All Things Reconsidered
January 10, 2003
by Alexander Washburn

2002 in Review

Look - it's clear to say that this two-year veteran out of Texas is not wowing anyone with his Presidency. But when it comes to the job of leading the team - George W. Bush is your man. He raises money, moral and the approval rating of all that appear around him - the political trifecta. More importantly, he's not making mistakes, nor is he putting his team in a position to lose. Trent Lott and Al Gore sure can't say that. Bush gets the Trent Dilfer Award for leading your team to victory by not making mistakes and of course, letting the really talented people on your team do all of the heavy lifting.

The heavyweights behind Bush did a great job of reading defenses the Democrats were throwing at them. The Dems called for Bush to take his case against Iraq to the United Nations, and he did just that. Then a call for more time was waged and Bush has managed the clock like any pro in the two-minute-drill.

While Bush tossed off the all too lightweight questions about Harken Energy and whether or not he got richer on insider trading, Cheney's deft moves have kept him taint-free over the General Accounting Office lawsuit. Bush, who like all Presidents promised to restore decency to the White House, has yet to slap Dick on the knuckles for disobeying the GAO's request. All the GAO wants is access to the records of meeting between the Bush administration and the private sector member of the Energy Task Force - which was made up of good people like the folks at Enron. It's been over 600 days since Cheney has been asked to release the documents and still nothing from the Vice President or from the New York Times. We all know that the energy companies wrote the administration's energy policy, but that's not the point that needs to be made. We've all been asked to give up some liberties in order to fight this war on terrorism and preserve our way of life and Dick Cheney should be no different.

I'm not expecting to see Dick Cheney gone until closer to the election but I'm really surprised to see that John Ashcroft still has a job. Now Bush did fire Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill, who had nothing but pluses in my book. Firing the Treasury Secretary is like dumping your bullpen coach - not going to make a big difference and doesn't solve the problem. Ashcroft's total disregard for civil liberties and state's rights will be the single biggest swing issue come the 2004 elections. Ashcroft has sidestepped the voters' will in California, where he has worked with the DEA to raid non-profit medical co-ops that provide marijuana to AIDS and cancer patients and he is also unilaterally challenging the will of the voters in Oregon on its twice-passed 'Death with Dignity Act.' Put this on top of Operation TIPS, where he actually advocated for the cable repair people and meter readers to report suspicious activity to the authorities, and Nat Hentoff might not be that far off in his Village Voice columns where he equates Ashcroft with Big Brother.

2002 also marked the Best Year to End a High-Profile Career in Democratic Politics. Thankfully, Al Gore decided that he is already the punch line of too many jokes and had nothing to seriously offer and decided not to run for President in 2004. Another person we won't be seeing much of in 2003 is Tom Daschle (D-SD). Not only did Daschle lose the Senate, he also failed to come out strongly against Trent Lott - something even J.C. Watts did. The scouting report on Daschle is mixed, but his speech in response to Bush questioning the patriotism of those who questioned the war, was the Best Speech the Senate saw this year. Even though that speech featured fire and passion, most of the time you needed the yellow pages to find Daschle's backbone. He never echoed a consistent Democrat theme that wasn't just 'I'm opposed to the President,' and he has been lukewarm on the much-needed economic stimulus this country needs, repealing the Bush tax cut. Daschle has also been silent on how to fix what is wrong with the Party after the November Elections. Not exactly leadership. All the talk of a Daschle presidential run need to be silenced now. He has been resorted to being just another pretty face.

The fate of Daschle is just icing on the cake for the Democratic Party. The Election Day Smack Down had to be the Political Story of the Year and now the party stands leaderless and just about irrelevant on matters of national debate. Who really cares what Carl Levin has to say about the war? Nobody - and that's a shame since Senator Levin is one of the more knowledgeable people on the ability and capacity of our military. And is anyone outside of the Beltway and the Research Triangle all that excited about the Senator from GQ, John Edwards, announcing that he too is jumping in the Presidential race? Democrats tried to regain some face late in the year by adding Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to the leadership. But Pelosi came at the expense of having Harold Ford (D-TN) in the leadership and it's really hard not to think the Dems missed an golden opportunity for a generational shift if they installed the younger and more dynamic Ford to a leadership post.

This year we also happen to see the Worst Use of Taxpayers Dollars in recent memory. I'm talking about the new anti-drug campaign being run by the White House. Whether it's the up close dialogue between the two friends in the restaurant, or my favorite, the Schoolhouse Rock-ish 'How a Dime Bag Becomes a Taliban,' - this campaign insults the intelligence of any rationale American who can think for themselves. Hey, if the government wants to send false signals to children that all drugs are bad - fine. But if we're going to let them broadcast those false messages we need to at least step up when they step way over the line. There aren't any Wall Street guys, sharing a joint, while watching the football playoffs, who believe what the Office of National Drug Policy is pushing.

At least we didn't vote for those damn commercials. The same can't be said for New York's new anti-smoking law, which takes the prize for 'Worst Law Ever!' I'm not going to come down on Mayor Mike. The tax increases - we can blame the fiscal wizardry of America's Mayor for that. But his smoking law will inevitably cut at the heart of the small business-owner and will contribute to the further decline of New York City. What the anti-smoking bill will spawn are private, members-only clubs, that will appeal to the same idiots that pay $300 dollars for a $60 bottle of Ketel One. Leaving the bowery bums and us Tom Waits types who just want to have a smoke with our pints, out in the cold smoking on the curb.

(Alexander Washburn is a volunteer staff writer for 2 Walls Webzine.)