About a month ago I had an interesting day that was cause for emotional and political reflection. Three major political events in Wisconsin and the nation were occurring on the same day. The mere fact that these three events all occurred on the same day should be cause for suspicion and conspiracy theorists a like. The events were: Senator Nelson’s Memorial Service, Howard Dean’s visit to Madison, and the continuing Karl Rove controversy.
First, former Wisconsin Governor and United States Senator, Gaylord Nelson had his memorial service. While I am far too young to even know the Senator, I do know that several things are named for him, both at the University of Wisconsin, in the State of Wisconsin, and at Badger Boys State. I am almost ashamed to admit that prior to his death I barely knew of him. Luckily for me, the news cycle enlightened me.
Senator Nelson was one of the first members of congress to speak out against the Vietnam War, a trait that Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold has already followed in speaking out against the current war in Iraq. Senator Nelson is largely known for founding Earth Day, but I think the totality of his career was simply amazing. He was know for continuing in progressive spirit invoked by Senator LaFallotte, the son of Fighting Bob. But on top of his political vigor, he was also courteous. He had many republican friends, even though they were his greatest political enemies. This is a lesson I think that I can especially learn from. I tend to shy away from those with socially conservative view points, seeing them as stupid and wrong. I become more partisan and overlook the person.
But enough about me, back to the Senator. The man affected Wisconsin politics and the nation so much, its almost unreal. As a coworker at ShopKo said as the memorial service came onto the television in our breakroom, “He was a good man.” And I almost cried as I responded, “unfortunately, there are not too many of them any more.” United States Representative Dave Obey played Amazing Grace at the conclusion of the ceremony and our mourning of a Wisconsin Native, rational politician, and, most importantly, a great man ended with a sweet and somber tune.
The second event for me was Karl Rove. In a story that since been significantly pushed out of the media, Karl Rove, the “architect†of George W. Bush’s electoral victories has seemingly wormed his way out of dealing with the hard questions regarding the disclosure of a CIA operative’s name to the press. More than being an action undermining the war on terror, this action undermined the common respect we have for citizens undertaking dangerous service for their country. And what is worse, is that this leak was related to her husband’s opposition to the War in Iraq. Time Magazine has now come forward indicating that they did have a conversation with Mr. Rove at the time of the leak, but they allegedly were only speaking in generalities. For me, it has been abundantly clear since the leak was made in a syndicated column of a long time republican journalist and CNN Cross-Fire Co-Host, Blah, that Rove was behind the whole deal. The leak has the character of a Rove action: it’s bitter, it’s hostile, its dirty, it’s indecent, it’s disrespectful and it uses political channels in Washington. Karl Rove is said to “run†Washington D.C.
So aside from uncommonly dastardly deeds that a good man and a good politician, like Senator Nelson, would not undertake, President Bush has actually gone so far as to say that the Administration will fire anyone involved in the leak. The case of “how could he not†be involved in the leak is some what lacking, not only in development, but also in truth. Time clearly shows that Rove was involved in some capacity. That’s at least enough to warrant his termination, in my mind. But instead of claiming any kind of responsibility the administration again backed off, and repeated the lies and the indecency, adjusting the situation to make themselves look good. Let’s be real here, if there are plenty of reasons to suggest he was involved, there is evidence to suggest this, and there is no argument that he was not involved (like an alibi that he was playing chess with President Bush. Unfortunately we all know that Bush cannot play chess.)
And the third event was no other than Howard Dean. I got roped into helping the Democratic Party of Wisconsin help staff a Dean fundraiser for the DPW and the DNC. In true Democratic fashion the argument was poorly conceived and terribly executed. Besides from overall lack of clarification of what needs to be done and a plan to execute that action, the event suffered from terrible planning. The DPW attempted to fit about 750 Dean supporters into a room that only probably holds about 130. Finally after dealing with some very angry supporters, the DPW paid the movie theater to shut down the picture, refund the tickets, and host the meeting in the theater.
After the mishaps were finally over, and the Doctor got to speak regarding the future of the party and the actions the DPW and the DNC are trying to do in order to improve the state of our party. Most of his ideas I think were fantastic: treating elections as seriously as republicans do, talking about issues in the hearts of the people who are affected the most as opposed to their heads, and making substantial infrastructure improvements such that a massive grassroots party could be rebuilt.
By the time the day was over, I was spent. Far too much politics was going on around me, and I had been up since six. And like this article, I crashed
(note: this article was completed far after it was actually started.)
