On Terri Schiavi - Why Bill Frist and Tom DeLay Can't Get Enough:

Alright, so I have not posted in a long time. And when I have it has been rather intermittently. People have complained, accused me of selling out, though most have said nothing. But before you turn your back on my blog I have a couple of excuses. First, the news has been extremely slow and though the Pope seemed like a great man, I have very little to say about him. In part news has been slow for about the past month or two, which is why I had a ridiculous number of posts on Terri Schavio, something I apologize for, though I hope they ended up being constructive in someway. Second, I have been very busy at school, though not incredibly, so that isn't the best excuse. Third, I have been blitzkrieging another individuals blog, one whom I went to high school with and whose politics, but more importantly, his style of politics I extremely dislike (his Daddy is an editor of the Weekly Standard). So in other words I am liberating his blog, one comment at a time.

Now, for actual blogging: One thing that has become increasingly clear is Bill Frist's intentions for the White House. Only someone as intelligent as I would hope he is, would make so many myopic decisions in such a short amount of time. First, Dr. Frist shares the Shameful Political Exploitation of Terri Schiavo award with Tom DeLay. Frist watched the video tapes of Mrs. Schiavo and then gave his medical opinion on the Senate floor, an opinion which clashed with all the analysis that doctors had provided over the 16 years this case has been in court, with 9 different judges. The Economist explains that, "Had he offered this medical opinion in court, he could have been sued." Strike one against Frist, this may win him the love of the religious right, but come an actual election, this would haunt him. I personally think this will all end up blowing up for the Republicans, but more on that later.

Second, Dr. Frist has become increasingly extreme in dealing with the Judges that Democrats keep blocking. According to The Washington Post he is likely to soon push for the "Nuclear" option in banning filibuster on for judicial nominations. Also, he is morphing this battle over the judges into a religious one. On Sunday he will appear in a web cast called "Justice Sunday" where social conservatives will lament how irreligious the judiciary is and make the Democrats out to be anti-religious bigots for blocking these judges (which is ridiculous considering only one of the blocked judges is all that religious). Frist is probably making this decision for two reasons, both of which make sense. First, demonizing the Democrats works (the Democrats use to do this on issues of Civil Rights, and quite well). But also this works in strengthening the Republicans chances in midterm elections (which will be crucial for Frist, losing the Majority would hurt big time) because playing the Democratic minority as too small plays against the natural American intuition that split government is inherently good (which is why midterm presidents almost always see their majorities lost in the House and Senate, and the Republicans playing this effective Democrats card enabled them to not fall as so many others have). But the second reason, and this plays more towards the filibuster issue is that Frist is coming from the Senate, he realizes that he can't be like John Kerry and speak Senate-eese, and hope that the American people will view him as a patrician. He has to get things done, speak effectiveness and action, and if he can do that while simultaneously playing to the Republican establishment (and lets face it, being the "Republican" candidate in the primaries gives you distinct advantages that Bush had 2000 against McCain).

So the repercussions of this: First, I do not think Bill Frist's moves will pay off. He just strikes me as too overtly political, and one thing Bush has always been amazing at, and in my opinion, genuine, is that religious beliefs are not for a political end.

Now the party wide repercussions: In my opinion the filibuster push has to be a bluff, it is just too insane and pointlessly divisive, not to mention how myopic it is. Any chance of Democrats ever working with Republicans (which isn't likely now anyways, but still, if Social Security is resurrected, it won't be changed without Democrats) will be gone, but also the Republicans must realize that they will not always be the majority party, and Democrats appoint Judges that they do not like. This was the reasoning John McCain used to explain why he would not vote for this change. If I were a Republican I would realize this and agree. But I think the repercussions of this extend past just this. I think lately the Republicans have been misreading the American people. The overwhelming majority of people were against Republican's personally reinserting Schiavo's feeding tube. The overwhelming number of people do not think Tom DeLay is infallible. The people also do not want to jump into Social Security reform (especially when it is something that has barely been debated or discussed).

The Republican's obviously have a tough group of people to hold together, but how they respond to the Tom DeLay situation, Social Security, and appointing Justices are going to be extremely important in determining the outcome of the midterm elections. These will also be the three areas that Democrats will capitalize on (of course they won't end up running for anything, just against things, which is a whole separate problem that needs serious rectification). So keep an eye on what happens, this is really a crossroads for the Republicans, and politics is extremely fickle. We'll see what happens...

NOTE: One last thing is that lately I have been talking a lot of problems with the Republican party. I want to note that I am focusing more on their strategy and attempting to explain the parties’ actions politically. Mostly I can do this because Democrats have done nothing since Kerry lost except try to stop stuff. One day, when I am done with that post on economics, which will lambaste them, though Republicans too, I can call myself "Fair and Balanced."

-Mr. Alec

PS One of my favorite scholars and journalists, Fareed Zakaria, now has a TV show which you can watch online. It is really great. Check out the link: www.foreignexchange.tv