Up-to-date analysis of the local political landscape
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Shuler the Mule
There's playing politics and then there's sticking one's finger in your best friend's eye.
8 comments:
Opinionated
said...
I begin to wonder about Shuler's grasp of reality. He talks about what people in Congress "have" to do - (i.e. "The Republicans in Congress have to stop being the party of No.") Ummmm, Heath? Wishing things away won't make them so. Things are as they are, and we all have to deal with that reality and do whatever needs doing in spite of it.
Republicans in Congress are never going to stop digging in their heels on health reform (and neither are you, Heath, for that matter). There has been no such thing as bi-partisanship for 20 years in Washington. So reform will have to be passed without you.
If our senators and representatives would vote their conscience rather than their party, we might be able to accomplish something worthwhile in Washington.
Conservative senators and representatives are afraid to vote FOR the government to do anything, even if they secretly think it is the right thing to do. Their constituents do not want the government to actually do anything, so their elected officials are afraid they would not get re-elected if they voted for government action. Consider an issue such as trying to protect a community from hazardous industries. I remember the local uproar over zoning and how hard it was to get anything accomplished. I'm not sure anything substantial was accomplished, although we do have an ordinance. Of course if people are sickened by a polluting industry, then they will holler "The government is broken". Is the government broken or is it just reflecting the will of the people?
They have risen to power under the motto "Government = bad" and so they are hoist by their own petard. But as long as they can funnel the resources of the commonwealth into their own pockets, they will continue to rob the corpse as they leave the sinking ship. (How's that for a mixed metaphor?)
Bridle, you hit the nail on the head, no matter how mixed the metaphor. I think it is sad that our conservative brethren look upon our country as a sinking ship, while their elected officials feed off their discouragement and fear in such a callous self-serving manner. We all need to pull together to row this boat!
J.W. Williamson was the founding editor in 1972 of the Appalachian Journal: A Regional Studies Review, which he edited until July of 2000. He has taught college classes in Appalachian history, cultural politics, and literature, and he has lectured widely on the pop-culture history of "Appalachia" in the American consciousness. His books include Interviewing Appalachia, Southern Mountaineers in Silent Films, and Hillbillyland: What the Mountains Did to the Movies and What the Movies Did to the Mountains. He has won the Thomas Wolfe Award given by the Western North Carolina Historical Society, the Laurel Leaves Award given by the Appalachian Consortium, a special Weatherford Award given by Berea College, and the Cratis Williams-James Brown Award given by the Appalachian Studies Association.
The views expressed on WataugaWatch are solely those of J.W. Williamson or individual contributors and are not necessarily shared nor endorsed by the Watauga County Democratic Party nor by any other adults of sound mind in this or any other universe.
8 comments:
I begin to wonder about Shuler's grasp of reality. He talks about what people in Congress "have" to do - (i.e. "The Republicans in Congress have to stop being the party of No.") Ummmm, Heath? Wishing things away won't make them so. Things are as they are, and we all have to deal with that reality and do whatever needs doing in spite of it.
Republicans in Congress are never going to stop digging in their heels on health reform (and neither are you, Heath, for that matter). There has been no such thing as bi-partisanship for 20 years in Washington. So reform will have to be passed without you.
If our senators and representatives would vote their conscience rather than their party, we might be able to accomplish something worthwhile in Washington.
Foxx DOES vote her conscience. It's just her conscience has been bought and paid for.
Conservative senators and representatives are afraid to vote FOR the government to do anything, even if they secretly think it is the right thing to do. Their constituents do not want the government to actually do anything, so their elected officials are afraid they would not get re-elected if they voted for government action. Consider an issue such as trying to protect a community from hazardous industries. I remember the local uproar over zoning and how hard it was to get anything accomplished. I'm not sure anything substantial was accomplished, although we do have an ordinance. Of course if people are sickened by a polluting industry, then they will holler "The government is broken". Is the government broken or is it just reflecting the will of the people?
That was me.
Interesting question, RV.
They have risen to power under the motto "Government = bad" and so they are hoist by their own petard. But as long as they can funnel the resources of the commonwealth into their own pockets, they will continue to rob the corpse as they leave the sinking ship. (How's that for a mixed metaphor?)
Bridle, you hit the nail on the head, no matter how mixed the metaphor. I think it is sad that our conservative brethren look upon our country as a sinking ship, while their elected officials feed off their discouragement and fear in such a callous self-serving manner. We all need to pull together to row this boat!
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