openness

By Diogenes ( articles ) | Jul 17, 2005

As Dems loosen-up by playing Bork the Blank at the media firing range, some party operatives are concerned that a Ted K replay may not be the ticket for securing a pro-Roe justice. From a Boston Globe story:

But even as Kennedy pounds the lectern, there is an awareness throughout the Capitol that this may not be the moment for a vintage Kennedy liberal crusade. There are now only 44 Democratic senators -- the low point in Kennedy's 42-year Senate career -- and Republicans are poised to lob charges of obstructionism if the party is too quick to oppose Bush's pick.

Point taken. When the only obstacle to victory is scruples about justice you can crank up the calumny to full-volume and let the chips fall where they may. When you're the minority party, you have to pretend you're playing by the rules. Cognizant of the political reality, the senior of Massachusetts's two Roman Catholic senators professed his willingness to compromise on peripheral issues in order to guarantee respect for his non-negotiable moral priorities: 1) abortion on demand, 2) abortion on demand, and 3) abortion on demand.

[Kennedy] has even indicated an open mind about one of Bush's assumed short-list candidates, Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, despite having accused Gonzales earlier this year of ignoring the rule of law and being 'at the center of a torture policy that has run roughshod over the values that Americans hold so dear."

An open mind. Doubtless those babies whose cranial tissue has been broached to evacuate the contents will appreciate the metaphor. Meanwhile, down at the New York Times, objective and non-partisan journalists debate the relative efficacy of tactics like "framing," "branding," and "activating" in winning the war to come.