Doug Henwood wrote:
> I swear this feels worse than the Reagan years. Am I overreacting?
>
> Doug
>
No, you're right on target. During the Reagan years, there were politicians willing to try to stop some of what the New Right stood for--on abortion, on civil rights, on military aid to repressive regimes. On economics, they generally toed the party line.
Lowell Weicker, the Republican who led a six-week filibuster against abortion and school-prayer bills in 1982, and an 8-month filibuster against antibusing legislation, is gone, replaced with purported Democrat Joe Lieberman.
Weicker and Bob Packwood were willing to stand up, forcefully, at times, to the right-wingers in their party, even when Democrats were too damn timid. Now the liberal Republicans are almost all gone, and the Democrats have no backbone.
Plus, the Republicans control the House, so don't expect Boland Amendment redux probiting the subversion of democracy in Latin America, or anything approaching that level of criticism of our foreign policy.