Brass Knuckling Congressional Policy

Cross posted on Politics and Critical Thinking.

CT

In a stunning display of utter duplicity Madame Screecher and Harry "The Nervous Chihuahua" Reid offer a hand of friendship to Republicans. While reminding them, ever so gently, that there is a pair of political brass knuckles, better known as a "mandate," in the other .

Taken from the Washington Wire, WSJ Online.

"Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada declared that the American electorate gave the Democratic Party a “mandate” as he pledged to aid the middle class and restore fiscal responsibility to “lead this country to a much better place."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California pledged bipartisanship and civility in Washington, D.C. Obama built much of his campaign around changing the culture of Washington.

“We have a great deal of work to do, and we can do some of it right from the start,” she said. “But the rest of it will take a while. We must take a very deliberate, steady course for America. That’s exactly what Barack Obama is prepared to do.”

Over the past two years, the leadership of Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi has been nothing more than an attempt to bulldog progressive policies through Congress. The only redeeming features was a President who is an ardent partisan himself and had no fear of using his veto. In the end, they were two extremes, which balanced each other out, but also caused political stagnation. But now that is not the case, we have a hyper Liberal President with a Congress being led by a hyper-Liberal caucus. To think that there won’t be a rubber stamp philosophy in Washington is naive.

This situation brings the Lord Acton adage to mind," Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." This has applied to the Republicans as well as the Democrats. Look at the past decade and a half of barren partisanship, neither party has displayed any desire for cooperation with the other. Especially if that party was holding a very comfortable majority.

So, forgive the 56 million of us in the electorate who question their offer of cooperation and if we are rightfully leery about their motives. Most know it is very easy to speak in niceties about your opponent when celebrating your victory. Nevertheless, it’s a whole other ballgame when it comes time to get to work and you have a pair of political brass knuckles in your pocket.