Republicans Grow Backbone

Please allow me to express my utter elation upon reading the news tonight and seeing how Blagojevich was ousted in an unprecedented unanimous decision by the Illinois State Senate. It was such a relief to see those senators come together to stand up against corruption at its worst. But this certainly wasn’t the biggest news of the week. In another unprecedented event, House Republicans somehow managed to grow a backbone this week. House Republicans voted unanimously against giving Obama the $819 billion package he is requesting. The nay vote even attracted eleven democrats. The president seems to have missed out on the 100 day honeymoon most presidents are given.

Depending on your viewpoint, you can either see this as a victory for President Obama or a failure. I choose to see this as an Obama failure based on his lack of bipartisan support. Republicans have not stood so strong on any particular issue in quite sometime or at least not on any meaningful issues. This is an event that Republicans failed to accomplish while they had a majority and a somewhat Republican president for eight years. Perhaps it just takes a little political opposition and a few humiliating losses to bring the party together.

However, a few questions still remain. Was this past election the final blow it would take for Republicans to turn themselves around? Are they finally ready to define their values and then actually stick to them? Could they possibly be ready to pull their heads out of the litter box and bring back the art of debate to the congressional floors? The very partisan voting in the House seems to point in these directions. Perhaps Republicans are ready to stop acting like the spineless pushover wimps they have become and begin to show the leadership required to win an election and get something conservative accomplished.

Unfortunately, Conservatives are going to be fighting an uphill battle for a minimum of two years and perhaps and more likely longer than that. They have dug such a hole for themselves that climbing out will be quite difficult. Over the next two years, Republicans are going to have to show the American public they are actually different from their Democrat counterparts. This stand against the pork ridden bailout plan is only a start. Congressional Republicans are going to have to stick together on future issues as well. This type of united front will be what it takes to show the public they are finally ready to step into the spotlight and out of the shadows. The next test will be for Republican senators to show they are also ready to stand united.

Gitmo

Over the past week, a lot of media attention has been given to the inaugural proceedings. The exuberant price, the parties, the guests, the speeches and poems, and of course the fact that history was about to be made. It is now 1/21/2009. The parties are over and the street cleaners in D.C. are questioning their career choice. However, I believe the true entertainment has only just begun.

Within 24 hours of becoming the President of the most powerful nation on the planet, President Obama has ordered to delay the prosecutions of the prisoners at Gitmo. An executive order draft has also been making its way around the White House which would call for the closing of Gitmo withing a year. Besides putting the prosecutions on hold, the order also calls for the release of approximately 60 detainees. However, according to a CNN report, officials cannot find any countries willing to accept these "innocent men." I mean really, who wouldn't want suspected terrorists living in their country. Perhaps we'll see Obama give them a banquet at the White House for all of their troubles.

Although I suppose I should at least look at this from Obama's viewpoint. He does have the support of the ACLU, which as we all know has the same intelligence operations as the CIA and Pentagon. Kidding aside, Obama has already sought to weaken the national security efforts put into place by Bush. I really do not have that many good things to say about the Bush Presidency, but one thing I can say is that Americans were safe while he was president. Biden may have been correct during the campaign when he said that the world was going to test the Obama administration, but that doesn't mean that Obama has to make it so easy.

About This Blog

Different events around the world do not determine the current events we talk about at work or home. The mainstream media determines what we as ordinary and uninformed people actually know. The mainstream media discusses what they believe will garner the largest ratings and will best promote their own ideas. Prior to the events of 9/11/2001, the biggest news story of the time was the controversy surrounding Gary Condit. On 9/12/2001, it would have been impossible to find a single story on this controversy.

Anybody who keeps up on the Iraq War should be able to see how the major news outlets can show the same story or same day of fighting in a completely different light. Just to prove my point, at the end of the day, watch CNN’s coverage of the daily occurrences of the Iraq War and then watch Fox News’ coverage. CNN’s coverage will focus on civilian and troop deaths with a small snippet on insurgent deaths while Fox News will focus on insurgent deaths with a small snippet on civilian and troop deaths. Just a word of warning, I prefer Fox’s coverage.

I bring up these points in order to highlight the importance of blogs in general, but especially political blogs. A blogger can and often times will focus on events that are very important long after the mainstream media decided to drop the stories. This is partially what this blog will do. While it will focus on the largest events of the week, it will not leave a story partially finished. This is my blog and I will talk about an issue for as long as I deem fit. If I do not believe the issues being discussed in media outlets is truly the most newsworthy, then I may bring up past events that are still relevant, despite there coverage in the mainstream.