The pre-2006 congress was in the hands of neocons. And those neocons( the extreme right wing of the Republican party) RULED Congress with an IRON HAND. For example, the Democrats tried to TALK about the new judge that the Bush team was adding to America’s Supreme Court. The IRON HAND of the neocons came down HARD on the Democrats. The neocons, with their Congressional majority, threatened to KILL THE FILIBUSTER DEAD. The filibuster has long been a tradition in America’s Congress. But the Republicans had the power to kill the filibuster and the Democrats believed the Republicans had the will to kill the filibuster.
Democratic opposition to Supreme Court nominee, Samuel Alito softened. And the filibuster survived to later become acceptable to the neocons especially after the American electorate, in 2006, “remodeled Congress”.
It appears that the neocons can “go either way” on the life of the filibuster. If it suits them, they’ll use it. If it does not suit them, they’ll kill it. They’ll go where ever the opportunity is. Too much of what defines America seems to be “up for grabs” in the minds of the neocons. The “EXPLETIVE DELETED” description of America’s Constitution trumps the neocon’s feeling about the filibuster. So, just what is it, that neocons hold in “high esteem”? What is it, that the neocons are unwilling to bargain away? What is CORE neocon? Could CORE neocon be described here?
With Mr. George W. Bush gone, and America now looking “cross-eyed” at neocon “management” maybe the world can once again embrace the civilizing rules that were so hard to achieve in the first place.
It took the death of the “League of Nations” to allow the birth of the “United Nations”. The United Nations – itself no where near perfect, fell to even lower levels under the dominance of Mr. Bush and his neocons.
U.N. rules on outer space and the ocean’s floor were ignored – first by the Bush team then by others. The United Nations’ definition of “aggression” was ignored by the Bush team. The Bush team did redefine aggression to “PRE-EMPTIVE SELF DEFENSE” to make aggression palatable to the Western tongue. The Bush team led the world to lower values in multiple categories – war being one of the categories.
Today the neocons recognizes an opportunity in BIPARTISANSHIP. They are once again the “victim” of their own “train-wreck” behavior – first in ethics(2004) and now in domestic and foreign policy.
The Republicans “expressed need” for bipartisanship occurs when they know they are in trouble with the electorate. They were in serious ethics trouble in 2004. The unethical “muck” was deep and smelly. They welcomed the Democrats to “come on in” and lets show America a rare glimpse of BIPARTISANSHIP.
A Midwest columnist was cheerleading an effort to get then Senator Barack Obama and Senator John McCain to work together at bipartisanship. [That same columnist wrote a column favoring the immediate seating of Judge Alito on the U.S. Supreme Court, without further discussion. That column, likely archived by now, ought to be required reading for historians looking for Mr. Bush’s legacy.]
The Democrats, in 2004, declined to wade into the neck-deep MUCK to put their arms around the Republicans. And, of course, the Republicans, earlier had given the Democrats the same treatment after the Democrats overused their postal services.
The Republicans were left “waiting” for a Democrat to get caught in the MUCK. A single Democrat did get caught in the MUCK some time later. A history making effort by America’s FBI produced a Democrat for the MUCK.
The FBI, on the Bush team’s watch, did something it had never done before. It raided the office of a Congressman. The “Tell America” press reported the entry of a Democrat into the ethics MUCK. Now publications could present the “bipartisan nature” of unethical behavior – one democrat – twenty Republicans.
I noticed that many blog posts, in commenting on the lone Democratic entry into the MUCK, left out the “first time in American history” part. I attempted to comment about the “first time in history” part. My comments(all three attempts) wound up on the “cutting room floor”. And this was pre-Wordpress, pre-Technorati and pre-Capitol Hill Blue.
Jokes about “refrigerator Jefferson” posted at the website that I was trying to post my comments. After three attempts to get a word in “edgewise” I quit trying. The even-handed management of Internet blog connections is sometimes difficult to understand.
[ The Internet has a comfort zone for everyone – for the good, for the bad and for the ugly. And anyone can play any role at any time. ]
Republicans(of the neocon persuasion) and the opportunity to advance their cause, do seem to go hand-in-hand. The path the neocons takes seems to be the path that offers the best opportunity. It is difficult to predict what the neocons won’t do – if they were presented with an opportunity to achieve something they wanted. Rules seems to be disposable or breakable
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