i-sako.com

I tend to complain a lot in this blog about the crazy things our government has been doing since the Bush regime came to power, but I am pleased to see that there are still a few sensible people left in our government. George Voinovich is one of them. Norm Coleman is another.

Courageous senators stand against Bush

Senator Voinovich recently voted to limit the president’s proposed tax cuts, citing the long-term costs of war in Iraq as one reason to be fiscally cautious.

It is good to see that some people, particularly those within the president’s own party, are willing to resist the president’s irresponsible economic priorities. In my previous entry, I worried that resistance to tax cuts would be branded “unpatriotic,” which I think is utter nonsense, but I am glad to see that a self-declared “budget hawk” like Voinovich has been largely spared this unwarranted slander.

Although it’s true that some have been calling him a turncoat or deriding his participation in a ”Coalition of the Unwilling,” I have yet to see anyone impugn Voinovich’s patriotism, which is a tactic that I think the Bush administration has been reserving almost exclusively for Democrats.

It does no good for the administration to smear someone like Voinovich, partly because he is one of their own, but also because he is all but invulnerable in his home turf. Who else would Bush be able to support in the state of Ohio, Jerry Springer? Not likely. Unlike the Democrats Max Cleland and Mary Landrieu, both of whom supported Bush only to be betrayed by him in the November mid-term elections, Bush stands to gain nothing from abusing members of his own party.

It is because Bush needs Voinovich’s support more than Voinovich needs Bush’s that the senator can take such a courageous position without fear of criticism.

Even more courageous, however, was Senator Norm Coleman’s vote against oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, which was another high priority for Bush—and for Ted Stevens, the senator from Alaska who also happens to be the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. I must admit that I was skeptical of Senator Coleman’s claims during his election campaign that he would not allow himself to be beholden to Bush, but now he has shown that he is capable of resisting the president, even under intense, additional pressure from within the Senate itself. Here again, Coleman has been spared the “unpatriotic” accusations from the Bush administration (again, who else would it support in Minnesota, Mondale perhaps?), and he even seems to have steered clear of Stevens’ wrath.

I am very pleased to see both of these Republican senators taking a stand against their president, who is known to hold grudges against anyone who chooses to stand against him (indeed, he’s based his entire foreign policy on this ridiculous “with us or against us” posturing). It gives me hope that there is still some chance for sensible governance to prevail in the United States, even in spite of the run-rampant idiocy coming from the White House.

Frist: Hoping his actions will be shrouded by the fog of war?

Alas, that is not to suggest that all is well in Washington. John De Hoog tells me that Senator Bill Frist, the Republican majority leader, has been using the fog of war to to reward contributors by stealing from sick children. And, sure enough, today Yahoo is carrying a Global AIDS Alliance report that says Bush and Frist are sabotaging key AIDS initiatives, primarily for ideological reasons. (In response to this I can only say that we need more doctors in politics, which is why I am supporting Howard Dean’s bid for the presidency.)

Putting my money—and praise—where my mouth is

I think it is important to praise our senators when they resist Bush’s foolish leadership, as Voinovich and Coleman have done, and to rebuke them when they reverse their positions in support of an unworthy president, as Frist has done. We must show them that we are watching, that we will support those who are worthy of our support and cast of those who are not.

With that said, I ask you to join me in praising Voinovich, thanking Coleman, supporting Dean, and rebuking Frist.

For the record, I sent the following message to Senator Voinovich (I won’t print here the one that is going to Frist).

Dear Senator Voinovich:


I just finished reading an article in the New York Times that listed you as one of only three Republicans breaking ranks with your party and voting to limit the president’s proposed tax cuts. I applaud your cautious restraint in these troubled times. I have every confidence that you have done the right thing and am proud to have you representing me in the Senate.



With my very best regards,



S. Patrick Eaton

Even though I am an unrepentant Democrat, I realize the value of supporting those noble senators, regardless of their party affiliation, who have the good sense to stand up for their principles. They provide the clearest signs that there may yet be hope for sensible governance in the United States.