|
|
 |
Bitter Fruit
// Democrats Give Bush a Taste of His Own Medicine
That the US Congress would react negatively to George Bush's recent State of the Nation address was a foregone conclusion long before the US president stepped up to the rostrum to begin his speech. After all, the president has made no secret of his intent to implement a new strategy in Iraq that has already attracted criticism from the Democrats who now control both the House and the Senate.
However, the reaction of the congressional majority exceeded all expectations, as the Democrats rushed to excoriate President Bush's speech. Senator James Webb, who delivered the Democratic side's official response to Mr. Bush, gave a scorching speech that appeared to have been prepared long before the president gave his address.
The negative reactions were not because the Democrats categorically disagree with every single point of Mr. Bush's speech. Not at all. Many of the Democrats understand that withdrawing American troops from Iraq today would be a catastrophe. It is also unrealistic to talk about quickly redeploying them to neighboring Afghanistan, as Hillary Clinton, for example, has been proposing.
The Democrats also understand that the contingent of American soldiers currently in Iraq cannot hope to achieve a turning point in the situation inside the country. Thus George Bush's proposal to send an additional 21,000 soldiers to Iraq appears to be logical.
The Democratic majority in Congress also recognizes the infeasibility of the suggestion made by one of the party's leaders, Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Joseph Biden, who proposed that Iraq be divided into three parts. After all, Mr. Biden himself has publicly recognized that the war in Iraq will last longer than the current administration's remaining tenure in the White House.
And finally, the Democrats had to have at least a small soft spot for Mr. Bush's proposal to cut back America's energy consumption by 20% over the next ten years. Almost every president since Richard Nixon has insisted that America's energy dependence must be significantly decreased.
What the Democrats are doing with their knee-jerk rejections all of the ideas contained in the president's speech is exacting revenge on the White House for the administration's attitude towards its political opponents: during Mr. Bush's time in office, he and his team have practically made it a policy to disregard the opposition's recommendations. At a recent hearing of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, one of the Democrats interrupted objections from a Republican colleague by snapping, "get used to being in the minority!"
Today the Democrats are giving the president a dose of the same medicine that he forced down their throats before they became the ruling party in Congress. Mr. Bush's proposal to create a council on the war on terror that would include the participation of leaders of Congress has clearly fallen by the wayside. Now the Democrats are going to meet each and every suggestion from the president with naked bayonets, and he will either have to make some painful concessions or wear out his veto stamp. When he had the opportunity to work together with the opposition, the president decided not to. And now that decision is bearing bitter fruit.
Gennady Sysoyev
All the Article in Russian as of Jan. 25, 2007
|
|
|
