Running short on time

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Running short on time this evening, but let me share one other experience with you. I spent most of the day scribbling out notes on ’empire’ and America’s role in the world and the last two years and similar such things. And I hadn’t had a good meal — or any meal for that matter — all day. So I went over to the local Chinese restaurant to grab a bite.

While I was there I ran into a union guy who I’ve met a few times and we got to talking. This isn’t someone from one of the unions who’s endorsed anyone. In fact, this isn’t someone with any real involvement in the whole presidential primary business.

This is someone who’s involved in the endless hard slog of trying to stop — or at least delay — egregious pieces of legislation from getting rammed through the Congress by the White House and the House and Senate leadership.

He walked me through all the terrible things that are in the big omnibus budget bills that are moving through the Congress. And that led to a discussion of the general worthlessness of the congressional Democrats. I don’t mean that individually but collectively.

The Republicans hold the two houses of congress by slender majorities. But they are running the place like they have two-thirds majorities in each house. They are pushing through all sorts of things and the Democrats can’t really get their act together to stop any of it. With the exception of holding up some judicial nominations they are virtually impotent. And that doesn’t at all reflect the reality that the country remains extremely divided along partisan lines.

They’re playing by an outmoded set of rules, operating on a defunct system of party discipline, and are generally getting creamed.

The outrage this spawns is the wind that is filling Dean’s sails. It’s one big, collective: Enough!

In a sense it goes beyond the Iraq vote which has gotten so much attention in this race. Almost all Dean’s competitors in the race are compromised by that collective failure. Fair or not, there’s a truth to it.

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