SCARE AND SMEAR-- ALL THE REPUBLICANS HAVE LEFT

Although today's Washington Post reports that the main thrust of the Republican strategy to hold on to power in the Congress will be to pour millions and millions of corporate dollars (the legalized bribes they have collected from Big Business to rubber stamp the Big Business agenda that had been so detrimental to working class and middle class Americans) into a coordinated and relentless campaign of smear and personal attack, the Republicans have another important arrow in their quiver: fear. And I'm not talking solely about the fear of terrorism so carefully nurtured by Cheney and Bush. No, there is also the fear of... liberals.

A few weeks ago Time published a report on the GOP scare-mongering about "extreme liberals" taking over committee chairmanships. The concept of an "extreme liberal" is kind of hard to fathom but I think the Republicans mean that Democrats who have Democratic values will take over committee chairmanships from Republicans committed to screwing ordinary Americans at the behest of their corporate paymasters. The GOP put out a pre-Halloween appeal to their base for more campaign contributions entitled "Democrats Unhinged: The REAL House Democrat Agenda."

For the advocates of the Republican Culture of Corruption, what could be scarier than a working class hero like Charlie Rangel becoming head of the House Ways and Means Committee instead of the grasping and greedy corporate prostitute Bill Thomas (or his likely Republican successor, another shameless corporate shill, closet queen Jim McCrery)? Probably Henry Waxman taking over the subpoena power issuing chairmanship of the Committee on Government Reform from rubber stamp Republican Tom Davis. Republicans may think that a dictatorial and xenophobic right-wing asshole like Jim Sensebrenner is what Americans want as chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, serving day in and day out the exclusive interests of the GOP's financiers, instead of a man like John Conyers who actually represents the interests of ordinary Americans. They're wrong. Or perhaps the Republicans think that Appropriations Committee/earmarks crime spree boss Jerry Lewis, currently under FBI investigation for almost every conceivable crime a man with fiduciary responsibility could commit and on the verge of indictment, is preferable to solid, sober, serious and honest David Obey. Again, major misapprehension. But they'll try.

Ken wrote a really great story yesterday about a crucial aspect of the deterioration of the bottom-line Fristian health care system. I'd like to recommend you read it (and the comment by Nick beneath it) and think about Pete Stark, a man of great integrity with a genuine passion for reforming the health care system taking over the chair of the House Subcommittee on Health from weak, pathetic tool of the pharmaceutical and insurance industries, Nancy Johnson.

There are no cases where a Democrat will not be an improvement as a committee chairman, although there are a case or two where it's a close call. But the close calls-- reactionary, corporate Democrats, like Collin Peterson (D-MN) who would replace far worse reactionary, corporate Republican Bob Goodlatte-- are not the ones the party of Big Business is concerned about. I think most Americans, and the polls seem to bear me out on this, feel it's time to throw the rascals out. And if you think so too... here's a way to help accomplish that.