Friday, November 20, 2015

Stooping as Low as We Can Get

Yesterday was about as awful as US politics can get.  I tweeted thusly:
 While my facebook page is a bit of an echo chamber and my twitter feed is not as representative of the political spectrum as it could be (the right wing types on my feed are just as appalled), I was still glad to see that no one I know and respect was hoping on the "replay 1939" bandwagon.

I found the House vote more problematic than Trump's call for monitoring Muslims (we all made the same yellow crescent badge joke) because the folks in the house, including more than 40 Democrats, are actually elected and thus supposed to be responsible.  We expect Trump to be abhorrent, and he has succeeded beyond our wildest expectations.  But unless he wins next fall, all he can to is inspire violence, um, not unlike ISIS.

The House of Representatives has a far more consequential impact--even if the Senate does not pass the bill or Obama is able to veto and not get overridden.  Why?  Tis in the name: House of Representatives.  These folks represent Americans ... poorly.  Whatever public opinion is, these politicians have demonstrated quite clearly that they are cowards, that they want to over-react and give ISIS what it wants.

I have two other relevant tweets over the past few days that remain quite applicable:

I don't think many politicians could be any dumber, craven or counter-productive in this.  But then we shall see what the new day provides.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

This was your second tweet: https://twitter.com/smsaideman/status/666348986626760704

I'm interested less in the bill, rather this controversy's impact on must-win constituencies for the GOP in 2016. Asian and Jewish-Americans are clearly indicating to puzzled (being kind here) Republican strategists why they vote for more liberal-minded candidates, and nothing more needs to be said about what this does for Hispanic outreach. http://bv.ms/1OjKE1W

Steve Saideman said...

Thanks for the link!

I wish I was as confident about the Democrats' chances of winning seats in the House and Senate as I am that Dems will keep the White House.