Rightward ho!

Doug Henwood dhenwood at panix.com
Wed Jan 3 10:34:43 PST 2001


Nathan Newman wrote:


>But the whole "the Dems will just cave" will be a self-fulfilling prophecy
>if folks assume it is true.

Though I'm not one for "wallowing in hopelessness," as you put it, this "self-fulfilling prophecy" is a suspicion based on a long history.

From today's FT:


>For all the talk of bipartisanship, it is still a concept that seems
>to depend mainly on the eyes of the beholder. "Bipartisanship is
>when a Republican president sells his programme to the American
>people and gets the other party to support it," said Phil Gramm, the
>Texas Republican senator, recently.
>
>Tom Daschle, the Democratic Senate leader, has a different idea. "We
>must govern from the middle or we will not be able to govern at
>all," he said.

...and...


>Mr Clinton last week outraged Republicans by giving a one-year
>recess appointment to Roger Gregory, to become the first black judge
>on the all-white fourth US circuit court of appeals in Richmond. It
>was the first time in 20 years a president had filled a judicial
>opening with an appointment made while the Senate was in recess, but
>Mr Clinton had made three other nominations of African-Americans to
>the same court only to have them blocked by a few Republican
>senators.
>
>The new Senate is split 50-50 between Republicans and Democrats,
>which means that Democrats have control until inauguration day,
>because Vice-president Al Gore, as president of the Senate, will be
>able to break a tied vote.
>
>Mr Clinton, undaunted by Republican ire now that he no longer has to
>get along with them, will ask the Senate to confirm Mr Gregory and
>make his appointment permanent while Democrats still hold Senate
>control before Mr Bush takes over.
>
>It is unclear whether Senate Democrats will oblige the president
>when they are seeking a bipartisan Senate. Senator Tom Daschle, the
>temporary Senate majority leader, said at the weekend: "The way we
>treat our Republican colleagues is the way we hope our Republican
>colleagues will treat us (when they retake control of the Senate on
>inauguration day)."

But will they? I know where I'd place my bet.

Doug



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