THE DEMOCRATS FINALLY LEARN THAT "TURN-ABOUT-IS-FAIR-PLAY"
Gary Ater
October 30, 2009
…Washington DC may finally get to Vote, if the Democrats get their way
Can you believe it, the Republicans are very upset that the House Democratic leaders may try to get the Washington DC Voting Rights Bill passed by attaching it to the fiscal 2010 Defense Appropriations Bill? They are actually arguing that it would be wrong to include controversial legislation in an unrelated bill. How could the Democrats ever do such a dastardly thing?
These hypocrites have the gall to make that claim after the ethically challenged, Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) led the effort to attach an unreasonable gun amendment to the DC Voting Rights Bill. That unrelated amendment, which would strip local DC officials of their ability to regulate guns, has stalled the voting rights measure in the House because leaders lack the support needed to bring a totally clean bill to the floor.
Do they really think everyone has forgotten that over the past 15 years, the Republicans have used that same ploy to sabotage a number of bills time and time again?
Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-MD.) was recently asked about the Democrats' strategy on the DC voting bill. He responded with: "I will continue to fight to find any way to bring that [bill] to the floor."
Congratulations to Mr. Hoyer for his continuing commitment to the District´s voting rights and for calling out Republicans on their hypocrisy.
As to the Republican´s concern about placing an unrelated matter in a bill involving US troops, Mr. Hoyer also noted the irony of America's soldiers fighting and dying for the right of the people of Iraq to vote, while because of House Republicans, the legal citizens of the troop´s own capital city, Washington DC, remain disenfranchised. And if Republicans are concerned about legislative gamesmanship, there is an easy solution: "Allow the House to vote up or down on democracy for the District of Columbia."
So, why does the GOP not want the DC district to vote? And just where does this Republican attitude of continuing to play poker by "dealing from the bottom of the deck" come from?
This whole event reminds me of the late, right –wing, GOP political strategist, Paul Weyrich. Mr. Weyrich made a 1980 speech which gives the answers to both of these questions. And a part of that now famous political speech is still one of the most viewed YOUTUBE speeches of a right wing Republican being shown today.
Mr. Weyrich didn´t have anything to do with controversial legislation. But he did establish what was to become the GOP´s less than democratic strategy for a minority party to win national elections. Mr. Weyrich was a very devout Christian as well as a very capable GOP strategist. He is credited today with the development of the foundational approach for what has become the less-than-democratic strategy to take away an election. This "win" is not done by the will of the American population, but instead by a smaller, selective, conservative right-wing group of individuals.
Here is an excerpt from Mr. Weyrich´s speech in which you will see how the smaller Republican Party was able to eventually come to power in the 1980´s and hold on to that leadership position until 2006.
MR. PAUL WEYRICH: From his 1980 Speech in Dallas, Texas: (It was also attended by Ronald Reagan)
Mr. Weyrich's speech from 1980 still resonates its truths for the voters of all political parties today. This is also why the current increase in the nation-wide registration of new Democratic voters could be the single most important issue for all upcoming elections.
"How many of our Christians today have the 'Goo-Goo / Good-Government syndrome´ ?
(pause)
They want everybody to vote.
(pause)
I don't want everybody to vote.
Elections are not won by a majority of the people.
They never have been from the beginning of our country and they are not now.
As a matter of fact, our [conservative, Christian, GOP] leverage in the elections quite candidly goes up as the voting populace goes down."
That 1980 speech from Mr. Weyrich in Dallas became the basis for the strategy that was used to determine which states the Republicans should focus on to obtain the electoral votes needed to win the Presidency. It also became the fundamental foundation strategy that would not only put Ronald Reagan and Bush I & II into the highest political office, but it would also be instrumental in supporting the change from a Democratic Congress to a Republican Congress where both houses were ruled by a Republican majority for 12 years.
As Mr. Weyrich had said, "Elections are not won by a majority of the people." It was not the number of voters, it was the "number of right-wing votes in the right states" that would dictate where the majority of the electoral votes would fall.
From this point on, the GOP offices around the country would target the appropriate states and their voters, while discouraging the other party´s voters with whatever means (legal or not) that were available. This was the beginning of the many less-than honest GOP radio and TV ads that were eventually produced and aired. In many cases, like it still is today, this inappropriate approach caused the Democrats to lose elections solely due to the vast levels of GOP misinformation. (For those that were around in 1988, the bogus Willie Horton attack ad is a perfect example. Google it and you´ll see what I mean.)
Mr. Weyrich passed away last year, but his legacy for winning with questionable tactics, and the strategies of this co-founder of the far right´s Heritage Foundation, will continue to drive the GOP for generations to come.
Copyright: G.Ater 2009
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