A cornered dog is a dangerous animal, so goes the common wisdom. When it seems the fight is lost is when the last gasp of violence comes out. When a dog is wounded it feels most vulnerable and will lash out in self-defense. These days, that dog is an elephant.
Ever since about 1994, with the rise of Newt Gingrich and Tom DeLay, the Republicans have engaged in scorched earth politics and the politics of personal destruction. They didn't see politics as diplomacy, they saw it was war, and they were the General Shermans. They reveled in the blood-lust of power, sneering evil smiles as they relegated Democrats down to Storage Room B in the basement
(literally!).
Losing that kind of power has been hard on them. Not only can they not get their way every time, they've had to see their agenda fail and be replaced. This has resulted in the aforementioned lashing out that seems to make everyone wonder if they'll ever return from the wilderness intact.
I've previously written about the pernicious attacks on Judge Sotomayor, including those by presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich. Those attacks were mostly from Republicans formerly in power and their champions on the airwaves. A couple Republican lawmakers actually told them to sit down and shut up, which is certainly commendable. But not all Republican lawmakers are quite so pragmatic.
House Rep Mike Coffman (R-CO)
called the CO Governor a "terrorist sympathizer" for not allowing a military base to expand into farmer's fields:
U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman minced no words in a bizarre, Cheney-esque attack on Gov. Bill Ritter as a “terrorist sympathizer” for signing a new state law that stymies future expansion of the Army’s contentious Piñon Canyon training site proposal.
The accusation of Ritter’s treason can be found in full at Coffman’s congressional Web site:
"The Governor clearly has no concept about the training and readiness needs of our combat forces. By signing H.B. 1317, a bill that blocks the Army’s ability to expand training areas, the Governor has sent a very clear message that the men and women who serve our nation in uniform are not welcome here.
I think he would be more sympathetic if the U.S. Army were to declare itself a terrorist organization — since he is going out of his way to block the Army while at the same time laying out a welcome mat to house terrorists from Guantanamo Bay."
This is of course the same rhetoric we got from the Republicans in 2003-2006 for anyone who dared to oppose invading Iraq, or the way the conflict was being handled. This is a perfect example of personal assassination politics. After 15 years, you would hope that the electorate was sick of it. It seems, though, that it's the only thing some of these people know.
In another fine example of going over the top, House Rep Lamar Smith (R-TX) said that the
greatest threat to Democracy is the "Liberal Media":
Yesterday, Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) launched the Media Fairness Caucus, made up of about a dozen House Republicans, aiming “to fight liberal media bias.” The group will “point out unfair stories, meet with members of the media, and write op-eds and letters to the editor to highlight media bias,” Newsmax reported. Appearing on Fox News today, Smith declared that “liberal media bias” is a bigger threat to the United States than the recession or terrorism — and Fox’s Bill Hemmer seemed to agree:
SMITH: Let me just say — this is going to sound radical, I don’t mean for it to be radical — but to me, the greatest threat to America is not necessarily a recession or even another terrorist attack. The greatest threat to America is a liberal media bias...
The irony of this being said on FOX News is obvious. Even more amusing is that he was saying this
on the media and to a
member of the media, and that member of the media agreed with him! That damn liberal bias!
Finally, our airwaves have been polluted lately with former veep Dick Cheney and his daughter Liz promoting their meme "It wasn't torture, and even if it was, it worked, so be grateful, dammit!" With the previously mentioned "liberal media" giving so much airtime to these two asking that memos be released, it was only a matter of time before the Republicans in power took matters into their own hands. Yesterday, they
released info on intel received during secret briefings:
Republicans ignited a firestorm of controversy on Thursday by revealing some of what they had been told at a closed-door Intelligence Committee hearing on the interrogation of terrorism suspects.
Democrats immediately blasted the GOP lawmakers for publicly discussing classified information, while Republicans said Democrats are trying to hide the truth that enhanced interrogation of detainees is effective.
GOP members on the Intelligence Committee on Thursday told The Hill in on-the-record interviews that they were informed that the controversial methods have led to information that prevented terrorist attacks.
When told of the GOP claims, Democrats strongly criticized the members who revealed information that was provided at the closed House Intelligence Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations hearing. Democrats on the panel said they could not respond substantively, pointing out that the hearing was closed.
There is certainly more to come, what with Obama's speech yesterday. Liz Cheney was all over the airwaves yesterday, criticizing the speech, and today Dick Cheney will give the Republican Response to it. If past history is any indication, it will be packed with lies and vitriol. That this was tasked to a Republican no longer in power, rather than an active member of Congress (or governor) or a member of the Republican party leadership is very interesting. Apparently they wanted their nastiest snarliest dog to do their dirty work.
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