We cats never thought we'd say anything nice about Bob Dole, the man who gave us the phrase "Democrat wars." But The Boston Globe's retrospective on the Senate's scuttling of the UN disabilities treaty back in December is forcing it out of us.
In short, today's Republican Party is so bad that it makes its former chairman, Senate Majority Leader, and nominee for President and Vice President — all roles in which he perfected the fine art of bitter partisan snarling — look like a statesman.
We suggest you read the story, which the Globe thankfully has placed in front of its paywall (although who knows for how long). But just in case you don't get to it, here's a stab at a recap, plus our usual collection of cogent cat comments.
The weasel in the piece — and there are many weasels — is Republican Senator Jim Moran, who was for the treaty before he was against it. The fact that, like Dole, he's from Kansas just rubs salt in the wound.
On the Republican side, the treaty was scuttled primarily by a teabagger home-schooling nutcase from Virginia, Michael Farris, and his partner in crime, former Senator and perpetually un-Googleable Rick Santorum — both of whom screamed that it would force parents of disabled children to have abortions.
Sheesh. Everything is about lady parts with these guys.
The Globe explains that Farris and Santorum saw an opportunity to "[play] into fears that the United Nations threatens American sovereignty." What they actually meant was, "[play] into old, outdated, ridiculous fears that..." But we doubt they'll run a correction.
Former Republican Attorney General Richard Thornburgh, a strong backer of the treaty, was shocked at the teabaggers' silliness. "It is one thing to face down a rational argument, quite another to deal with fantasies and exaggeration," he said. Dick, the base of your party has been living in la-la land for four years now. When are you GOP leading lights ever going to call them on it?
When Moran switched sides and was asked about his change of heart, he stripped his response of all possible personal pronouns. "That was an early position," he said. "It was trying to be helpful to Dole." "That"? "It"? Way to avoid responsibility, Jim.
Then Moran miraculously rediscovered the word "I." Was he saying he'd never been for the treaty? "No," he responded. "I'm saying I tried to help it come to the floor, and had never made a conclusion as to whether I was for it or against it." Since the article cites Moran's previous declarations of support — that he would be "standing up for the rights of those with disabilities" — we cats say, Jim, you lie.
Here in a nutshell is why the GOP is in such dire straits these days: "All of the 38 votes against the legislation were cast by Republicans. Many of them walked off the floor without greeting Dole...[John] McCain, a 26-year veteran of the Senate, said it was his worst day in the chamber." Well, guys, are we men or are we mice?
Finally, the Globe's attempt to aver that Democrats are equally to blame for the Senate's hyper-partisanship is, like the rest of the media's false equivalencies, tiresome. We cats are compelled to point out that the example they cite — Harry Reid's accusation that Willard Mitt Romney hadn't paid taxes for 10 years — has never been proven wrong.
No comments:
Post a Comment