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September 29, 2005
The beginning of the end
I'm giddy. I could do a little dance. I really couldn't be happier about this Delay thing. Between Delay, Frist, Safavian, and Abramoff, to say nothing of Bush getting it from both sides over the guy who's going to become who is now Chief Justice of the United States, and the compounding of failures in Iraq and the US Gulf coast, I'd say the conservative revolution of 1994 is over. I'd be a little more confident in saying that if this were all happening six months from now when we'd be in the thick of midterm election campaigns, but these are pains that will linger until then. Also, remember how Mr. Bush was going to reform Social Security? That an administration that used to have a preternatural ability to weather lackluster approval numbers has tanked so quickly is a surprise, but certainly a welcome one. At any rate, however unlikely it may be, I'll not look a gift lame duck in the... bill...? Sorry.
Then again, when I think of the people who are going to benefit from the Republican leadership crisis, it tempers my enthusiasm considerably. Despite my best attempts to lay back and think of England, I can't help but imagine the empty partisan caterwauling of Reid, Pelosi, Biden, and Schumer that's going to start, oh, in the next couple of hours, and continue until some time in 2008. How I wish the tone for the next decade of public debate could be set by Edwards, Specter, Leahy, and McCain. And let's not forget Bill Bradley. Oh Bradley, where art thou? Let's also not forget Best Ever.
Actually, now that I think more about it, I think this opinion piece about Germany's electoral deadlock from yesterday's FT isn't irrelevant to America's political future. Maybe the answer isn't to try to replace the conservative revolution with a liberal one. I dont know if the idea of a "technical caretaker government" espoused by the authors of that piece would qualify as a centrist "revolution" in the context of US democracy, but whatever label should be applied, the moral of drastic, lasting reforms ought to appeal to many. It certainly appeals to me.
At the very least, it's certainly a nice shot in the arm for me as I gear up for round two against the LSAT on Saturday.
Anyway, much love to David Brooks who really turned a corner somewhere (I'd link to his column today, which was an insightful contrast between Newt Gingrich and Tom Delay, but he's part of the new TimesSelect pay thingy at the NYT. The paper costs a dollar. Divest some HCA from your blind trust and pick up a hard copy).
Posted by matt at September 29, 2005 09:10 AM
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