Calling Off the Dogs

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

You would think that Senator Ben Nelson would have known that it would come to this.

You know that the Democratic leadership in the United States Senate knew - and didn't care to allow this senator to be thrown under the bus in order to get its precious 60th vote a few weeks ago.

Having the slightest bit of foresight would allow one to see that the attacks from the right (and the moderates) without much protection from the left was coming.

So, to hear the "mea culpa" asking for the dogs to be called off was - well - surprising.

If the senator from Nebraska thinks that the dogs are coming after him through the use of several states' attorney general' offices, he - and the Democrats in Washington, for that matter - have yet to see who the real dogs are going to be that need to be "called off."

The American voters in 2010.

A nation filled with discomfort from the economy, disillusionment from the "results" from the stimulus package and other initiatives from the Obama Administration to date, and the disapproval of Congress overall (including approval ratings in the 20s-30s% for both Democratic leaders in the Congress) will be armed and ready to strike back at a government that they voted to put into place in 2008 but has yet to provide the change from Washington's status quo that they hoped for after the Democrats took control of both the White House and Capitol Hill 12 months ago. The event captivating this entrenched behavior - the non-descript purchasing of votes to lure both Mary Landrieu (D-LA) and Ben Nelson (D-NE) to put forth votes to secure the "magic 60" in the Senate for health care passage - only highlighted the cause for anger, mobilization, and continuation of the Tea Party movement in grassroots America and the general media assault on the left-leaning supermajority that is seen in conservative circles.

Calling off the dogs - even in legal circles - will not calm down the firestorm within America that was touched off when news of these "secret deals" was "leaked" to the media, not because people are fed-up with Democrats exclusively (especially after the recent dismissal of Republicans in '06 and '08), but moreso due to the promises of ethical change that were campaigned upon by Democrats led by now-president Barack Obama. The failure to see this change in Washington while, at the same time, yielding blank check of legislative power to one party has done less to eliminate the woes of the GW Bush Era but has, instead, led to the reminder that any 1 particular party left in absolute power without the willingness to abide by its own campaign promises of lobbyist- and cronyistic-reform or a direct tie to the people it represents to acquiesce to their whims will march forward without delivering the change requested by the people through their previous votes. The shine that Democrats wore as change agents for the populist has been tarnished throughout 2009, completed with a self-induced plattering of mud coming from the "Cornhusker Kickback" and the "Louisiana Purchase" during the health care debate in the Senate.

Sadly, what Democrats may learn in 2010 (particularly if the GOP plays its cards right) is that the dogs from the attorney general offices may be called off due to Obamacare Controversy, but the chicken may be coming home to roost nonetheless soonafter.