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Uh-oh, they like her! If You Can't Say Anything Good...By Rick Horowitz
In the annals of political combat, we learn of millennia spent in search of the ultimate weapon. At times, progress has come in fits and starts; at other times, in great leaps forward. Occasionally, this progress is the result of determined effort. At other times, serendipity rules -- or as the great Chinese tactician Sun Tzu famously declared, "If you put enough monkeys at enough typewriters, eventually someone's going to write 'Everybody Loves Raymond.'" So it is that, here in the early years of the 21st century, the Democratic Party of the United States has stumbled upon something new -- a weapon that has the potential to change the very course of political history. Already, it's demonstrated the capacity to sap morale. To sow disarray. To drive opposing forces stark, raving bonkers. I'm speaking, of course, about niceness. Exhibit A? The Harriet Miers nomination. The more the Democrats praise her, the more some Republicans want to throw her overboard. I say the Democratic Party has "stumbled" upon something new because -- well, because it's the Democratic Party. It would be interesting to think that the party's leaders had actually come together with purpose, assessed their strengths and weaknesses in some coherent fashion, and agreed upon a course of action consistent with their governing philosophy and designed to improve their chances of success. It would be interesting to think that the bunnies in my backyard speak French. Interesting, but unlikely. Anyway, the week started with the president introducing his latest Supreme Court nominee, and it ended with the president and the president's people trying to quell the sudden uproar on the right. There were plenty of reasons for the right's dismay, of course. They wanted a movement conservative. An intellectual heavyweight. Someone with a long, loud paper trail that proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that he or she was one of them, had always been one of them, would always be one of them. No more squishy O'Connors. No more stealthy Souters, or sneaky Stevenses or sappy Powells, or -- They were ready for a fight, on the right. Ready to storm the barricades to make the Supreme Court -- at last! -- their own. And then the president nominated Harriet Miers, whose major qualifications for the job were somewhat different: The president knows her. The president likes her. The president trusts her. But that wasn't the worst of it -- not from where the right wing flapped. The worst of it, in those first crucial hours after the nomination, was Harry Reid. Harry Reid said nice things about Harriet Miers. Harry Reid, who is the Democrats' leader in the United States Senate, stood outside his office with Harriet Miers at his side, and with cameras and microphones recording every bit of it, Harry Reid -- who is the Democrats' leader in the United States Senate -- said nice things about Harriet Miers. He said he was glad that she'd been a trial lawyer, and had never been a judge. He said he thought that Harriet Miers was "a very fine lawyer." He said her lack of judicial experience was "a plus, not a minus." And if that wasn't bad enough, there was even a story racing around Washington that Harry Reid (who is, by the way, the Democrat's leader in the United States Senate) had recommended that the president consider nominating Harriet Miers. Meanwhile, Chuck Schumer, one of Harry Reid's fellow Senate Democrats, dashed out with his own statement about the nomination. "It could have been a lot worse," Schumer announced. Well, if that didn't disqualify her... For years, the Democrats have been trying to defeat the Republicans by trying to defeat the Republicans. But maybe the more effective strategy all along would have been to praise them to oblivion. To mess with their heads. "If my enemy's enemy is my friend, and my enemy's friend is my enemy, then my friend's enemy's friend is my..." Talk about killing them with kindness! Any day now? Ted Kennedy says Harriet Miers has "a really great personality." Posted 10/6/05. Get
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Rick Horowitz
