Webloggin » Recipe For Disaster

The Webloggin home base is in Illinois. This gives me a particular insight on the failures of Republican politicians who exist merely to line their pockets in a strategically non-partisan manner.

Thus we are left to toil in the rubble of a Republican Party that resembled more of the Chicago style quid pro quo agreements than the fiscally responsible smaller government model that is near and dear to the hearts of the conservative base.

Illinois Governor George Ryan comes to mind when one thinks of the kind of politics that lead to the downfall of Republicans last week. When it appeared that George Ryan was going to face corruption charges near the end of his term he did what many do. He started publicly selling out the people who put him into office in moves that he thought would create a sympathetic public perception.

A move that many Republicans thought would be unimaginable turned into reality when George Ryan commuted the sentences of all of the death row inmates in the state. The immediate impact reverberated through Republican circles when those who put Ryan into office realized all too late that he never held the principles that he pretended to represent. As we approach 2007 the Illinois death penalty is still under guard by Democrats who seek to keep the moratorium in place indefinitely and the corrupt Republican Governor Ryan was rightly convicted on federal corruption charges.

Governor Ryan’s legacy should be a loud reminder of what the nation faces in the remains of the current Republican leadership.

President Bush seems almost relieved that Democrats are in power so he can ram rod his amenable immigration policies down the throats of the Conservative Party base who are adamantly opposed to rewarding those who came into this country illegally.

Likewise, his nomination of Robert Gates as Secretary of Defense, if successful, will move the country backwards to the policies that kept Saddam Hussein in power in deference to avoiding confrontation with Syria. As a member of the Baker Commission we should all be reminded that outright victory is not an option in the leaked plans that Mr. Gates may very well support.

The New York Sun reported in October that one Baker commission strategy states that “The United States should aim for stability particularly in Baghdad and political accommodation in Iraq rather than victory.” They further explain the thought process of those on the commission.

Mr. Baker in recent days has subtly been sounding out this theme with interviewers. On PBS’s “Charlie Rose Show,” Mr. Baker was careful to say he believed the jury was still out on whether Iraq was a success or a failure. But he also hastened to distinguish between a Middle East that was “democratic” and one that was merely “representative.”

“If we are able to promote representative, representative government, not necessarily democracy, in a number of nations in the Middle East and bring more freedom to the people of that part of the world, it will have been a success,” he said.

That distinction is crucial, according to one member of the expert working groups. “Baker wants to believe that Sunni dictators in Sunni majority states are representative,” the group member, who requested anonymity, said.

Both option papers would compel America to open dialogue with Syria and Iran, two rogue states that Iraqi leaders and American military commanders say are providing arms and funds to Iraq’s insurgents. “Stabilizing Iraq will be impossible without greater cooperation from Iran and Syria,” the “Stability First” paper says.

This is an appeasement policy for the sake of ending confrontation as opposed to following through with the plan to help Iraqi’s build a democratic style of government. A policy that Mr. gates appears to support by association.

From my point of view it appears that the latest moves by President Bush amount to a conciliatory appeasement of Democrats who are threating him with impeachment. In this regard he is quickly becoming today’s Republican equivalent of George Ryan. The culmination of which may very well be a recipe for disaster.

Note: It has been brought to my attention that some may misinterpret my comparison of President Bush to George Ryan as an admission that President Bush is corrupt. Nothing could be further from the truth. My point is merely meant to underscore that political decisions made for the purpose of appeasement rather than sound judgment is disloyal and unwise. It almost always ends up spelling disaster.

Others:
Wizbang