The Rabid Conservative

Amidst all the hubbub regarding the special election tomorrow up in Massachusetts, the one trend that seems to be bugging me as of late is the fact that people keep bringing up Ted Kennedy throughout all of this.  Yes, I know this is an election to fill the chair in the Senate that was occupied by his corpulent and often inebriated posterior for years on end.  But I read this article and at least twice, the author of the article called the seat vacated by Ted Kennedy as “Kennedy’s Seat”.  I really wish they would stop making this about what Kennedy would have wanted, etc etc and make it more about what the people of Massachusetts want.

GOP candidate Scott Brown, who is now showing a good possibility of claiming the win in Massachusetts, rightfully corrected moderator David Gergen in saying that the seat belonged, not to Ted Kennedy, not to the Democrat party, but to the people.

But liberals throughout the blogosphere have complained that Brown’s comment was petty, citing that health care was Kennedy’s signature issue while avoiding the irony that the death blow for the legislation could come from the very seat that was a strong advocate of it before. 

Of course, this is forcing the Democrats, who are noticeably fearful of coming so close to passing this, only to have it snatched out in the 11th hour to resort to other political maneuverings to ramrod this bill through.

1. There has been discussion about preventing Scott Brown’s certification until long after the bill is decided.  Of course, the Dems in the Senate would not have a 60 vote majority because according to Massachusetts law, Paul Kirk, the current occupant of the seat, appointed by the Governor (outside of state law, but at the behest of Ted Kennedy) would no longer be Senator.  Turns out, after the election and qualification of Brown, the seat would effectively be vacant until certification.
2. Another tactic, just released today, the Senate could require the House to pass the Senate bill as written rather than a joint bill that would require another vote in the Senate – one that would fail due to Republican filibuster.  House liberals are not at all pleased about being dictated to, particularly when many of them have stated no support for the bill without a public option, changes in abortion language, or unfair quid pro quos for Louisiana and Nebraska.
3. Discussion has also been entertained about whether to allow the bill to pass through the reconciliation process, which would require just 51 yea votes.

But regardless of what tactics that the Democrats decide to try, the seat does not belong to Ted Kennedy anymore, and tomorrow, it won’t belong to the Democrats either, unless by some unforeseen surge, Martha Coakley manages to pull out a win.  But with Brown currently leading the polls by 9%, that doesn’t seem too likely.

Don’t get me wrong and don’t start tazing me until you read what I say here – wondering how many people have come to the realization already ahead of me.  Whatever if they do – I’m writing it anyway, in my own unique idiom.

Or I’ll just blame it on my antiquated computer.  Seems to be the going excuse this week.

• Action: Obama goes to Copenhagen to pitch for the Chicago bid for the Games.  Outcome: Chicago gets eliminated handily in the first round.  Obama Fail Score – 1
• Action: Obama gets on the stump for the New Jersey and Virginia gubernatorial races.  Outcome: Seats held by Democrats flip to the GOP.  Obama Fail Score – 3  (one for each)
• Action: Obama goes back to Copenhagen to vehemently speak for unity on Climate Change.  Outcome: The so-called Copenhagen Accords fall dismally short of desired goals.  China stonewalls the talks, makes Obama look like a jerk, the US like idiots, and the greens lap it up as more anti-American fodder.  Obama Fail Score – 5 (that gaffe was so bad, it made Baghdad Bob look credible)

So now, the next big PR flop-portunity comes to bear – the Massachusetts senatorial special election and while Scott Brown has already urged Obama to stay away from the Bay State, it would seem that Obama has actually learned something – if you don’t want to come away with egg on your face, yet again, do yourself and your party candidate a favor – don’t show up.  He hasn’t showed up in Massachusetts.

He’s still too busy with all of those closed-room debates on the health deform bill, which were supposed to be broadcast on C-SPAN.  Obama Fail Score – 6 (or is it 13, since he promised it, what, eight times?)

Either way, with more than 50% of Americans ready to chuck an egg at the Amateur-in-Chief, it would seem he’s learnt a little something.   But I can’t wait for him to go back into campaign mode later this summer.  I still have six eggs in this carton yet to toss.

Massachusetts has been a hot bed of manipulation as of late.

In 2004, Ted Kennedy, for partisan reasons, orchestrated a change in the law to change the replacement process from a gubernatorial appointment to a special election.  At the time, John “Lurch” Kerry was running for President (with his three purple hearts) and Kennedy didn’t want the then-Governor Mitt Romney to exercise his power and appoint a Republican to the seat.  So, at the behest of the Swimmer of Chappaquiddick, the law was amended and Mitt Romney could not appoint a fill in senator to fill Lurch’s seat.  Kerry lost but at least the seat was safe, had Lurch pulled it off.

Last year, the Swimmer became gravely ill from brain cancer, and, seeing his own “MENE MENE TEKEL PERES” as he inched closer to the veil, prompted the legislature to change the rule back to a gubernatorial appointment, since the office is now occupied by a Democrat – at least temporarily until the special election happened.  This would prevent the Dems from losing their 60-vote bloc and the subsequent derailing of the health debate.

The thing is, the legacy of Ted Kennedy here is irrelevant.  With all due respect, the man is dead and if he wasn’t saved by the blood of Christ, he’s in hell, burning.  Meanwhile, what is important is not whether the folks In Massachusetts preserve Kennedy’s wish to see the Health Deform bill go through, but to do what the people in Massachusetts want.  But there seems to be this overwhelming push about what Kennedy “would have wanted”.  I say, “so what?”.  Let the people decide.

But the Democrats don’t care so much about what the people say.  As we know, this health debate is all about pushing a piece-of-junk pile of horse dung through and onto the American people.  Despite the majority of Americans that don’t want this bill, the Dems are willing to shovel it onto us anyway.

So with the special election coming up, there’s talk that the GOP candidate may just pull this off and take the seat back to the right side of the aisle.  This would put a hex on the entire debate, since Scott Brown has already pledged to fight the bill if he is able to do so.  This is a huge threat to Democrats as his one vote could cause the debate to come apart.

To prevent that from happening, the Dems are willing to stall Brown’s swearing-in appointment until long after the State of the Union address, where Obama will be able to tout this as a victory for Americans (actually, it’s just for Progressives – Americans lose big if this passes).

What’s funny is that the Dems couldn’t get Rep. Niki Tsongas (D-Lowell) to the US House fast enough.  Two days after the special election, Tsongas was sworn in my Pelosi in order to help overthrow President Bush’s veto of expansion of the SCHIP program, back in October 2007.

But now, the Democrats are willing to hold up the senatorial swear-in of Scott Brown until after the Health Deform is done and passed, to prevent the debate from getting derailed if they lose their 60-vote filibuster-proof majority.  I sure as heck can guarantee you, if Martha Coakley wins the election, they will whisk her off to Washington, tout de suite and put her on the party line.

What does this mean?  Well it means that the Democrats care very little about the will of the people of Massachusetts, so long as it achieves their objectives.  They follow the drumbeat of the Democrat machine, pushed by the very liberal progressive agenda.  Massachusetts has already shown that the people don’t want the bill, but that won’t stop John “Lurch” Kerry from voting for it. 

I leave you with this very poignant quote from Bob Hope.