Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Democratic Dilemma

Well the dust has settled in the U.S. election and the Democrats are victorious.

No doubt this is a time of great joy for the Michael Moores and the Dixie Chicks of the world.

And I hope they do enjoy themselves over the next few days because I reckon their happiness will soon be replaced by frustration at least when it comes to how to fight the "War on Terror".

Frustration because there is no way in the world the Democratic controlled legislatures will do much to reverse President George Bush's policies, policies which the left hate.

The Democrats won't vote to open the gates of Guantánamo Bay detainment camp, they won't undo Bush's laws on secret surveillance ; they won't call for a softer stance with Iran or North Korea.

After all, the Democrats are not suicidal.

They realize that even though Americans might be getting fed up with the war in Iraq, they stil place a high premium on national security.

Simply put if the Democrats look as though they are pandering to America's enemies or putting Americans at risk through lax security, well then the Republicans will be back into power faster than you can say Newt Gingrich.

David Frum makes this point in an excellent article in today's National Post (which I can't find on their site) and goes further to suggest the crafty Republicans will put the Democrats on the spot time and time again on this issue.

Writes Frum: "Much of the energy and cunning of the Republican party over the next two years will be devoted to thrusting on the Democrats decisions and votes intended to split the more hawkish class of 2006 away from the more traditional liberals in the safe blue-states."

In other words, politics in the U.S. is about to get a lot more interesting.

For more analysis of last night's election check here and here and here.

1 comment:

Monkey Loves to Fight said...

I don' think the Democrats will be bad for US security at all. This us vs. them mentality needs to end. One can abhor those who attack the US, but there is nothing wrong with wanting to figure out what motivates them and trying to end the conditions that create the motivation. Lets remember the US has done some very bad things in terms of foreign policy. If anything the Republican policy on security only makes the United States more hated and more likely to be attacked.

And secondly the Democrats are not that left wing. They are somewhere in between the Liberals and Conservatives on the political spectrum although have members such as Kucinic who are like the NDP to Ellsworth who is to the right of many Conservatives.