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Sunday, November 9, 2008 12:00 AM

Orin Kerr and the responsibility of elites for the last eight years

There is no virtue in having treated the radicalism and lawlessness of the Bush era as though it were reasonable, decent and worthy of respect

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  • Sunday, November 9, 2008 11:35 AM

    Not only are they apologists, they make it seem "ideological"

    In a WSJ article yesterday (link at sig), Rahm Emanuel cited Clinton's "gays in the military" and the Republicans' Terry Schiavo episodes and said,

    "the lesson is to do what you got elected to do. Do what you talked about on the campaign. If you got elected, that's what people expect. Don't go off on tangents where part of your party is demanding an ideological litmus test. Neither of those things was part of the campaign."

    "Barack Obama can stand up to them," said Emanuel. The "them" are Democrats with left-wing agendas, such as Barney Frank, who wants deep cuts to defense spending.

    "Let me say this as to my colleagues," he began. "Although committed to their philosophy, they are incredibly pragmatic. They have lived through an experience in the minority. And they know how they got to be in the minority. And they know one very important political principle. They know that if President-elect Obama succeeds, all of us succeed. And if he doesn't succeed, his failures won't be limited to him."

    and

    ...the best way for Democrats to avoid overreach in the next two years is by thinking "less ideologically and more in terms of future versus past."

    Where will correcting the old government's damage fall on the new government's scale? Thank goodness for Glenn and people like him who put it where it belongs and damn the Orin Kerrs who don't.

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