and campaign contributors who make up their ordinary days, people in Congress occasionally get a message loud and clear. The new Republicans in the House came to DC with a rare determination not to do "business as usual", now public opinion has chastised them into near silence. Oh, what I wouldn't have paid to be there when Boehner finally got through to them. Vince Lombardi in the locker room he ain't, but somehow the riot act was read and idiocy put into retreat.
Here's the problem: it doesn't matter what happens in Washington, it is what people believe happened that counts. A substantial number of Americans have, it seems, managed to comprehend that the face downs in the House were not the product of the "back and forth in Washington" (as the mealymouthed network news departments would have it), but rather the result of a determined effort to wreck the place in the name of saving it by the tea pot inspired new Republicans. A lot of new members of the House are going to be looking for another job this time next year. Problem is, not everyone can go to work for Fox News.
Looking at the wreckage of what they are likely to leave behind, one wonders what they will say about their “accomplishments”. Of course, if a far right Republican with populist leanings is elected president, they will probably say it was all worth it. If Obama gets re-elected, the Dems manage to hold on to the Senate and perhaps get back to a majority, or close to it, in the House, that’s another matter. What do most people who fought hopelessly and stupidly say to themselves? Well, we fought the good fight. Sure.
Doug Terry, 2.16.12
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