Accountability and Governance

The Democrats have a heckuva job cut out for them starting in January. The job has two fronts, accountability and governance. The people who were responsible for the false evidence (i.e. forged Niger doc's) and its dissemination, misleading the public during the administration's rush to war in Iraq, need to be held accountable. The people responsible for the millions, if not billions, of dollars missing and/or handed out in no bid and unfinished contracts for the rebuilding of Iraq need to be held accountable. The government officials that have committed crimes, abused their power, or covered for their colleagues' actions need to be held accountable. The people who allowed "energy"companies to write "energy" policy and "drug" companies to write the prescription drug bill need to be held accountable. For these lapses in judgment and others, there needs to be hearings and investigations that have teeth and put officials, including the president and vice president, UNDER OATH. For most of these transgressions, the buck should stop squarely at the Oval Office. That is not to say that Articles of Impeachment should be presented to the House right away, but if the hearings necessary to re instill trust in Our government lead to the president or those he has appointed, then impeachment or censure may follow.

It is important however for the Democrats to be bigger than the republicans have been for the past 6 years. Not only do they need to investigate who fouled up, lied, and misled us, but they have to do so while finding solutions to the mess the president and his minions have gotten us into. They are going to need to be open to discussion among their own party and across the aisle (something the reds refused to do). The "you're either with us or you're against" attitude must be put to bed, as should the un-American "a vote for their party is a vote for the terrorists".

On Iraq, "Cut and run" was never a solution put out by the Democrats. It was just another fear mongering catch phrase from the propagandists who brought you "Mission Accomplished", "Shock and Awe", and "Stay the Course". The Baker-Hamilton Iraq Group, who met with the president on Monday, will more than likely give options that Washington will wrap themselves around, much like the 911 Commission that Hamilton co-chaired (a commission whose recommendations may actually be fully implemented now that the Democrats run Congress). A unified democratic government in Iraq does not seem feasible at this point. Some are suggesting that it be split up into three ethnic divisions with a national government overseeing and dividing up the oil revenue. That may be all we can hope for at this point, though it may not solve the sectarian clashes we see more and more everyday. I do think it is a better option than Senator McCain's "send 20,000 more troops".

The Democratic party is diverse, from "blue dogs" to progressives. Some are trying to spin the election as a victory for only conservative and moderate democrats, but to be a party of the people means you have to have the differing voices of a diverse American public. We saw what making policies for only a "base" has done over the past six years. That time is over. For those of us still calling for blood immediately, why not focus solely on hacks like coulter and limbaugh, or on fox news, whose recently leaked memo shows a REAL BIAS in the media.

I smile at the spin of the November 7th losers who are trying their best to convince Democrats of Democrat infighting. It's important not to give them any credence. It has only been nine days since the election, and there is going to be a lot of discussion on a variety of issues from party leadership to Iraq to ethics reform. Some issues like the drilling in ANWR and the privatizing of Social Security, are most likely off the table all together, while issues like raising the federal minimum wage from $5.15 per hour are on. Regardless of the issue, once in power, the Democrats need to do what the republicans in Congress have not done for the past six years. They need to govern, and govern for the common good. It's time to put policy before politics, and people before party. The smallest of nudges in this direction would make last Tuesday worth it, beyond just putting the breaks on an out of control executive and its soon to be ex-rubber stamp legislative branch.

For those of us on the winning side of the election, Hells Yeah! We kicked their asses. The Democrats did not lose one, democratically held or open, governorship, seat in the House, or seat in the Senate to the republican side. And to the deflated reds, here's a message from Michael Moore titled "A Liberal's Pledge to Disheartened Conservatives".