April 8, 2006 [LINK]

Dionne on DeLay and GOP woes

Washington Post columnist E. J. Dionne is not exactly my favorite, but he makes some good points about what's ailing the Party of Lincoln these days. Specifically, the exit of Tom DeLay is not the main problem, contrary to what many people think.

No, the most important development is the collapse of purpose in the Republican Party and the sense of exhaustion at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue. Other than the desperate scramble to make something go right in Iraq, our national government seems to have no energy, no coherence and no sense of direction.

His conventional-wisdom assessment of the Iraq situation overlooks the fact that casualties there continue to decline, notwithstanding all the scary headline-grabbing bombs. Likewise, I think he is overstating the depth of the crisis in the GOP, but it is a prospect that cannot be ignored. Dionne reminds us about DeLay gloating after the 2004 elections that the Republicans had amassed a "permanent majority," just as Karl Rove was fond saying in those "glory days." Alas...

McKinney is "sorry"

Well, at least she said the magic words "I apologize." Just like Bill Clinton, Dick Durbin, et al., however, I had the strong sense that she had her fingers crossed behind her back. Donald Luskin links to a cartoon (pre-apology) that portrays Ms. McKinney fairly aptly.