Robert Reich Article from Tom Paine: Agree or Disagree?

[Totally Committed]

Dems: Yield Not To Temptation
Robert B. Reich
August 22, 2006

Robert Reich is professor of public policy at the Richard and Rhoda Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley. He was secretary of labor in the Clinton administration.


Democrats: Odds are, come November 7, you will gain the 15 seats you need to take back the House. (The odds are much lower in the Senate.) So it’s not too early to start thinking about what you should do during the two years leading up to the 2008 presidential election.

You’ll be sorely tempted to showcase the Bush administration in all its lurid awfulness. Imagine an endless parade of witnesses offering shocking details of Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, torture camps, payoffs to Halliburton, Defense Department usurpations, Iraq’s descent into civil war, and other cover-ups, deceptions, data manipulations, suppressions of science, crass incompetencies, and outright corruption. Out of all of these hearings would come a bill of particulars so damning that every 2008 Democratic candidate running for everything from Indianapolis City Council to president will be swept into office on a riptide of public outrage. After all, didn’t House Republicans during the Clinton years wreak all the damage they could even when there wasn’t much to complain about? Recall Dan Burton, the Indiana Republican who, while chairman of the House Government Reform Committee, issued truckloads of White House subpoenas along with a sulphurous geyser of unsupported accusations. Why shouldn’t Henry Waxman, who will fill the same shoes, give as good as the Clinton White House got? Imagine how John Dingell, who will run the House Energy and Commerce Committee, could expose the intimacies between the Bushies and Big Oil; what John Conyers, in command of the House Judiciary Committee, could reveal about Bush’s trouncing of Americans’ civil liberties; or the job Barney Frank, at Financial Services, could do on the administration’s nefarious links to Wall Street. Hell, why not try to impeach Bush?

Warning: Resist all such temptation. You won’t be credible. The public would see the investigations and hearings as partisan wrangling. They might even cause the public to question what it already knows, allowing Republicans to argue it was all conjured up by partisan zealots from the start.... You won’t get any new information anyway. Your subpoena power would have no effect on this White House. You’d end up fighting in federal courts for the whole two years. Besides, there’s enough dirt out there already to sink any administration. Although cowed at the start of the administration, the mainstream media have done a fairly good job since. Moreover, Bush is the wrong target. His popularity could hardly be lower than it is already, which means 2008 Republican candidates in all but the reddest of red states will distance themselves from this White House. Sen. John McCain, should he be the Republican nominee, won’t be tarnished by Bush at all because in the public’s mind McCain is a maverick and independent. He’ll remain above the partisan mud-throwing while you’d just mire Democrats in it.

>snip

Here’s a better way to go. Use the two years instead to lay the groundwork for a new Democratic agenda. Bring in expert witnesses. Put new ideas on the table. Frame the central issues boldly. Don’t get caught up in arid policy-wonkdom.

Entire Article:
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/08/22/dems_yield_not_to_temptation.php

"Here’s a better way to go. Use the two years instead to lay the groundwork for a new Democratic agenda. Bring in expert witnesses. Put new ideas on the table. Frame the central issues boldly. Don’t get caught up in arid policy-wonkdom." -- Agree or disagree?

I'll tell you what I think after some of you have weighed in!

TC

[rock]

1. I disagree

Although Reich is a sharp cookie I have to go with my gut. I believe that "the public would see the investigations and hearings as partisan wrangling" is an incorrect assessment. They would see it that way if it were done before or during an election, but after the election I think they would see it as proper procedure.

[Skink]

2. totally agree.....

The Plaime matter however should be played out in public.

[AndyA]

3. I disagree. I don't think the public will view the investigations and

hearings as partisan wrangling. Was it viewed that way when the Clinton investigation(s) were underway? Certainly not enough to stop the GOP from continuing. Why should the Dems give the GOP a break? They never return the favor. And, America loves a good scandal, just mention JonBenet if you don't believe me.

Bush and his cronies have done enough dirty deeds to keep the MSM at full steam for years to come. Just what we need during a slow news week. If there aren't any blonde students missing, heads found in an attic, celebrity drunk driving arrests, or some other such scandal, the MSM will appreciate the pool of bad news from the Bush Administration's first 6 years in office.

Regardless, if a crime has been committed, it must be investigated and prosecuted. We cannot make exceptions, because to do so opens the door to more exceptions being made in the future. Anyone can then say that Bush violated the Constitution repeatedly and wasn't prosecuted for it.

[knowbody0]

4. IMO, we MUST do both!

one thing about us liberals, we know we must master the oppression of our boundaries in order to form a more perfect government. They must be held accountable swiftly and justly, and with the constitution as our load star, play it as it lays, no vacations no bullshit. looking for the illusive "agenda" in the pile of crap they have given us is like looking for Waldo from the moon. "NO MORE LIES" sounds good to me.

[Stinky The Clown]

5. I've always thought we should do both ..........

Do exactly what Reich suggests legislatively.

But don't shy away from a fight. I agree that there's actually too much to even begin to address. Pick one or two fights. I don't know which ones. Ones we KNOW we can win and will have the best chance to be judged righteous by the citizens.

On the other hand, can we be seen as changing anything without impeaching this bunch and then swearing out charges that would send them to the Hague?

[RaleighNCDUer]

7. Agree. We may not be able to mount a frontal assault on

Bush/Cheney/Rummy etc., but we can lay out a clear progressive agenda and, at the same time, nibble away at the most vulnerable, i.e., Rove w/ Plame. We know that the little guys will defend the big guys if they are attacked, but the big guys will throw those same little guys to the wolves under pressure. Keep the repug crimes if not in the spotlight, simmering on a back burner with prosecutions we can win which will set the groundwork for the bigger fish yet to be fried (with an appalling mix of metaphores). That will keep the repugs on the defensive, undercut their agenda and present a clear alternative for '08.

[Totally Committed]

9. Great answer!

Do exactly what Reich suggests legislatively.

But don't shy away from a fight. I agree that there's actually too much to even begin to address. Pick one or two fights. I don't know which ones. Ones we KNOW we can win and will have the best chance to be judged righteous by the citizens.

Bingo. Me, too.

On the other hand, can we be seen as changing anything without impeaching this bunch and then swearing out charges that would send them to the Hague?

I dunno. Very good question.... Anyone else have any thoughts on THIS part of Stinky's post? It's really something to consder carefully.

Does anyone here thing what we decide to do, legislatively and legally, will have any affect on who our 2008 nominee will be?

TC

[welshTerrier2]

12. absolutely!

i don't care whether the focus is impeachment or not ... what's important is that Democrats push past the neocon smokescreen of lies and propaganda ... everything should be investigated and the American people should be told the truth ...

Reich, with whom i almost always agree, is wrong about this ... and it's unfortunate that he is looking only at the politics ... good government DEMANDS that the people are given the truth ... if his point is that it shouldn't be partisan, that may be a price that needs to be paid ... he may be right that it will be seen as partisan ... on the other hand, the Watergate committee was not seen that way ... if the investigations have an integrity about them, and republicans are given "full voice", perhaps the search for the truth will be respected by the American people ...

the bottom line, though, is that there can be no excuse or political reason for failing to get to the truth about this administration ... this isn't a "Whitewater witchhunt"; these are high crimes and misdemeanors ...

and as for its impact on '08 political candidates, i only wish the "findings" would have an impact ... instead, we're going to get all "the usual suspects" regardless of events in the country ... wouldn't it be nice to see Chairman Conyers with a real chance to head the ticket ... yeah, that will happen ...

[Totally Committed]

14. Yes, it would be wonderful to see Conyers head the ticket...

But given his age, I doubt, even if the "findings" do influence the choice of nominee, I doubt he'd run (I don't even want to tell you what I think the odds are for an African-American heading the ticket in this country at this moment in time -- it's too depressing!). He's so valuable where he is, too. But, it could bring forward, say, a Bobby Kennedy, Jr., candidacy or draft. Don't you think? Someone who's been really vocal against the Bushies? YOu never know.

I almost always agree with Reich, too, which is why I was so surprised that I didn't fully agree with him on this premise of this article.

TC

[sinkingfeeling]

6. He has a point. As much as I hate Bush&co, I think that putting forth

an agenda that relates directly to the working people of this country and getting us out of the mess in the middle east, would have longer implications for the Democratic party than endless impeachment. But, I still want BOTH.

[SharonAnn]

8. Start with what he suggests, and "nudge" along the idea of investigations.

To be effective, the investigations need to be seen by the public as needed and appropriate. We all (well most of us) agreed that the Watergate hearings were needed and appropriate.

If we're just seens as power-mad and vengeful, then our programs and policies will get thrown aside.

When you have the power, there are things you can do to "nudge" along the ideas that you want to become priorities for action.

[RufusEarl]

10. We must investigate Iraq,

to many people have died because of this admin not have investigations.

[Douglas Carpenter]

11. I passionately and firmly believe he is 50% right

I think the use of investigations should be handled with caution...but some really should be carried out

[OzarkDem]

13. I call for a parallel track

Do both. Dems in Congress are capable of multi-tasking

Make sure the investigations are well run and focused on the important problems.

As for developing a great policy agenda , that needs to be bifurcated also - we need to have a team working right now do develop a plan so when Dems take the majority in Congress they have a strategy for advancing realistic public policy goals in a short time frame. These should be part of an overall major policy outline to sell for 2008 so we can return the US to its former pre-Bush era of peace and prosperity.

Get busy, there's a lot of work to do.

[fasttense]

15. He is 100% wrong, wrong, wrong.

Can you imagine the power of bringing the TRUTH to light.

I believe many Americans, like me, are sick to death of the lies and looting of our tax dollars. I want to know it all. I don't care if it leads to the idiot in chief but we have to get the truth out. We have to tell the American public where our money went and who is responsible for the torture, false imprisonment and cover up. It shouldn't wait until we have a nice little legislative agenda package put together that gives repukes a warm and fuzzy.

If Democratic party leaders let it alone there will be repercussions in the 2008 election. The repukes will deny they did anything wrong, hide the evidence and blame the Democratic party for going along with the cover up. People need to know the full truth and all the awful details. Let the chips fall where they may. We have to pull back the scabby lies and let the wound bleed before it will heal.

[theanarch]

16. obviously, do both...

...the investigations must go forward; as Reich notes, there's more than enough dirt to sink the remaining years of the regime; unfortunately, without hearings/investigations/probes, etc., the M$M will simply ignore whatever D's say about it as so much partisan carping. By making these matters the subject of official hearings, the M$M will be forced to cover them, even if they try to spin it to the GOP's favor (as usual). Moreover, this will usher in two golden years of material for Comedy Central, stand-up comics, late-night talk shows, etc., not to mention editorial/political cartoonists and syndicated satirists...when a regime loses the comics, they are truly defanged and DOA--self-righteous criticism can always be deflected; ridicule and derision are fatal. As for Reich's point about a paranoid and secrecy-obsessed regime fighting disclosure and transparancy every step of the way, of course they will, yet, as was said of Watergate, it wasn't crime that hurt Nixon as much as the cover-ups...which is only more grist for the rumor mill.

In fact, the more i think about it, the better off D's would be to just go with the investigations and skip trying to convince anyone that they have a better plan...because if past is prologue, they most likely don't.

[leftofthedial]

17. lay the groundwork for a new Democratic agenda--check.

eliminate any voting machine connected in any way to any repuke--check.

lay the groundwork for treason trials for the top 25,000 repukes in the country beginning in January 2009--check.

turn the leadership of the bush cabal over to tribunals at The Hague to stand trial for crimes against humanity--check.

seize all assets of anyone connected with Halliburton, Carlyle group or any member of the bush cabal--check.

start building gallows--check.

[Totally Committed]

18. Kick for the Evening Crowd

:kick:

TC