Tuesday,
November 16 2004
SCHUMER STAYS: Chuck
Schumer is staying in the Senate. In return, Harry Reid
is giving Schumer a seat on the Finance Committee and the
chairmanship of the DSCC. Democrats in DC and New York are
thrilled.
I don't
know if this really the good news Democrats think it is.
Yes, Schumer's decision means they have avoided a bruising,
costly primary battle between two heavyweights (Schumer
and AG Eliot Spitzer) for the Governorship of New York.
The
flip side of the decision is that on the heels of November
2 the Democrats have just promoted a liberal, Northeastern
Senator best known for arguing in favor of a pro-abortion
litmus test for federal judges into the ranks of their leadership
and made him the face of their 2006 election hopes. Are
we a bit slow on the learning curve, or what?
Now
if the Dems will just put Howard Dean in as Chairman of
the Party next February, Republicans will be even money
for a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate in two years......
LAY
OFF POWELL'S LEGACY: I'm not sure whether I'm in
the minority here or not, but I can't stand all of the carping,
backbiting, and preemptive attempts at "shaping"
Colin Powell's legacy.
Liberals
whine and say Powell "tarnished" himself by becoming
a mouthpiece and cheerleader for the neocon war effort.
Neocons bitch that Powell was off the reservation and never
whipped the State Department into shape behind President
Bush's policies.
In
my mind Colin Powell is a stud - perhaps more so today than
he's ever been. He was (to play on a recent phrase of some
popularity) the right man for the right job at the right
time.
Did
he lose some battles to the Pentagon and the Office of the
Vice President during his tenure? Yes. But he also won some
pretty big ones as well. The important thing, at least to
my mind, is that he was willing to fight those battles day
in and day out and to provide the President with a broader
range of perspectives needed at the highest levels of government.
Whether
you think he should have won more or lost more battles is
a matter of personal opinion, but it's hard to say the country
didn't benefit by having Powell in its service as Secretary
of State for the last four years. - T. Bevan
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