Curmudgeon's Corner

The Arrogance...

Posted by Al Campbell on Jan. 18, 2010

Economy, Healthcare, Political, Quality of Life, U.S.

The “Ted Kennedy” seat election happens tomorrow in Massachusetts. The arrogance of the Democrats to call a seat in the United States Senate the “Ted Kennedy” seat is nothing short of astounding to me.

I know that I should no longer be amazed or astounded at the arrogance of the ruling elite, but it shocked me to hear that description.

It seems that this race has become much closer than anyone would’ve predicted a month ago. It appeared to be locked for Martha Coakley after the Democrat party gave her its blessing. She had been anointed, and that was that; the actual election was simply formality; or so they would’ve had us believe.

This race has much meaning behind it and I’m not at all sure we fully understand the nuances hidden in this race that has so perplexed the ruling elite in Washington, D.C. It has become a vote on the entire range of “hope and change” that Obama represented. For that alone, this vote is tremendously significant.

President Obama delivered another of his stump speeches yesterday to rally the Democrat voters, but it somehow seemed to lack the intensity and the turn-out that would have signaled this was a lock. Truth be known, the power brokers in Washington seem to have already tacitly accept that this race could, and likely will, go to the Republican.

We now hear of just what shenanigans will be necessary if the Senate isn’t assured of voting to move beyond cloture, since that requires 60 votes. Scott Brown, the Republican has specifically made health care reform part of his campaign. He has clearly called himself the 41^st vote; Obama referred to Coakley as the 60^th vote, as well. It seems that, in spite of the voters’ desires, health care reform is going to pass, come heck or high water. The only question now seems to be how best to subvert the will of the people.

Apparently, the answer to “how?” is simple. The House will simply have to be coerced by Ms. Pelosi into voting in lockstep on the bill the Senate has already passed. This will then permit the President to sign the bill, and then, later after the dust has settled, various little “housekeeping” chores will be undertaken to make the bill what it would’ve been with a solid 60 votes available.

As the talking heads have discussed, this has become a vote on health care reform. Not that the outcome of this race for “Ted Kennedy’s seat”, in and of itself, will determine the ultimate outcome of the health care reform bills. It won’t since the ruling elite have already mapped the course to approval without a vote by the Senate. This race, however, is very telling in that it shows there is a significant outcry beginning to be voiced by the huge middle, the largest segment of voters in America.

If the Democrats ignore this building sentiment, they do so at their own risk. It is arrogance of this nature that could really propel a “show them” vote in the fall races for the House and the Senate. The so-called “independents” will be more motivated to correct what many of them will, by then, see as an erroneous vote for “hope and change”; a vote that has taken away their “hope” and brought on “change” for which they had no idea they were voting.

Even worse from the Democrat perspective is the fact that this experience has shaken them to the core. Even if Martha Coakley wins, the Democrats have seen the future; more will resign rather than face humiliation. This could well be signaling a “sea change” in the offing.