Class Warfare
Tomorrow, on the same day that the Republican
House and Senate convenes, President Bush will
unveil his much-talked-about economic stimulus
plan. Actually, "much-talked-about" is a polite way
of putting it. "Much-dissected," "much-maligned,"
"much-lambasted" would all be accurate ways of
describing the Democrats' response to a plan which
has yet to be unveiled.
Every time I think politicians have gone too far
with their rhetoric, they surprise me by going even
farther. Since Friday, Democrats have picked apart
and criticized Bush's stimulus plan, yet NO details
of the plan have been made public. Talking heads
have spent all weekend on CNN and other networks,
spouting their opinions about mere rumors and
suppositions of Bush's plan. They did not have the
respect or professionalism to at least wait till
the details of the plan were released, so they
would know what they were talking about.
I blame the media (as I blame them for many
other problems in our society). By allowing these
politicians to go on shows like Meet the Press and
giving them full rein to wail against an
as-yet-unreleased program—without challenging
them with any difficult questions about their
unfounded opinions—the media only encourages
such irresponsible and inappropriate behavior by
our elected officials. That's the reason why the
level of rhetoric increases every day, every week,
every year.
It could be that the Democrats' allegations make
sense—my opinion of their opinions is beyond
the scope of this brief editorial—but they
have lost any shred of credibility (at least in my
mind) by jumping the gun and attacking the
President's plan without knowing any of its
details. I respect them as little as I would
respect a movie critic who published a scathing
review of a movie he had not seen, but rather had
been told about by a friend.
©2003 Michael
Strickland ALL RIGHTS
RESERVED
|
|
What is "The Daily Strick"?
I have long called
myself a writer, but too often I don't do
what a writer must do daily: write. So
you, dear reader, are the beneficiary of
my resolution to make a positive change in
at least one area of my life. Every single
day of this new year, I will write
something, anything, and post it here
(though some days' writings might be
posted late, if I am out of town—such
as right now). It is my intention to use
this daily exercise to jump-start my
too-long-dormant creative energies, and
perhaps generate some worthwhile material
this year. Hopefully you will find at
least an occasional amusement or insight
in my daily musings.
Today's
Column
Send
a Comment
Previously...
1/5:
Very
Large Dream
1/4: The
New Nuclear
Age
1/3: Going
Solo
1/2: New
Year, Old Cave
1/1:
All
Things End
|
|
