The nanny state on steroids

Do you want your inlaws to make your decisions

What do the Democrats do?

The radical right is trying to salvage the mess Congress created with the Schiavo case, by attacking liberals for a "culture of death". Only problem,. these attacks are falling on empty trenches. While the radicals pretend Bush will get credit for doing something, I laugh at their naiveity.

We're not dealing with factory workers here, but ultras, the hard core. Ultra is a term used in European football to describe the diehard fans, the people who protest to fire a coach after a loss. Bush and Bush didn't jump into bed with the pro-life moderates, but the ultras, the hard core. These people are extremists and they expect to win. They aren't going to accept a good try. If you fail them, they will seek revenge.

I think Jeb got talked to Friday. When he was told about the polling and how being seen with Pat Mahoney was not smart. So he ran. The problem with ultras is that they are never pleased unless they get their way. And Jeb was close to committing political suicide on Thusday, maybe an hour away. If he had moved to grab Terri Schiavo, he wouldn't be worrying about impeachment, but a murder and kidnapping trial while he sat in custody and a massive civil suit. The unreality of people like Bennett and the NRO egging Jeb on was amazing. They didn't care about the consequences.

They thought 25-50,000 people would join them out by the hospice.

Ah, the delusions of radicals. They think the revolution is coming, it never is and if it was, they wouldn't be part of it.

So how do Dems respond?

First, I think most of us agree that Harry Reid did a great job in getting out of the way of this. The wingnuts hit an empty bag and that confused them. One of the Dems problems was not remaining mute, but being set up to be the GOP punching bag. This time, they hit air and are reduced to pretrending their stand is right, even if the polls are hammering them.

But I think they need to start talking not so much about the rule of law, but the right of families to make their own decisions.

The GOP is not about conservatives, but radicals and the Dems need to stress that, by using a little jujitsu. The first would be to send up a bill affirmning the primacy of spouces in health care decisions barring evidence of abuse and neglect. Then discuss "big government" in a simple way, yhe "in law state". Highlight Krauthammer's "Terri's Law" and explain what it would mean. The right of inlaws to interfere in family decisions, when they may not have all the facts. Or share different religous beliefs. Suing to make your kids go to a specific church or school.

Then, they need to tee of on DeLay for being a crook and hiding behind the Schiavos.

After, tie it to Social Security. How? Well, suggest a government which is that intrusive and that politically driven to ignore the law for political gain simply can't be trusted with your future. How can you trust somone who would let your inlaws run your life?

The GOP is scared of these people and they don't know what to do. A key talking point is that they can't do anything about them.

I know people are thinking that the GOP will pull this off again, but like people thought the Japanese kloved the jungle, they have to learn that any opposition can be defeated if they screw up and you use the right attack at the right time, and the subtext here is "the inlaw state".

posted by Steve @ 12:31:00 AM