BCT Editorial – 11/4/05

This page was last updated on November 4, 2005.

Jogging around; Editorial; Beaver County Times; November 4, 2005.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject editorial.

“MISSING LINKS: Tuesday’s shutdown of the U.S. Senate by Democrats has received the usual Washington spin, with both sides blaming the other for this drastic step. But what really made it possible are the missing links in Congress today - moderate Republicans and conservative Democrats. Our system of government was founded on the need for compromise and moderation among Madison’s famous ‘factions.’ Basically, Madison argued that the Constitution was written so that factions would counterbalance themselves. In Congress today, the ballast that moderate Republicans and conservative Democrats once provided is gone, leaving the hardliners on both sides in control. Unless moderate Republicans and conservative Democrats can regain ground, thereby giving the majority of Americans who are in the middle a voice in government, look for more of the same out of Washington.”

[RWC] This piece is an example of how liberals like to redefine words via subtle usage. Notice the phrase (used twice), “moderate Republicans and conservative Democrats.” I suspect most of us would have written “liberal Republicans and conservative Democrats” to be consistent. Instead, the editorial author chose to use “moderate” instead of “liberal” because he considers them synonyms. This usage also attempts to portray conservatives as something other than mainstream.

Regarding the piece’s first sentence, the author ignored a memo written in 2003 by Sen. Jay Rockefeller’s (D-WV) office outlining this very action. As you will read, Democrats planned this stunt two years ago! They had to pull the trigger this week because the window of opportunity would close with next week’s planned release of the relevant report.