Monday, October 23, 2006

"Make nice", shit. Stomp 'em!

Paul Krugman via Donkey O.D.

Now that the Democrats are strongly favored to capture at least one house of Congress, they're getting a lot of unsolicited advice, with many people urging them to walk and talk softly if they win.

I hope the Democrats don't follow this advice - because it's bad for their party and, more important, bad for the country. In the long run, it's even bad for the cause of bipartisanship.

There are those who say that a confrontational stance will backfire politically on the Democrats. These are by and large the same people who told Democrats that attacking the Bush administration over Iraq would backfire in the midterm elections. Enough said.

What the make-nice crowd wants most of all is for the Democrats to forswear any investigations into the origins of the Iraq war and the cronyism and corruption that undermined it. But it's very much in the national interest to find out what led to the greatest strategic blunder in American history, so that it won't happen again.

What's more, the public wants to know. A large majority of Americans believe both that invading Iraq was a mistake, and that the Bush administration deliberately misled us into war. And according to the Newsweek poll, 58 percent of Americans believe that investigating contracting in Iraq isn't just a good idea, but a high priority; 52 percent believe the same about investigating the origins of the war.

Why, then, should the Democrats hold back? Because, we're told, the country needs less divisiveness. And I, too, would like to see a return to kinder, gentler politics. But that's not something Democrats can achieve with a group hug and a chorus of "Kumbaya."

I think it could be done after a beer party followed by a group piss at the Repugs' graveside service.

Please go read the rest.

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