Clueless Republicans.

Here's an excellent opinion piece by Brendan Miniter in which he makes a good case for the absence of any kind of Republican strategic vision. Not that Democrats ever could be accused of having same, preferring to focus on how "Bush lied!!!" and the logistics of bringing the troops home in the next 30 days. Or am I being too harsh?

[Thinking, thinking, thinking . . . .]

Nahh.

[Gordon England, the acting deputy defense secretary] wasn't already in line to succeed Mr. Rumsfeld for the simple reason that Sen. Olympia Snowe, a Maine Republican, is mad at him. She placed a "hold" on his nomination because she feels he didn't do enough in recent years to keep naval installations open in her state. President Bush could sidestep the hold and give Mr. England a recess appointment, which would allow him to serve until the beginning of 2007. But under the old rules an "acting" deputy couldn't assume the powers of the secretary in an emergency, so there was a glaring hole in the Pentagon's line of succession.

While the Senate fiddles, the rest of us have time to wonder if Republicans will ever again start acting like a party that wants to change the culture in Washington. A look back over this past year gives little reason to be hopeful. From making the tax cuts permanent to reauthorizing the Patriot Act, this Congress has preferred to kick the can down the road. And on Social Security and other necessary entitlement reforms as well as giving the president's nominees to key posts within the bureaucracy an up or down vote, the current crop of GOP leaders is dropping the ball. ^[1]

"Mr. Miniter also makes this excellent point:

Whether [Tom DeLay] succeeds [in getting his job back after stepping down because of his indictment] or not, Republicans in the House need a clean debate on what they'd like to do with their majority. He could give that to them by publicly stepping aside. Or they could give that to themselves by voting for a new leader. Regardless of how it happens, without that debate, followed by real accomplishments, Republicans will have a hard time making a case for re-election in November. ^[2]

Marcus Aurelius (121-180 A.D.) had a similar thought when he was top dog of the Roman empire:

Within ten days thou wilt seem a god to those to whom thou art now a beast and an ape, if thou wilt return to thy principles and the worship of reason. ^[3]

Notes
^[1] Three-Step Program. How the president, the Senate and the House can retake the initiative in Washington." By Brendan Miniter12/27/05 (emphasis added).
^[2] Id.
^[3] Marcus Aurelius Antonius. Meditations."