House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi has hinted that the Democratic agenda, should they win the House in November, will be rolled out June-ish. So I suppose her appearance on Meet the Press this morning was a dress rehearsal. If that's the case, the Democratic Congressional leadership has a lot of polish and rewrites to deal with in the next month... ish.
Today's show was all over the place. No real theme or throughline. Not surprising given that the apologetic broadcast news establishment is completely unable to track all of the corruption and scandal in the corridors of the Republican government. So Russert ran through a hodge-podge -- a mélange, if you will -- of topics ranging from Porter Goss to the Rubber Bush, with some stops in tax cuts and gas prices. Not a word about Colbert; not a word about the administration's new hardlined approach to Pooty Poot; and nothing with regards to the fact that the administration has successfully undermined the "free and democratic" Iraqi elections by installing a more friendly prime minister.
Back to Pelosi's half hour.
We begin at Hookergate. Did Pelosi have any evidence that Porter Goss resigned because he's wrapped up in Hookergate, the latest example of the GOP's obvious moral high ground? Does she? Does she?! Dammit, Nancy, where's your evidence? Tim wanted evidence! Because all he has to go with right now is the Negroponte Feud talking point he's been fed by the White House. I suppose if Leader Pelosi had plunked onto the desk an official Hookergate plaster cast of Goss's genitalia attained from a rogue CIA groupie, Russert would've been more satisfied.
Then Pelosi hinted that the Democrats might oppose General Hayden's nomination to replace Goss. Underscore "might". A little bit of hedging, but strategically so. Later, she hedged during questioning about investigating the administration should the Democrats take the House. Russert brought up the latest NBC News / Wall Street Journal poll showing that 44 percent of Americans want (cue political cliché fanfare) less partisan bickering. He went on to display a screen capture from Representative Conyers' website on which Conyers pledged - gasp! - to investigate the administration as if investigating corrupt politicians is somehow a crazy unheard of notion in America.
"Is it going to be payback time?" Russert asked with a Silly Rabbit tone.
Evidently, Russert extrapolated from the NBC News / WSJ data that any future investigations into the administration aren't what voters want, and that anything resembling impeachment is both foolhardy and insane. See, Russert should know, and Pelosi pointed this out, that voters always say partisan bickering is an issue. He should also know, however, that ultimately it doesn't affect how Americans vote. Look no further than the Republican returns of 2000, 2002, and 2004 following years of a GOP-led investigation and impeachment against President Clinton for his relatively minor tryst with an intern. Nah. In Russert's world, impeachments somehow always backfire against the impeachers.
And, Russert suggested, aren't the Democrats equally corrupt and worthy of investigation? Congressman Kennedy had a car accident (Bush and Cheney both have DUI convictions -- click here and here) and Congressman McKinney struck a police officer, he mentioned. The only way these two incidents could be half as bad as this six year onslaught of corruption in the Republican government is if Kennedy had the accident because he was torturing prisoners in his car; eavesdropping on Americans without a warrant; running up record deficits; stripping Americans of their civil liberties; and selling our national parks to private developers. McKinney, while hitting that DC police officer, was probably having floating parties with hookers and lobbyists at the Watergate; playing air guitar while a major American city flooded; and lying about the justifications for a pre-emptive invasion of a Middle Eastern nation.
But you know? I wish Pelosi had simply interrupted Russert and said, "Yes, Tim. It's going to be payback time. Payback for bankrupting our treasury. Payback for lying about the war. Payback for damaging our environment. Payback for moving American jobs overseas. Payback for embarrassing and endangering our citizens when they travel abroad to the point where our soccer team can't even display the flag on their bus for fear of violent reprisals. It's absolutely payback time."
That leads us to the Pelosi agenda. We heard a little about energy independence. We heard a little about redeployment in Iraq. She pledged that they're going to put an end to deficit spending. We barely heard an answer about lobbying reform. That one took several minutes of Russert pushing Pelosi for an answer before she finally made the ambiguous statement, "We're going to break the ties."
So we have this impending Democratic roll out of the agenda coming in June. Based on this appearance, I'm not very confident it's going to be distinctive and bold enough to make much of a difference -- both in terms of legislation and especially in terms of giving voters a clear choice (the incompetence factor aside). Here's the agenda I'd like to see:
1) Universal health care.
2) The fostering of a Green Industrial Revolution.
3) Universal college education.
4) Redeployment in the Middle East.
5) Real tax incentives for businesses that keep American jobs in America, if not the total repeal of NAFTA and GATT.
6) Realistic domestic security measures for fighting terrorism rather than broad, expensive, and ineffectual military actions.
7) Ban all contact between Congress and lobbyists.
8) Reinstate the Fairness Doctrine for the media.
9) Break up corporate monopolies.
10) Eliminate the use of corporate-controlled voting machines.
How do we pay for all of that without running up the deficit or raising taxes on the poor and middle class?
1) Items number four and six are, in and of themselves, a good start.
2) Eliminating corporate welfare and oil giveaways could save the government billions.
3) Repealing the Bush tax cuts and reducing the tax burden on the poor and middle class while simultaneously raising the minimum wage.
4) Keeping American jobs in America and stabilizing the existence of a middle class will stimulate long term economic growth.
5) Freezing or reducing the NASA budget for 10 years. Mars. Heh. Let's not spend billions of dollars so a few guys can go there and whack a golf ball around. Not while we're in our current predicament.
6) The fostering of a green economic boom in America -- a Green Industrial Revolution -- with policies that bolster the formation of thousands of new business start-ups dedicated to developing and providing affordable and clean-burning alternative energy sources. This would most definitely generate huge revenues for the government, even with increased tax incentives for homeowners who convert to solar hot water, home heating, and photovoltaic electricity. That's free home utilities. I pay almost a thousand dollars a month to fuel my house. If those expenses were eliminated, you know what I'd do? Save some, spend some, invest some. Actually, the conversion itself is an investment in that it increases the re-sale value of my property. How could that possibly hurt the economy or government revenues?
Instead of talking about this stuff, Russert (I bet you thought I'd never get back to the show) brought in that rubbery President Bush impersonator guy from the correspondent's dinner to freak me out for 15 minutes. Steve Bridges is his name and he appeared in full President Bush latex makeup. Great. If this were the Tonight Show.
But there's something apocalyptic about having a presidential impersonator on Meet the Press. They couldn't grill the real President Bush, so they booked the fake one who does all the gestures and speaks with the Bush-Is-A-Dumb-Stupid gaffs. Don't get me wrong. Bridges' impression is brilliant. The makeup is brilliant. So brilliant that he absolutely should NOT speak in his Steve Bridges voice while wearing the Bush makeup, which he did.
However, I got a sense of how President Bush would sound were he qualified for his job. How sad is that? The impersonator, as himself, was more articulate and dignified than the actual president. But then Bridges did his Clinton impression while wearing the Bush makeup and thus ripped open a hole in the space-time continuum and I could suddenly taste colors. Last time I felt that freaked out was when I listened to The Flaming Lips' Zaireeka with a 102 degree fever.
All that said, I should mention that I can't bring myself to compare Colbert's address to Bridges' "skit". It's like comparing Groucho (Colbert) to Moe Howard. Two very different comedians -- both funny, but for very different reasons. Nevertheless, Colbert's performance was a phenomenon and for Russert to ignore its impact did a huge disservice to history and to smart political satire.
That's all for Russert Watch this week. I'll be in the bathroom for the next hour removing my Rachel Sklar latex makeup. Thought I'd at least look the part.
UPDATE: I forgot to mention another way to help pay for the Democratic plan. A 10 percent national sales tax on all SUV sales totalling over $25,000 with revenues going directly to pay for green energy incentives. But lobbying reform would need to be passed first, of course.