Monday, December 30, 2002
2002, American and British politics - THE COMMENTARY
By Joseph Planta
VANCOUVER – Thank goodness we didn't have a terrible incident like September 11th in 2002. Nonetheless it was an eventful year in politics. American and Canadian politics, even those of our friends across the pond in Blighty, had their due. Today, some American and British observations.
Let's start south, and let's go as far south to Trent Lott's neck of the woods. The year ended rather poorly for the former Senate leader. Following the surprising wins scored in the Congressional November midterm elections, Lott was poised to take on the mantle of Senate Majority Leader for the GOP. Alas, Strom Thurmond had to turn 100. At the do for Thurmond's 100th birthday, Lott made the silly comment that had America voted for Thurmond in 1948, there wouldn't be nearly as many problems in America today. Well, what was wrong with that laudatory remark, was that Thurmond had run in 1948 as a Dixiecrat, a break away faction of the Democratic Party, that was essentially racist. Their mantra was: "state rights," meaning they didn't really mind segregation.
The Mississippi Senator, with a loose tongue and a penchant for endorsing things that could be construed as racist, was unfairly maligned for what he had to say. However, the court of public opinion, meaning more than anything else, slammed Lott for being a weasel and ducking the necessity of repudiating his comments immediately after uttering them. It took nearly a week before that press conference he held, where he got ambushed by an Al Sharpton flunky. I don't believe he's a racist, but I think he was highly stupid in not handling the situation better. And surely, the least he could have done was resign. And he did just that, albeit it took a little while longer.
His departure from the Senate leadership is another ace in the hole for President George W. Bush. Funny enough, whilst his pals in crooked corporate America were being exposed, as were the President's own connections with them, Bush 43 managed to remain unscathed. President George W. Bush confronted the greatest challenge to ever face a president in a generation in 2001with the events of September 11th. In 2002, he lived up to the billing and delivered victories at the ballot box. President Bush delivered the historic midterm election wins in November, solidifying his party base, adding a cherry on top with the ouster of Senator Lott, who was not all too friendly with the President. Now that Bill Frist has taken over Lott's old job, Bush's agenda seems unstoppable.
In January, President Bush branded Iraq, Iran and North Korea as the ‘axis of evil.' He's dealing with Iraq now, and North Korea is emerging as the threat that he thought it was. Iran is in the balance. For sure, these three nations will make further news come 2003. Soon after making those remarks during his State of the Union address, The President, whilst watching television, choked on a pretzel and fainted. There were at least two jokes made.
Earlier this month, Al Gore made news with a publicity tour that included a stop by Saturday Night Live. However, the real news was that he wasn't getting much attention. The two books he was flogging with wife Tipper, were doing poorly and this did not look good for the man who won the presidential election in 2000. Here he was not getting the job done, whilst entertaining thoughts of running again in 2004. Well, he let the news out that he was, in fact, not going to face Bush 43 in a rematch. For Republicans, knowing they'd finally cream Gore, this was not pleasant news. We're devoid of the slimy, transparent weasel that was Al Gore, so glory for that. The Democrats then trod out their much-comparable John Kerry, the junior Senator for Massachusetts. He's been compared to Lincoln and John Kennedy already, and he's running hard for the nomination to face G.W. Bush in 2004. Joe Lieberman has been testing the waters, as have Howard Dean and John Edwards. It's still early to tell, but things are definitely heating up there.
The death of Senator Paul Wellstone, the Senator for Minnesota, placed a damper on the vicious midterm campaign in November. Had Wellstone lived, I no doubt believe that the Democrats would have been able to keep control of the Senate, thus upsetting the rest of Bush's agenda and mandate. Wellstone, was a man of his political convictions, some leftist concerns that were farther left than President Clinton's. His death, and the subsequent funeral, which really looked like a political rally, did the Democrats in. Had the Democrats maintained the high road and not have featured gratuitous shots of the Clinton's doing a ‘soul shake' with Jesse Jackson, I think their party would be in better shape today.
What I found most entertaining in 2002, were the antics of one James Traficant, a Congressman from the state of Illinois. The House had expelled him from Congress, after being found guilty of all kinds of mischief, tax evasion, bribery and the sort. He didn't go gently though. The House had held hearings, whereby he could testify and did he ever. For weeks, we'd be entertained by the rug-wearing Traficant berating investigators, telling the FBI and IRS to go "fuck themselves" and threatening anyone and everyone who wanted him out. They did expel him, though one fellow Congressman cast a dissenting vote. Who? None other than disgraced California Congressman, one Gary Condit, whom we recall as the smarmy twerp who got involved with that dead and missing intern Chandra Levy. Traficant is in the hoosegow now, and I'm sure sans that ugly ferret atop his head. I'm sure the moment he got into prison, he heard those fateful words: "Take dat rug thang off of your head and spread your ankles..."
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To Britain, where there was royal rapture in the streets of London, during the week of Her Majesty, The Queen's Golden Jubilee celebrations. Where else could a concert stage feature Sir Paul McCartney, Ozzy Osbourne and Tony Bennett? There was one such stage on the grounds of Buckingham Palace. The Queen took in the show, as Dame Edna hosted. Camilla Parker-Bowles, paramour of the Prince of Wales, was also in attendance, sitting behind The Queen. It was so close, that it showed the House of Windsor is in fact warming up to the divorced love of the future king of England.
Then The Queen visited Canada, and a grand time was had by all. Canadians lambasted their Deputy Prime Minister John Manley, when he suggested there was really no need for the crown. The Duke of Edinburgh, not known for particularly tactful behaviour, promptly ordered Manley to "stand over there." She had a nice visit in Vancouver actually, and I have this on good authority, because last week I got a note from one of Her Majesty's Ladies-in-waiting saying just that.
Then The Queen went home, and all hell broke loose with the sad case of the butler who was accused of stealing the clothes of the late Diana, Princess of Wales. Just before he was to spill all on the dock, The Queen intervened and "remembered" everything. The Queen's role in this was questioned and the whole power of the Crown was being discussed. The Queen saved the butler's ass, but soon enough, the butler spilled all telling all about homosexual rapes in Kensington Palace and other royal idiosyncrasies. It's Britain after all, and an amazing year was book ended by this mess and of course the sad deaths of both Princess Margaret, The Countess of Snowden and The Queen Mother.
In a future column, the Canadian notes for the year that was.
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