Changing the Tone in Washington

By: Frederick H. Winterberg III

Does anybody remember Bush's promise during the campaign last year to, as he put it, "change the tone in Washington"? It would be hard to forget, considering the fact that every time a Democrat has so much as questioned anything related to Bush, Ari Fleischer snips "Well, President Bush is trying to change the tone in Washington, so he will not respond to that".

It seems, however, that changing the tone only applies to one side of the aisle. One need look no farther than the current right wing jihad against Senate majority leader Tom Daschle. The first shot across the bow in this all out right wing offensive was an advertisement in South Dakota newspapers last month, which pictured Daschle and Saddam Hussein side by side. Daschle's crime? He is opposed to opening the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling. According to the Republicans, this stance is helping to keep Hussein in power. Never mind that the most generous estimates (which were compiled by the oil companies) suggest there is only enough oil in ANWR to last the country six months. Never mind that we could save far more oil than we could ever pull out of ANWR by simply mandating that trucks and SUV's be held to the same fuel efficiency standards as automobiles. As far as the right wing is concerned, if you don't want to drill in ANWR, you are Saddam's best friend. Dick Cheney, when asked about the ads, stood behind them. Hmmm, hard to detect a change in tone here.

Now, we have the matter of the economic stimulus bill. This is the bill passed by the house that was 95 percent tax cuts for business and the wealthy, and nary a dime for the unemployed. Daschle, in a most unusual stand for a Democrat, stood up to Republican pressure and refused to bring the bill to a vote unless it was modified into something resembling a stimulus. The Republicans went back and modified the bill, and came back with one that only gave 92 percent to business and the wealthy. Daschle stood his ground, and would not allow it to come to a vote. And then the right wing smear machine was cranked up.

Rick Santorum, Republican senator from Pennsylvania, referred to Daschle as a "rabid dog". Dick Cheney called him an "obstructionist". Frank Luntz, a Republican strategist, suggested that all Republicans start using the phrase "Daschle Democrats" and "obstructionist" in the same sentence as often as possible. He then went on to add "It's time for Congressional Republicans to personalize the individual that is standing directly in the way of economic security, and even national security", and "Remember what the Democrats did to Gingrich? We need to do exactly the same thing to Daschle".

Maybe I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed, but this doesn't sound much like a "new tone" to me. In fact, it sounds like the same sort of smear campaign the Republicans wage whenever they don't get their way. Yet I don't hear any complaints from Ari Fleischer; on the contrary, his response was "Fundamentally, it still remains the job of the Senate leadership to complete their business", essentially calling Daschle an obstructionist without actually saying so. It appears this new tone only applies to Democrats who have the gall to question anything Resident Shrub does.

As many people have already noted, bipartisanship is a one-way street with Republicans. They expect Democrats to support anything and everything they want to do, but laugh in the Democrats' face when they ask for their support in return. And usually, the Democrats roll over and give Bush whatever he wants. Finally, a Democrat stands up and says no, I will not allow this corporate giveaway masquerading as a stimulus pass. And look what happens. To listen to the right wing pundits tell it, Daschle is the second coming of Hitler.

He should be applauded. Applauded for standing up to the right wing, applauded for not bowing to the pressure being exerted on him, applauded for not letting a bad bill have any chance of becoming law. And maybe most of all, applauded for driving the right wing so nuts they will try to destroy him, which will only make them look bad, and show the American people just how petty, mean, and spiteful they really are.

I couldn't have asked for a better Christmas present.