I suppose I shouldn't be surprised by anything we learn about the way the Bush administration carried on, but today's news from Tom Ridge that Team Bush tried to strongarm him into jacking up the national terror threat alert just before the 2004 election reacquaints one with how dishonorable those people could be, and how fortunate we are to be rid of them. To be fair, this is being widely denied by the ex-Bushies. Who you gonna believe?
That's history, Deo gratias. The sleazy political manipulation that the dying Ted Kennedy is trying to pull is going on right now. Five years ago, when Republican Mitt Romney was governor, the state's Democrats pushed a law requiring five months to pass and a special election to fill a vacant U.S. Senate seat -- this to prevent Romney from putting a Republican in Sen. John Kerry's seat if he had to vacate it by winning the presidency. So they protected the seat then, but now Kennedy wants them to change the law back so the current governor, a Democrat, can appoint Kennedy's successor at once, so Massachusetts will have a Democrat in Washington voting on health care.
Isn't that just so Kennedyesque? The political system exists to be the plaything of a powerful family. And: there is no principle higher than the interests of the party. I know, I know, shocked, shocked to find gambling going on in this place. Still, though, Republican corruption and Democratic corruption -- even if no laws were broken -- are sick-making.
UPDATE: I regret to say that Glenn Greenwald is on to something. He points out how only a few years ago, those who said Bush was goosing terror alerts for political gain were treated like paranoid, Bush-derangement-syndrome freaks. But per Tom Ridge, they were right. Excerpt:
But that is how our political culture works. Throughout the Bush years, those who said demonstrably true things were continuously dismissed as fringe, conspiracy-driven leftist-losers: those who questioned whether Saddam really had WMDs; those who argued that the invasion of Iraq would lead to long-term military bases in that country; those who worried that warrantless eavesdropping and Patriot Act powers would lead to abuses; those who opposed the war in Afghanistan on the ground that it would be drag on for years with no resolution, etc. etc.Having been proven right about all of those things hasn't changed perceptions any at all. As Ambinder's comments today reflect, the paramount unchangeable Beltway Truth is that those who distrust government claims are unSerious Fringe Leftist Losers. Even when they turn out to be right, they're still that. And no matter how many times journalists like Ambinder are proven wrong in "giv[ing] the government the benefit of some doubt, even having learned lessons about giving the government that benefit," they still continue to do it and believe it is the right and responsible thing to do.
Powerful political leaders are, as Jay Rosen often puts it, the ruling priests in the journalists' church of Savviness. Trusting the politically powerful is the establishment religion and carrying forth their message is the prime function of establishment journalists ...
Add to Del.icio.us
Add to Technorati
Add to Digg
Add to Newsvine
Add to Facebook
Add to StumbleUpon
Subscribe
* People with different political leanings see the same events differently.
* Politicians manipulate public opinion.
Wow, what remarkable revelations!
I think on the merits what Kennedy is proposing isn't a bad idea, and could be viewed as an improvement to correct a flaw in the 2004 law.
The old system (which most everyone seems to agree is flawed) gave the governor total autonomy to appoint whoever he wanted for the rest of the term. It seems the only recent example that has worked as intended is Delaware where the Gov appointed Biden's chief of staff to hold down the seat until the next election. Everyone assumes he is just keeping it warm for Biden's son, but at least Biden Jr. will have to run for the open seat and compete in a fair election.
Special elections in a few months seem like a better solution, however the drawback is no Senator for a few months. Kennedy's proposal, appoint an interim Senator and hold a special election seems a better solution. I would add a way to limit the chance of the appointed interim Senator getting the advantage of incumbency in the special election. I'd say have the state reps in the same party as the former Senator give the Gov a list of 3 people to choose from. The conflicting interests of the various state reps will increase the odds of the names selected being elder statesmen types who won't run (Mondale, McGovern, etc)
As for the changes being politically motivated, well duh, this ain't some family monopoly game. The voters of MASS repeatedly selected Kennedy and Kerry over Republican challengers, ensuring that Romney couldn't replace Kerry with a Republican is doing the will of the voters. If the voters didn't like it they could have voted out the State Reps.
Eric K -
What you describe is how Senate vacancies in Wyoming are filled (that's how John Barasso first got the job, going on to win the special election), except that the list of three candidates comes from the appropriate state central committee rather than the state representatives. Probably less likely to result in a placeholder/elder stateman candidate than your proposed system, and on that basis I like your idea better.
But what do you do if an independent, e.g. Lieberman, resigns or dies? Governor's choice, I suppose.
I don't think the Kennedy-proposed senate law says anything about that family. Both parties manipulate the vacancy rules as they think will benefit them in the short term. That may be sleazy politics, but it's sleazy American politics, not sleazy Kennedy-family politics.
bayesian,
I think an independant would be easy to handle, just let the entire state legislature pick the 3 candidates.
Post a Comment
By submitting these comments, I agree to the beliefnet.com terms of service, rules of conduct and privacy policy (the "agreements"). I understand and agree that any content I post is licensed to beliefnet.com and may be used by beliefnet.com in accordance with the agreements.