Congress now and then does something really dopey. But for sheer and utter stupidity it is difficult to top their wanting to pass, during a time of war, a resolution admonishing the commander-in-chief for a tactical military move...Members of Congress may be required to take an oath that they will support and defend the Constitution...but, as such folly as we have been witnessing reminds us, they are not also required actually to know what it says...It’s the president, not Congress, the Constitution charges with deciding and implementing the conduct of our country’s wars. It says Congress gets to decide if (Article I, section 8), but the president decides how (Article II, section 2)....'Showbiz Instead of Statesmanship', Fred J. Eckert, National Review Online, 2/8/2007
Back in the 60s a rallying cry at radical demonstrations was "the whole world is watching." As subsequent events demonstrated, it was the television audience that was watching. When the audience saw that the extent of the demonstration didn't go beyond Michigan Avenue, they elected Richard Nixon. Show business is all that losers in politics have to offer. This bears more than a passing resemblance to the displays that weaker male apes put on when a stronger male takes over a group. They howl, stick out their tongues, bend over, beat their chests. The usual effect is that this year's chieftan ignores them. To take the lead position, it is necessary to do something. And, as Eckert hammers home in this fine piece in National Review Online, Democrats in their new roles as members of a Congressional majority are only acting. The White House, thankfully, seems to know this.
Luther
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