Vengeance

Barack Obama has rightly made an effort to suggest that a bipartisan (dare I say, “centrist”) approach to the nation’s many problems is the appropriate path forward. In his inaugural address, the new President stated: “On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.”

Unquestionably, there will continue to be ideological differences, sanctimonious outrage by one side or the other, and attempts at class warfare and the politics of division. Washington is, after all, still Washington.

But President Obama seems to have the good sense to recognize that Democrats do not have a monopoly on truth, justice and the American way. Neither do Republicans.

And yet, the far-Left and the leadership within the President’s own party—led by Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi—seem to favor a period of vengence—a painful continuation of Bush Derangement Syndrome. It’s as if they just can’t let it go. As if the real problems we face and the real solutions that our government must craft are somehow secondary to senate and house “investigations,” hearings, and maybe even show trials.

Some Democrats argue that we need to “know the truth” or that we need to “cleanse the country.” I can only comment that those positions are so breathtakingly ridiculous, you’d think that the adults in the Democratic party would intervene. The problem, of course, is that Pelosi and Reid are children in adult bodies. Unfortunately, it appears that President Obama may have to expend his own political capital to stop this shameful display of continuing BDS.

John Barry (certainly no supporter of George W. Bush) comments on “The Politics of Vengeance” in Newsweek:

What would that [Congressional inquiries] achieve, exactly? Obama is surely right to think that the verdict that matters most is the one the voters rendered in November. Leave the rest to historians—who surely will collectively judge [hmmm, it nice to know that Barry can see 30 or 40 years into the future with such clarity] that the president, Congress, the judiciary (with the public's tacit assent), in a panic after 9/11, colluded to order, do or acquiesce in actions which ill-became a great nation.

Representative Conyers sees inquiries as essential if America is to regain "our moral authority". Really? Is the rest of the world waiting for some bloodletting? No. Obama's election is seen, joyfully, as evidence that America has turned the page. Let us do the same. Leave the new president to restore America's standing by his actions—actions hopefully overseen by a more vigilant legislative branch.

It’s time to move on. It’s way past time to put an end to BDS. The future is Obama’s. Let’s give him an opportunity to address our many problems without the divisions that a continuation of BDS will surely cause.