No Joy In Mudville
The Real Clear Politics Blog has an interesting take on the compromise reached by the White House and the hold-out Senators led by John McCain. This may, John McIntyre says, have painted the Democrats into a real corner. (It is something I touched on yesterday as well).
Liberals will hate the analogy to "24," but at the end of the day large portions of the public see this debate as between those trying to give the America's Jack Bauers the legal protection to do what is necessary to keep Americans safe, while opponents play the role of bureaucratic suits and elitists more concerned about what the rest of the world might think. It is a straw man thrown out by critics of the President to say that this is about the "rule of law," because the entire process the White House has engaged in has been all about the "rule of law" and getting the people's representatives in the House and the Senate to pass a bill the President can sign into law.
And now with McCain and Bush on the same page, Democrats are in a very uncomfortable position politically, given there is an election in a little over a month. Do they side with the President or with the New York Times and the Washington Post? It is a classic lose-lose situation.
Democrats would have been better off having McCain and Warner side with the President immediately and just allowed this bill to pass without much of a fight and move on.
Politics as a popular television show. He's actually got a good point. This puts the Dems into a corner and they know it. Although there has been much wailing and gnashing of teeth in the left blogosphere, I am not hearing a lot out of the Democratic politicians at this point. Interesting, isn't it?
By Black Jack, Friday, 22 September , 2006 @ 1:25 pm
You don’t need a weather man to know which way the wind blows:
The lack of specific detail reported so far is disquieting. I’m all for reaching an agreement which protects our guys and which allows for coercive techniques when necessary. But, I’m definitely opposed to anything which ties the administration’s hands when it come to protecting the nation.
I’ll hope for the best, but when it comes to anything which involves McCain, Warner, and Graham, experience has shown that any ambiguity, anything not mentioned, anything glossed over, will be resolved in favor of the other side. Unfortunately, I detect the unmistakable hint of a big-time con job floating out there in the ether.
In short, I don’t trust McCain, Warner, or Graham and I’m suspicious off their motives, methods, and promises. They’ve sold us out before, and I’m afraid they’re doing it again.
The proof will be in the pudding, and we’ll soon know if we’ve been stabbed in the back by the two-faced Senate Republicans again.
By Nell, Friday, 22 September , 2006 @ 10:22 pm
I have to admit, sometimes I wonder if McCain is just a mask Karl Rove wears when it’s time to add some wood to the fire.