Class Acts

I logged on with a plan in mind for this post, and it's already been sidetracked. I was watching Seinfeld as I logged in, and it turned out to be an episode with a cameo by Derek Jeter. (Photo www.sportsnetwork.com) None of the politicians to be mentioned are as classy (or as clutch, or as hot) as the Yankee's captain, but we must press on...

I tip my hat to Sen George Allen and Sen. Conrad Burns. They lost, they knew it, and they had the class and respect to concede rather than drag the election through weeks of recounts that would not change anything.

Don't get me wrong -- when you win the popular vote, you get to take it to the Supreme Court. And prove that it's all political by making five allegedly federalist judges usurp Florida's right to evaluate its own election. The hypocrisy of this still bugs me, obviously.

I'm hoping for one more class act, and his name is George W. Bush. I have tried on this Blog to be respectful of Mr. Bush and his office throughout serious disagreements. Unlike some folks on the extreme left, I don't think he's evil -- just misguided at times. If you remember 2000, he won as a "compassionate conservative" who wanted to cut taxes, but had more moderate views on other subjects and wanted to be a "uniter". Then he moved into a Washington run by K Street Republicans and ran to the far right with them. Especially after 9/11, when he seemed to feel he had a divine mission.

If you look back at his rise to power in Texas and his "compassionate conservatism", it was largely the result of working with a Democratic legislature. Together, they did some allegedly good things for Texas. I'm hoping President Bush can return to his roots and work with a Democratic legislature to similarly move America forward. Already, he seems willing to work on the minimum wage and immigration, issues on which he had disagreed with the more conservative element of his party. And Sec. Rumsfeld's departure should be seen as an Olive Branch if ever there were one.

It is now up to Speaker-Elect Pelosi and Senator Reid to advance issues for the next two years instead of bludgeoning/investigating the president and his staff in the hopes of improving their chance for victory in 2008. (Sadly, this doctored picture from www.allhatnocattle.net is the only shot I could find of them together.) There is a chance here for real dialog and progress, and shame on any obstructionists from either party. The electorate set the compass Tuesday -- someone just needs to lead us further down the path.