Pundit, Heal Thyself

by Wayne Lutz

Despite what one might be led to believe from listening to the hyperbole spewing from the media in the immediate aftermath of the presidential election, the nation does not need "healing".

The liberals have suffered a tremendous loss. This is the first time since Eisenhower that the democrats have not held the House, the Senate or the White House. They are understandably perplexed - liberals are, after all, ordained to hold power. They simply don't lose, so when they do, "healing" must be required.

And it is, apparently, the sole responsibility of our President-elect to bring about this healing.

Bush was elected by approximately 48 percent of the voters. Vice-President Gore also received about 48 percent of the vote. As a result, we see much wailing, gnashing of teeth and rending of garments over the "deep divisions" in our country. We read that Bush has no mandate, that he must not attempt to proceed with the agenda on which he campaigned. Rather, he must reach across the isle and build consensus. He must reach out to Democrats; he must "govern from the middle".

In 1992, Clinton received about 43 percent of the vote. Fewer people voted for him than voted for Bush in 2000. And yet, there was no talk of mandates, or need to heal a country in which the majority of voters voted against him. There were no entreaties to Clinton to reach out to Republicans or to abandon his agenda. To the contrary, one of his first acts as president was an attempt to nationalize one seventh of our economy.

Open today's newspaper, close your eyes and bring a finger down at any point. Chances are you will see the same refrain, the same "demands" from the democrats and media that Bush somehow show contrition in his win and abandon his principles. It's there, over and over again, under different by-lines. Here is an example, from an Associated Press report by Terrence Hunt, who apparently knows much better than Bush what he must and must not do. First paragraph only:

"Denied a mandate in a disputed election, George W. Bush faces the extraordinary challenge of healing bitter partisan wounds and erasing doubts about the legitimacy of his presidency. His task is to prove that he is, as claimed, a uniter, not a divider.

What unadulterated hooey. Note the false premises upon which these profound statements are based:

1. That there exist "bitter partisan wounds". If so, then where are the similar calls for the most vocal and partisan democratic leaders in this performance to "heal the wounds"? There are none. Why is it that only Bush must "heal the wounds"? To describe a country divided by ideology as "wounded" is the worst sort of demagoguery. This country is all about partisanship. I am a proud partisan. A country without partisanship is a dictatorship.

2. That there are "doubts" about the legitimacy of his presidency. All of the polls show that there are no such doubts, as much as it pains the media to take those polls. Last count was around 60 percent of the population accept the "legitimacy"of Bush's presidency. At the very least, 50 percent of the public has no doubts, and in this country that's a whopping big number.

3. That he is, apparently, lying about being a "uniter, not a divider", or must prove otherwise. One need only review his efforts in Texas and compare those to the tactics of the Democrats; the politics of division, the pitting of group against group in which they engaged, to see that it is indeed a true thing.

The gloomy headlines continue:

"Democrats see trouble ahead for the president-elect".

"Bush must prove he can unite the country".

In fact, Bush must do nothing but carry on with the agenda that he promised during his campaign. This is exactly what the democrats don't want.

The democrats are falling all over themselves telling us that the republicans must back off, slow down, reach out, compromise. Not the democrats, who lost, but the republicans, who won. In a rational world that would make no sense. However, what the democrats want is to win back the house and senate in 2002. In order to accomplish that, Bush must fail. That's what the democrats want, and that's what they will try to achieve. That's why they must do everything they can to de-legitimatize Bush, to move him to "the middle".

The liberals don't want "healing". They want their power back. We don't need healing. We need strong, decent, honorable conservative leadership.