State of Various

Two people in our national government were shown respect last night, in quite different ways. George Bush, who occupies the office of President , was greeted with respect by the Congress as he entered the chambers to give the constitutionally required State of the Union speech. For most of the greeters, the respect was for the office of the Presidency and for the process by which the President is required to communicate with the full Congress, rather than for the man himself.

By contrast, when Bush acknowledged Nancy Pelosi as the first woman Speaker of the House (following 59 men), after she took control and called the meeting to order, the hearty and respectful applause was not just for the post of Speaker, nor even just for all the women who have had to work extra hard to break through glass ceilings, but also for Nancy herself, an accomplished, experienced hardworking and dedicated mother, grandmother and Congresswoman who deservedly achieved the right to sit behind the President and next to the Vice-President, as their successor to the highest office in the land in the event the need should arise, at this most ceremonious assembled celebration of our constitutional government.

The main interest in the Bush speech was how he would handle giving it for the first time to a Congress led by Democrats. The speech was predictably bland, with mention of Iraq postponed until near the end and couched in the same cliches and slogans most everyone, including Republicans like Senator Warner, who is cosponsoring another resolution opposing the Bush surge plan, is tired of hearing. The devastation of New Orleans and failure to progress on meaningful rebuilding was not even mentioned in the speech, showing that the non-concern of Bush in the aftermath of Katrina, which was when many Americans previously blind to his failings began to see Bush for the fraud he is, once again demonstrated how the Republican Party is only interested in African-Americans as tokens. Most revealing is the fact that every one of the African Americans serving in Congress is a Democrat, and since the 1969 founding of the Congressional Black Caucus, only three Republican African Americans have served in Congress.

The new Democrat leaders of Congress are off to an impressive start. Nancy Pelosi’s 100 hour agenda was met ahead of schedule. The important hearings, now chaired by Democrats, have begun and have been conducted respectfully, openly and with a reasonable semblance of bi-partisanship. I watched a press conference Pelosi and Harry Reid held for the National Press Club. Unfortunately it was only shown on C-Span, but it was so impressive to see how they both listened intently to the questions asked and then responded thoughtfully and openly, willingly taking follow up questions until the questioner was satisfied. At one point, a black reporter asked about the failure to rebuild New Orleans. Having lost family members in Katrina, he was understandably passionate in expressing his frustration and in making reference to the Martin Luther King “I Have A Dream Speech”. Nevertheless, the Club moderator interrupted the questioner several times to insist that he ask his question. Nancy responded to this man’s hurt with genuine compassion, saying that while she understood his pain, she would not presume to say she could feel it like he does. She then went on to lay out the failings in the rebuilding effort and how she hopes to address them, while quoting relevant portions of the King speech. I have great confidence in these two leaders of our Congress.

Another sign the Democrats are in wise control was the selection of new Senator Jim Webb of Virginia to give the response to the Bush speech. He was eminently qualified for the task, the middle man in three generations of American combat heroes. His succinctly eloquent talk concentrated on two points, the unfairness of leaving working class families behind in an economy favoring the wealthy, and the folly of the Bush incursion in Iraq, including the foolishness of his “surge” plan. Webb made it clear the Democrats oppose the surge and want to work with Bush to pursue the correct course on Iraq, or else to show him the way if he cannot otherwise find it.

As for the old buzzard seated next to Nancy during the Bush speech, Dick Cheney received a belated slap from John McCain, who after praising Cheney in 2004 as a wonderful VP, now is blaming him for giving Bush too much bad advice on Iraq. Cheney is also starting to get it from his former Chief of Staff, Scooter Libby, whose trial for lying to the FBI and grand jury has started. Scooter’s defense team intends to prove that Cheney made him a scape goat in order to protect the more politically valuable Karl Rove from trouble over White House attempts to discredit legit critic Joe Wilson, including blowing the CIA cover of his wife. I guess Scooter has learned if you lie down with dogs, you might wake up with fleas.