This page was last updated on May 27, 2010.
Democrats must act like Democrats; Lonzie Cox, Jr.; Beaver County Times; May 26, 2010. I am not related to Mr. Cox.
Most of Mr. Cox’s at least 50 letters since 2004 are tinged with race. This letter is one of the exceptions.
Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.
“I think Joe Sestak won because Arlen Specter had been one of the Republican opposition for far too long.
“Specter’s fence straddling caught up to him - finally.
“I’m happy the voters turned him out. We need real Democrats doing the work that needs to be done, not those who act like Republicans for whatever reason. Whether shoring up some base or embracing GOP doctrine for political strategy, Democrats betray their own base by imitating Republicans.”
[RWC] Mr. Cox could be writing about newly-elected Rep. Mark Critz (D-12). Based on the positions (anti-Obamacare, pro-gun, anti-cap-and-trade, etc.) in his campaign ads, you would never have guessed Mr. Critz was a Democrat unless the ad mentioned it. That said, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) backed Mr. Critz so I don’t expect him to govern taking the same positions as in his campaign.
Mr. Cox and I finally agree on one thing, Mr. Specter’s defeat. I only wish Mr. Specter would have won the primary so I could have helped drive him out of office in the general election. Had then-President Bush and then-Senator Santorum not supported Mr. Specter over then-Rep. Pat Toomey, Mr. Specter would have been gone in 2004. Even with the Bush and Santorum support, Mr. Specter defeated Mr. Toomey by only 17,143 votes out of just over one million votes in the 2004 primary.
“Here are two recent examples.
“President Barack Obama made a statement in April that we should start aggressively drilling oil off our coasts. This was a right-wing, Sarah Palin idea in direct opposition to what Democrats, liberals and environmentalists have advocated for decades to protect our clean shores.”
[RWC] Here’s the March (not April) speech to which Mr. Cox referred. For Mr. Cox to claim Mr. Obama said “we should start aggressively drilling oil off our coasts” took some creative listening/reading. Mr. Obama’s proposal was anything but aggressive.
Second, we’ve been doing offshore drilling for more than 50 years.
Finally, “what Democrats, liberals and environmentalists have advocated for decades” has nothing to do with protecting “our clean shores.” The underlying reason is to push leftism (big government) by removing energy sources (coal, oil, natural gas, shale oil, nuclear, hydropower). Eliminating energy choices places more power in the government’s hands.
“A few days later, the explosion of the British Petroleum oil rig killed 11 workers, fouled the ocean and stopped all the drill-baby-drill talk.”
[RWC] Only folks like Mr. Cox have “stopped all the drill-baby-drill talk.”
“At the same time, U.S. Rep. Jason Altmire joined with U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman to support taking citizenship away from Americans who fight with terrorists - a problem that does not now exist.”
[RWC] I’m not sure how this is a Republican position. I have no problem with revoking a person’s citizenship if he’s found guilty of attacking the U.S., but not before. FYI, there are already a number of acts that can cost a person his citizenship.
As for Mr. Cox’s assertion that “Americans who fight with terrorists [is] a problem that does not now exist,” is he living in a cocoon? Only three examples are Faisal Shahzad (the would-be Times Square bomber), Nidal Hasan (the Fort Hood killer), and Anwar al-Awlaki.
“Democrats should shore up their liberal/progressive base sometimes, too.”
[RWC] Has Mr. Cox not been paying attention to what’s going on? Obamacare, a $787 billion so-called stimulus bill, etc. isn’t “shor[ing] up their liberal/progressive base?”
“When we want the Limbaugh-led, tea-bagger Republicans to destroy things again, we’ll vote them back in.”
[RWC] It’s not a Lonzie Cox letter without name-calling. In this case, I suspect it’s a case of projection.
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