Bill Richardson becomes party flack


How and up and comer becomes a down and outer
Bill Richardson used to be on my Least Despicable Politico list. Not anymore.

I've been watching him for several years. Despite his party affiliation, I liked some of his ideas. Like the idea of attracting businesses to New Mexico by lowering taxes. There, I thought, was a politician I could vote for. Especially given the crop of Democrat "leaders."

When it comes to elected leaders, my gold standard is Harry Truman. He was first elected as part of a political machine. When he decided to do the right thing instead of what the machine told him, they dumped him and tried to elect someone else. After a hard fought election, Truman won.

That is pretty good, but nothing amazing.

But then came the Truman Committee. Officially it was supposed to investigate military contract fraud, unofficially it was supposed to rubber-stamp the status quo. But Senator Truman was determined to do the right thing. And in a series of public hearings, he exposed some very dirty laundry. That was enough for Truman to Get Noticed.

It was also enough for the senior product of the Democrat Party, President Roosevelt, to step in. So Truman was was made Vice-President, where he couldn't stir up any more trouble. But then FDR died, and President Truman made some difficult choices.

That is the difference between the average politico and a leader. A leader makes the difficult choices, no matter what the popular opinion is. For contrast, look at the Clinton Administration with it's constant leaks, trial balloons, and reactions to the latest opinion poll.

Everyone knows about the nuclear bombs that Truman ordered dropped. But few remember that when the Soviets tried to absorb West Berlin, senior State Department officials were urging Truman to write off the city, while some in the newly renamed Defense Department were urging full military invasion. It was Truman who decided to take the long shot and order the airlift.

It was Truman who ordered the U.S. military to desegregate, against the advice of the general staff.

While Truman was far from perfect, he's still my idea of a good man trying to do his very best for his country.

Bill Richardson has shown that he doesn't measure up to that.

Why is a New Mexico governor trying to interfere in a Connecticut election? Because he had been marked as one of the "up and comers" in the Democrat Party, and the "leaders" decided to cash in on that to stop Senator Lieberman.

Which also doesn't fill me with confidence about the Democrat Party. Or should I say, the crowd that controls the Democrat Party.

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— NeoWayland

Posted: Fri - August 11, 2006 at 05:23 PM  Tag


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