I'm not used to seeing the "Republicans are evil" theme over at Calpundit:
“The California recall is just the latest in a lengthening string of Republican power grabs that reveal the cankered soul at the head of the Republican party these days. Even leaving aside Florida 2000, we've seen ; campaigns that compare Democrats directly to Osama bin Laden; an indecent and truly morally bereft performance following Paul Wellstone's death; the end of the traditional blue slip rule for judicial nominees in the Senate — because control of both houses of Congress and the White House and most of the judiciary isn't enough for them; and the Valerie Plame affair, a scandal that, I think, is truly an "At long last sir, have you no decency?" moment.” - Calpundit
Let’s take this one at a time.
“The California recall is just the latest in a lengthening string of Republican power grabs.” Well Republicans took 60% of the replacement vote, so I guess that would qualify as a power grab! But not only was the recall quite legal, but I think also very democratic. So while the recall may have been initiated by Republicans, it was also supported by many Democrats. Oh – and it wasn’t even supported by the “cankered soul at the head the party” until it was certified!
“unprecedented mid-decade redistricting in both Colorado and Texas” – Wow, now we’re getting to the nitty gritty. Those damn Republicans will stop at nothing to subvert democracy! Now basically the Democrats are complaining because the Republicans aren’t following established precedent. But sorry folks, the current practice of redistricting to make districts safe for incumbents, or select racial groups, is shameful no matter if its done every 2 years or every ten years. Anything that forces us to take a good look at the current situation is, in my mind, a good thing.
The biggest critics complain that the redistricting fights are too expensive and consume too much legislative time. But I guess my libertarian streak thinks it will save us all money in the long run if lawmakers don’t have enough time to actually pass laws. And again, it must be emphasized, there is nothing illegal nor undemocratic about redistricting more than once every 10 years. If done correctly, it would actually make government more representative of their constituents. But hey, so did the recall.
“an indecent and truly morally bereft performance following Paul Wellstone's death”. Are you serious? All I can say is don’t remember things happening quite that way.
“the end of the traditional blue slip rule for judicial nominees in the Senate” Again with the precedent breaking. Could Calpundit at least give reasons why this is a bad thing? Is it just because the Republicans initiated it? And is this worse than filibustering judicial nominees? And again, it must be emphasized, there is nothing illegal nor undemocratic about taking away a Senator’s veto power over judicial appointments.
"campaigns that compare Democrats directly to Osama bin Laden". I don't recall seeing this. If it's in regard to the Max Cleland ad I would have to say it's wildly distorted. Showing Osama to try and demostrate that a person is soft on Homeland Security may be distasteful, but that's not quite what Kevin implies. However, I did see Howard Dean call George Bush "the enemy" on national TV.
“the Valerie Plame affair, a scandal that, I think, is truly an "At long last sir, have you no decency?" moment.” Yes, if every thing Kevin Drum believes to be true this would be an awful thing. But one, we don’t know who leaked the information. Two, we don’t know the motivation behind the leak. And three, we don’t know if the person who leaked knew the exact nature of Plame’s position. There is only speculation that gets battered back and forth between like minds until it becomes gospel. And is this one example supposed to be representative of how the whole party operates?
Anyway, I’m sorry for the rant and I’ll try to get back to sports. But nothing drives me crazier than to hear partisan Democrats whine about Republicans playing dirty pool.