The Daily Background

You may recall that earlier today, I wrote a brilliant and insightful post on the flag burning Amendment which will be up for consideration in the Senate soon. Oh I’m so modest.

Anyways, in conclusion to the at post, I remarked the following:

This is being used entirely as a Republican election-year stunt designed specifically to garner support from their conservative base in the November midterms. That’s what it is, 100%. And they’re extremely open about it. Nobody is pretending that this is anything else. Nobody is pretended (unlike the ‘horror’ of gay marriage), that this is a burning problem for America right now. Again, no pun intended. Nobody is suggesting that this is a serious problem that is facing Americans right now. Even the Republican base understands this blatant pandering (and frankly appreciates it, no less).

Where are the victims of these ubiquitous flag burnings that these Republicans are supposedly representing on Capitol Hill? There are none. Which brings me to the real outrage of this. Congress should be representing the victims of a criminally low federal minimum wage of $5.15 which hasn’t been raised in 9 years– under which, minimum wage workers are actually below the poverty line. And the victims of an immoral health care system under which only the rich can afford to get comprehensive health care. Or the victims of this war in Iraq. The victims of these crimes are everywhere, in every state, and every city in America.

Well, yesterday’s Washington Post (front page no less) had this to say about the Republican efforts was almost like a precursor of a followup. I would have linked to this yesterday but it passed me by.

The Republican-controlled Congress seems to be struggling lately to carry out its most basic mission: passing legislation. A proposed constitutional ban on same-sex marriage failed miserably. Long-debated immigration legislation has reached an impasse. The House passed line-item veto and estate tax measures that face significant hurdles in the Senate, while the Senate devoted a week to impassioned debates over Iraq that only resulted in two failed Democratic resolutions.
[…]
The flag amendment is red meat for conservative audiences, and it is no surprise that Republicans are rolling it out with eight legislative weeks left in the election year.

“There’s no question that they are trotting out their hardy perennials,” said Matt Bennett, a former Democratic staffer who is vice president of Third Way, a centrist think tank. “They’re done purely for political gamesmanship. . . . No one can go to the floor and say, ‘The citizens of my district are demanding we take up the flag amendment.’ “

Bam. Just the credible factual backup that my ranting and convoluted drivel needed. Full article.

Filed under: oh six midterm Elections, Z-TDB Blog