WHICH WAY WILL THEY LOOK?



Guests of the Weekly Gang-up:
Clarence Page, syndicated columnist, "Chicago Tribune"
Jerry Seib, Wall Street Journal
Byron York, White House correspondent for National Review and author of "The Vast Left Wing Conspiracy"






While Democrats rushed to their first press conference they were reminded of who claims to have put them in power. Lost cause célèbre Cindy Sheehan and the tin foil troops showed up to heckle Rep. Rahm Emanuel who had to give up and cancel his press conference. This might be a sign of things to come once the ecstasies of having the first woman as Speaker of the House wear out. Is it going to get boring? With Democrats now "in power" the Weekly Gang-up and the media in general might get boring. I mean, I cannot imagine the press going after the first woman to make it to Speaker of the House in the same manner they went after Newt Gingrich. So after a generous allowance for the traditional honeymoon there is something to demand: Please stop the fluff! Let's hope that NPR, the DR Show, etc., will show the same zeal to examine the record of the "new conservative" Democrats as they have done with the Republicans.

The Democrats may be over-playing their hand and their interpretation of the elections as a mandate for surrender in Iraq, and as an approval of the “cut and run” policy of the Rep. Murtha, Rep. Kucinich, Michael Moore and Cindy Sheehan wing of the party. Yes, the American people are not happy with the way things are regarding Iraq. But the media has a tendency to believe their own spin and their own carefully crafted politically motivated polls, namely, “things are so horrible in Iraq that there is nothing positive about it and the public therefore oppose the war as we do.”

But this doesn’t translate into a desire by the American people to surrender. Just as the specter of Vietnam serves as the “boogey man” to scare us out of foreign involvements, it also serves as a lesson for those who understand and do not overlook the other side of the Vietnam War; what happens when you send out a signal of weakness.

So once the Democrats come back from their honeymoon they will have to consider which way to look; more to the left, or more to the right? If they do not follow through on their “cut and run”—hmm, “redeployment”—policy they will not please the time warp peaceniks, if they do they will not please the majority of American people which realistically understand the consequences of a politically motivated pull-out.

So, again, once the ecstasy is over, please stop the fluff you have dealt with this morning and let us hope you will keep a close eye on the promised “most ethical” Congress in history. I guess, in order to do that we will put aside any investigations on the “less than clear” defense contract dealings of Rep. Murtha, Rep. William Jefferson of Louisiana, the meaning of the theft of documents by Sandy Burger, the shady real estate dealings of Rep. Reid and even of her Nancyness.