Democrats dump debate and discourse

“The Democrats seem to be basically nicer people, but they have demonstrated time and again that they have the management skills of celery. They’re the kind of people who’d stop to help you change a flat, but would somehow manage to set your car on fire. I would be reluctant to entrust them with a Cuisinart, let alone the economy.” —Dave Barry, humor columnist and author

The great Democratic leadership published the following letter they wrote to Fox News on their Web site (www.nvdems.com):

“A month ago, the Nevada Democratic Party entered into a good faith agreement with Fox News to co-sponsor a presidential debate in August. This was done because the Nevada Democratic Party is reaching out to new voters, and we strongly believe that a Democrat will not win Nevada unless we find new ways to talk to new people. … In light of his [Fox News president Roger Ailes] comments [regarding presidential hopeful Barack Obama], we have concluded that it is not possible to hold a presidential debate that will focus on our candidates and are therefore canceling our August debate. We take no pleasure in this, but it is the only course of action.” This statement was signed by Tom Collins, chairman of the Nevada State Democratic Party and Harry Reid, Democratic U.S. Senator from Nevada.

I was actually enthused that the state’s Democratic Party had beat out the Republicans by first moving up their presidential caucus to make the Silver State a little more relevant and then by setting up a debate on Fox. Of course, if you follow politics, given the condition of the state’s Republican Party, that’s the equivalent of taking candy from the proverbial baby. About the only thing missing from Nevada Republicans is the tune from The Three Stooges, and even that is being generous.

What’s missing here is that while Democrats claim to be all-inclusive, they’ve had a lock on the media for 40 years, from Walter Cronkite and Mike Wallace all the way to Dan Rather and Katie Couric. (Geez, you’d think Shepard Smith was the Antichrist or something.) The fact that they found a convenient excuse to bail on Fox just proves they don’t have the fortitude to actually debate anything for real. (You’ll note this was a debate just among the Democrat candidates, no Republicans.)

You never hear a Republican shrink from the term “conservative.” Call a Democrat a “liberal,” even if they are, and watch them tap dance all around it. Hence their constant rush to the political center, where they can appear as “moderates.”

So while the Democrats go about finding “new ways to talk to people,” they may as well admit that it’s really new ways to lie to people. And god forbid they actually do it in an unfriendly forum, unlike say, Republicans, who’ve had to do it for years. I’ve never seen a bunch of craven cowards so unwilling to stand up for what they believe—even if it’s only because a poll says they should.

To believe what the Democrats preach is to believe this: “Life” begins the minute it pops out of a vagina, hence “abortion” is not “infanticide.” You’re safer if no one but criminals have guns. Not wearing a seat belt should be a primary offense and clearly does not constitute as serious an infraction on your rights as, say, the PATRIOT Act, which Democrats—vis-à-vis Sen. Harry Reid—take credit for having “fixed.” And removing despotic dictators is good when one of your own says that the man had weapons of mass destruction—even though he didn’t actually do anything about it. But when a Republican does it, he lied the country into an unecessary war.

Which perhaps brings us back to Mr. Barry’s assertions.