Sometimes, political spin is emotionally comforting. Sometimes, spin is even convincing. But sometimes, spin nakedly leaps at you like the laughable swill it is.
This week, Nancy Pelosi lurched at us with some of the laughable stuff. After conceding that the Democratic Congress indeed met a few bumps in the road in its miserable year of 2007, she nevertheless proceeded -- sometimes, as well, pols just can't help themselves -- to counter criticism of her hapless institution by declaring: "Almost everything we've done has been historic."
Which reminded me of the historical; namely, Henry Adams' observation that, politically speaking, the last quarter of the century in which he mostly lived "was poor in purpose and barren in results" -- one that produced "little but damaged reputation." In that sense, his era was indeed "historic"; just not the kind one would be tempted to brag about. And in that sense it could be said that the period of 1875-1900 was that of the current year writ large.
Adams' era, of course, wasn't entirely barren in results -- it saw the passage of measures such as the Civil Service Reform and Sherman Antitrust Acts, however crippled they were in effectiveness -- but in general those 25 years were principally known for politicians defending their turf, getting themselves reelected and pretty much ignoring the nation's needs in the process. The "center" held, as vast segments of the Gilded-Age Republic went down the tubes.
Yet in time, and after ignoring the vast socioeconomic problems created by industrial capitalism and impersonal markets, the Democratic Party was pushed out of its stupor and to the left by Populism. Politicians of both major parties were then shaken and rattled by the various strains of Populism's ideological progeny, the Progressive movement. The center no longer held, and politics and politicians shifted to new, Republic-saving instruments such as the New Nationalism, the New Freedom and eventually the New Deal.
The point, however, is that the Old Guard of both parties had to be poked and prodded and rudely shoved from outside political forces. The former had been too comfortable for too long with the status quo. Only the predatory threat of a conscientious third party supplanting the electoral dominance of one or both of the major parties rattled the traditional pols into action.
Now that was historic. And one wonders if the time has not yet come again, roughly a century later, for some serious third-party rattling.
Given the epic problems our Republic faces today, Ms. Pelosi's recitation of "historic" Congressional accomplishments -- such as boosts in the minimum wage and fuel-efficiency standards -- seems designed to not only insult, but mock.
The Washington Post yesterday tidily portrayed those elephants in the room that are laughing back at Ms. Pelosi: "Handed control of Congress last year after making promises to end the war in Iraq, restore fiscal discipline in Washington and check President Bush's powers, Democrats instead closed the first session of the 110th Congress yesterday with House votes that sent Bush $70 billion in war funding, with no strings attached, and a $50 billion alternative-minimum-tax measure that shattered their pledge not to add to the federal budget deficit."
Omitted from that particular retort was that, above all, this Congress has done nothing to check President Bush's powers -- that singular dereliction of Constitutional duty that poses the greatest threat to the Republic's future stability.
I understand and almost accept that it's tough, if not damn near impossible, for a politically diverse body of 535 to end one executive's war. And fiscal discipline has rarely been a hallmark of politicians with money to spend. But there is no excuse for this Democratic Congress to have sat on its indifferent ass for a year, watching with thumbs twirling the most egregious, presidential nullification of Constitutional checks and balances ever so menacingly thrown into the citizenry's face. No excuse. None.
Mr. Bush's own recitation of untouchable powers he has taken unto himself would cause the Founders to say, Yep, we expected executive coups like this -- you just can't trust the bastards, especially if their name is George -- and that's why we armed Congress with Constitutional weapons to fight back and balance the books of power. Hence the Founders would also be nonplussed, put out and exceedingly pissed off that this Democratic Congress has, simply, done no such thing.
Instead, Democrats -- just as most politicians did throughout the last quarter of the 19th century -- have concentrated on defending their turf and getting themselves reelected. Meanwhile, they've ignored the nation's principal need of an executive takedown and major attitude readjustment.
If ever a time were ripe for imposing a little Constitutional reality on a faithless and metastasizing presidency, this is it. And it's beginning to look like our era will require the strong-arming of a Populist-Progressive-like third party movement to shake the nominal progressives into action.