I’m going off topic for moment here, but in another sense, maybe this little comment will turn out to be right on track.
I just read that the Justice Department will be appealing the recent Federal District Court judge’s ruling that effectively strikes down “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” What the heck is THIS all about? I’m a loyal democrat and a life-long liberal (I refuse to cowed into referring to myself as a progressive), but I confess; I don’t understand this decision at all! I’m confused, and if I’m confused, I assume most people are, too.
I’m angry, and I’m disappointed. I feel this way, not so much because I feel the urgency for immediate change, but because the DEMOCRATS’ MESSAGING IS SO SCREWED UP! Is the president for or against DADT? Does the Justice Department report to him, Does it consult on policy, or what? It’s like saying Obama was against DADT before he was for it, but don’t worry, he’ll be against it again. Maybe.
Is it asking too much for the President of the United States, his administration and his party to settle on a message, adhere to it, repeat it and speak with one unified voice? The Dems messaging is an unqualified disaster, and, frankly, heads should roll.
More messaging failures…here’s a quote lifted from today’s “First Read” by NBC…
The New York Times has this nugget: “Calculations by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office and other independent fiscal experts show that the $1.1 trillion cost over the next 10 years of the Medicare prescription drug program, which the Republican-controlled Congress adopted in 2003, by itself would add more to the deficit than the combined costs of the bailout, the stimulus and the health care law.” And here’s Bloomberg: The TARP bailout “provided taxpayers with higher returns than they could have made buying 30-year Treasury bonds — enough money to fund the Securities and Exchange Commission for the next two decades. The government has earned $25.2 billion on its investment of $309 billion in banks and insurance companies, an 8.2 percent return over two years.”
So here’s the issue. Who knew? Does ANYONE in the administration know at the present time? If so, who’s discussing it and explaining it to the media and the electorate? The president, his administration and the democratic Congress have been getting bludgeoned for almost two years over wreckless spending yet they have accomplished so much, while the Republicans have been so frivolous and two-faced?!?
I’m proud to be a liberal, and I’m proud of our president, but democratic messaging is an embarrassment and nothing short of a disaster.