What Are You Waiting For?

The second-biggest waste of time known to humankind, after surfing the Internet (trust me, I've been there), is waiting for a moment that just isn't going to come by itself. And this is what the Democrats seem to be doing these days by waiting for an appropriate moment to criticize George W. Bush.

After the Supreme Court declared Bush the winner of the 2000 presidential election, Democrats waited to criticize him until the bitterness over the election subsided. The Democrats were just beginning to find domestic and international issues to put Bush on the spot over when hijacked jetliners blew the World Trade Center to kingdom come and almost turned the Pentagon into a quadragon. The Democrats refrained from criticizing Bush again, and this was the only time it was genuinely appropriate for them to do so. But the shock of the attacks of September 11, 2001 eventually faded and the Taliban were deposed in Afghanistan, and since then the White House has exploited the tragedy of 9/11/01 to dupe the nation into blindly accepting curbs on civil liberties and a war with Iraq. Democrats continued to avoid taking the offensive on any issue - even on the economy and the environment , where they still have a clear advantage - throughout 2002 for fear of looking unpatriotic and tried to play it safe in the 2002 midterm elections. The Democrats got what they deserved after the election - minority status in both houses of Congress.

Since then, the party has continued to wait for a time when Bush looks vulnerable before pressing their case against him. Attention Democrats - that's not going to happen! Bush has used the power of the presidency to look invulnerable, thanks to Karl Rove's media manipulation, and Democrats have done little to formulate a case for their policies - or even formulate any policies - while waiting for a moment that isn't going to arrive. When are the Democrats going to realize that the only way to get attention is to act, and not wait for a moment to react?

Even the 2004 Democratic presidential candidates don't seem to have realized it. If they keep this up, none of them are going to become the 44th President of the United States, and if the party can't figure out where it's going by 2008, Bush's successor will likely be another Republican. Maybe even brother Jeb. It's a damned disgrace. Hey Dems, why don't you take a lesson from Bruce Springsteen: You spend your life waiting for a moment that just don't come; well, don't waste your time waiting!