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Former House Speaker Jim Wright Was One of the First Victims of the Right Wing Jihad,
Led by Newt Gingrich.
But, fortunately for us, Jim Wright didn't retreat from telling it like it is.
http://web.star-telegram.com/content/fortworth/2001/11/12/columnist/1956627800.htm?template=articleTemplateID.htm
>From the Star-Telegram
Monday, November 12, 2001
Bipartisan Boulevard runs both ways
George W. Bush would be wise to use and not abuse the members of the loyal opposition.
President Bush needs to learn that bipartisanship is a two-way street.
He cannot reasonably expect unquestioning loyalty from congressional Democrats to
continue indefinitely while he gives tacit approval to the kind of myopic display of
unreasoning partisanship that House Republican Whip Tom DeLay exhibited in derailing
the airport security bill.
That bill had passed the Senate without a single dissenting vote from either party.
The president had labeled its enactment an emergency, calling for swift passage.
Senate Democrats complied.
It was carefully designed in a nonpartisan way to strengthen security at the nation's
biggest and busiest airports. Senate Republicans found no fault with it.
Then DeLay and a clique of right-wing ideologues and government-haters peevishly
insisted on overhauling the key provision that federalizes the security system,
professionalizes the work force and establishes authority for its uniform functioning.
It should be obvious to anyone who flies frequently that one highly vulnerable point
at which a clever and determined terrorist might deceive or corrupt the system would
be at one of the electronic gates through which passengers line up and pass between
sensor machines into the boarding areas.
By and large, the operators do a good job. But they're often hurried, harried and
subject to occasional distraction.
They are characteristically underpaid by their private employers. They have minimal
training and no job protection. Their only surety is the minimum-wage law. Some
noncitizens have been hired for these jobs as entry-level workers.
The machines at sundry airports do not operate uniformly. A metallic credit card, a
money clip or an aluminum-based arch preserver in a shoe will set off one machine and
be undetected by another.
What objection did DeLay and his cohorts make to federalizing the system and
professionalizing the work force? That some of the workers might join a union!
And supposing they did? Federal workers, unlike private employees, are prohibited by
law from striking. DeLay says that if they joined a union, they might vote Democratic.
Well, what's to keep them from doing that now?
Do we not, and shouldn't we, look first to our public employer to protect the public
safety?
Aircraft in annually increasing numbers have moved safely through America's skies
because of an air route traffic control system. Its operators are today as crucial to
the preservation of human life as members of any other profession, save medicine. They
are well-trained and reasonably well-paid.
And, yes, they're federal employees. Would we have it otherwise?
Can anyone seriously argue that making people federal employees reduces their devotion
to our country? Would we privatize the Immigration and Naturalization Service? Have
free-enterprise U.S. marshals? Or judges?
Would anyone return to private armies and navies? Rely on the lowest-bidding private
corporation to defend our country?
Of course, there might be one advantage for politicians. If we'd contract out more
public responsibilities to private profit entrepreneurs, there'd be more plums to
distribute among folks with money to contribute to friends at campaign time.
Which reminds me: Whatever became of the campaign finance reform bill that passed the
Senate early this year? Shall we assume that it, like the urgent airport safety
matter, got DeLayed?
Bush has enjoyed an unrivalled degree of help and support from Democrats in Congress
in each of his anti-terrorism initiatives. That help has been wholehearted. There's
been no sniping, no obstruction, no foot-dragging. Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle
and House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt have offered unstinting cooperation.
Congress, at Bush's request, has approved a full measure of help for New York City,
the victims' families and the airline industry.
Lawmakers have given the chief executive an open-ended authorization for military
action and every bit of funding that he has sought for the armed services.
They supported his request for airport security, which members of Bush's own party
seem determined to make into a political football.
Today, we face serious problems in America's domestic economy. The gross domestic
product has fallen. Unemployment is rising. The stock market is in a slump, and
consumer confidence is plunging.
By no means is all of this due to the terrorist attacks. The trends were clearly in
motion before Sept. 11.
Bush had best take a tip from President Eisenhower and seek seasoned advice - and not
expect blind obedience - from his loyal opposition.
Jim Wright is a former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. PO Box 1413 Fort
Worth, TX 76101
>From the Star-Telegram
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