We Elected A President, Not A Parrot

I am thoroughly disgusted with the rash of upstarts claiming they have a right to vilify and smear the sitting President of the United States, merely because Dubya has declined to obey their whims and (often ill-considered) demands for certain policy and executive decisions. I do not mean just the Speaker of the House, who can find no time to meet with the President on pressing matters of state, but who can and has broken Federal law in order to chat with a state sponsor of terrorism. I do not mean just the Democratic Party, which pledged to the public to be honest, forthright, and to support the troops, but which since their election has performed to a moral standard somewhat below Bluto’s level in the Toga Party during the movie “Animal House”. I do not even mean just the “gotcha” media which has been trying to bring down officials in the Bush Administration ever since he was sworn in, nor the spittle-flecked blogs of the Extreme Left, whose sense of morality is almost as absent as their knowledge of History, Grammar, or personal hygiene. No, here I am talking about ostensible members of the Republican Party, who have become so obsessed with their ego and arrogance that they have forgotten every lesson taught in word and practice by Ronald Reagan.

Let’s begin with John “No Free Speech” McCain, just to get that jackass out of the way. Time was, McCain was a symbol of heroic fortitude in the Vietnam War, a man who represented the courage and sacrifice of the troops, and whose personal integrity was beyond question. That, of course, was before McCain got his panties in a wad because he couldn’t nab the GOP nomination, and he began a trek to accommodation of the Left which has greatly diminished his stature. Over the last several years, Senator McPain has opined that people cannot be trusted to support the candidate of their choice with their own money, and so co-sponsored a “reform” bill which tells the First Amendment that it doesn’t apply to politics. Along those same lines, McJerk floated a few balloons in query as to whether Congress might want to regulate the Internet, especially those pesky political blogs, in order to prevent us from saying the “wrong” sorts of things. McCain, it appears, would have worked to ban such malcontents as Tom Paine and Patrick Henry; their pamphlets would have been just a bit more than he would allow.

But the capper is McCain’s recent opinion regarding Iraq. While McCain is one of the few Republicans willing to stick by the troops, even there he cannot resist trying to place blame on Republicans, including the President. Never mind that such statements play into the hands of the Left, never mind that such statements do nothing to help the average American understand the war’s purpose and justice, much less the difficulty for those who must make the calls which count. McCain is playing for his own name. I do believe he supports the troops, but his refusal to back Bush as well shows that he just does not understand the job he is seeking. A President is not elected to make popular decisions, or to play to the camera, but to do what the country needs. And the responsibility of the President’s party is to support those decisions when they are made. Undercutting the President is undermining the troops, and if John McCain does not understand that, he has no business trying to run for that job himself.

Another absolute moron is Tom Tancredo. Oh yes, I know he’s popular among the ’Draconian Measures Now!’ crowd, but the man is clueless about why his demands never come to fruition. In simple fact, what he wants is impractible, both politically and functionally. But more than that, Tom seems to have confused the difference between being a member of Congress, and being the President of the United States. No, Tom does not have a clue about the fact that he was elected to serve his district, and he chose to be part of a political party which is led by President Bush. Tancredo has every right to suggest options to the President, and while the issue is in debate to voice his mind and heart. However, opposing the President directly, and trying to cut out the legs of federal initiatives, simply because his own plan did not win the decision, is petty and disloyal. Tom Tancredo has made abundantly clear that he is interested only in the welfare and interests of Tom Tancredo. As a result, the attempts by the Bush White House to submit a unified front for specific and effective actions in Immigration Reform and Border Control, a complex issue at the best of times, have been further suborned by a malcontent who thinks he outranks the President.

This, of course, brings me to Tweedledee, Tweedledum, and Tweedleidiot, otherwise known as Representatives Frank Wolf of Virginia, Joe Pitts of Pennsylvania, and Robert Aderholt of Alabama, who decided that a trip to Syria was a nifty way to spend taxpayer’s money and to thumb their nose at official United States policy. These clueless individuals tried to wave off concern for their trip, by saying that they hoped to influence Syria to accept U.S. policy positions, such as ending support for Hamas and Hezbollah, recognizing Israel, and just maybe not murdering U.S. troops in Iraq. The effect of their visit, in the actual fact, however, was to blur the line between the stupid and the criminal, as Pelosi’s jaunt a few days later showed. It also demonstrated the inability of Congressmen to understand the limits of their duties of office, and the rights and privileges of being a Congressman. The White House alone has the right to send emissaries and envoys, not Congress. And such a trip by these Congressmen should unleash outrage from the taxpayers.

A big part of the reason why President Bush is not enjoying the glow of poll and media support, is that Dubya is willing to do the heavy lifting, to do what is right rather than what is trendy, to be unpopular if it means getting the job done. The fact that few in his own party are willing to stand by him in the rough spots, speaks not only to why the GOP lost the voters in 2006, but also to just how morally poor the party has become.

I say it again, and mark my words, we will miss George W. Bush after he is gone. Because no one as good as him is waiting to take up the challenge.