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Stop the Whining and the Excuses — and "Get it"
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01/08/07 08:31 AM ET
House Republicans missed a golden opportunity at the outset of the 110th Congress to begin to repair the badly-held image they crystallized in the minds of American voters that culminated, in my opinion, with the Mark Foley scandal of last year.
I'm referring to the near-whining and complaining of the new minority party over items in the Democrats’ 100-hour agenda. All across America, the images on the television shows, cable nets and the political rags showed Nancy Pelosi making history while House Republicans made more excuses... "We've been shut out of the process," complained one set of House Republicans regarding the new Rules package on ethics.Umm, how many years did these same so-called outcasts have to shape the rules in response to Cunningham, DeLay, or any of the other 10 seats that were lost as direct or indirect results of scandals?? Don't get me wrong, I'm a Republican and support the views of the Grand Ole Party, but I have to say, the final 18 months of the 109th Congress was not a display of Reagan conservatism run amok....hardly. Rather, I saw more political hide-covering and rhetorical positioning than I care to see for a long time.
Come to think of it, Republicans could have started their "Congressional Comeback Campaign" the day after the elections with 3 simple words: "We got it." We got the message, Mr. and Mrs. America - you were fed up with the scandals, the excuses, and the hand-wringing and finger pointing at our idea-less albeit Democrat friends, but Republicans ran the place, and they now deserve a shot... The first step to recovery is admitting you had a problem, and boy, did Republicans get off track.
Now I'm not here to play Armchair Quarterback -- I'll leave that to the fantasy football neophytes and the college BCS naysayers. But I do think that this week's shots of Republicans complaining about a system that was barely 2 hours old -- the same system they flocked to the news cameras to defend wholeheartedly -- is trite and beneath this party. Republicans were the party of ideas, new ways of thinking and addressing seemingly intractable problems, and you know what? They haven't gone away. Now more than ever, bipartisan or not, it's time Republicans stepped up, admitted that mistakes were made, and moved on....Moved on to a fresh slate of ideas and innovations -- public policy creations that thrust this party into the majority after four decades of Democratic rule in 1994.
Introspection is a powerful tool to reform, refresh and revive. Let's just hope that Congressional Republicans' idea of introspection doesn't lead them to form yet another circular firing squad of excuses and blame...
I'm referring to the near-whining and complaining of the new minority party over items in the Democrats’ 100-hour agenda. All across America, the images on the television shows, cable nets and the political rags showed Nancy Pelosi making history while House Republicans made more excuses... "We've been shut out of the process," complained one set of House Republicans regarding the new Rules package on ethics.Umm, how many years did these same so-called outcasts have to shape the rules in response to Cunningham, DeLay, or any of the other 10 seats that were lost as direct or indirect results of scandals?? Don't get me wrong, I'm a Republican and support the views of the Grand Ole Party, but I have to say, the final 18 months of the 109th Congress was not a display of Reagan conservatism run amok....hardly. Rather, I saw more political hide-covering and rhetorical positioning than I care to see for a long time.
Come to think of it, Republicans could have started their "Congressional Comeback Campaign" the day after the elections with 3 simple words: "We got it." We got the message, Mr. and Mrs. America - you were fed up with the scandals, the excuses, and the hand-wringing and finger pointing at our idea-less albeit Democrat friends, but Republicans ran the place, and they now deserve a shot... The first step to recovery is admitting you had a problem, and boy, did Republicans get off track.
Now I'm not here to play Armchair Quarterback -- I'll leave that to the fantasy football neophytes and the college BCS naysayers. But I do think that this week's shots of Republicans complaining about a system that was barely 2 hours old -- the same system they flocked to the news cameras to defend wholeheartedly -- is trite and beneath this party. Republicans were the party of ideas, new ways of thinking and addressing seemingly intractable problems, and you know what? They haven't gone away. Now more than ever, bipartisan or not, it's time Republicans stepped up, admitted that mistakes were made, and moved on....Moved on to a fresh slate of ideas and innovations -- public policy creations that thrust this party into the majority after four decades of Democratic rule in 1994.
Introspection is a powerful tool to reform, refresh and revive. Let's just hope that Congressional Republicans' idea of introspection doesn't lead them to form yet another circular firing squad of excuses and blame...
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