"Prejudice, which sees what it pleases, cannot see what is plain."
—Aubrey T. DeVera

The recent "Reclaiming America" event put on by the Campaign for America's Future was many things. It was pretentious, arrogant, myopic, hypocritical, duplicitous, inaccurate and a personification of "the big lie" in action.

As left wing wacko liberals gathered in the District of Criminals to plot their election-year strategy, the terminally annoying House Democratic leader, little Dick Gephardt led the charge. "The Dick" (not to be confused with "The Donald") eviscerated President Bush and the GOP for treating left-wing politicians as irrelevant. Oh, kinda like the way the diminutive Senate leader Tom Daschle treats any and all Republicans?

The florid-faced one said, "There is no collaboration, no communication, no inclusiveness, no 'Let's work together; let's solve the problems together.' It's 'We know the truth; you don't know anything. Get in the back of the bus, and we'll drive the bus' -- I guess right over the cliff. ..." Dick failed to mention that prior to his rant he had just had breakfast with the president two hours before.

This is classic D.C. manipulation of the lie. You mix a little truth with a little fiction, say it loud and say it often, and eventually the perception (regardless of how inaccurate or specious) becomes reality.

The absence of collaboration, communication and inclusiveness is a reality. However, it is largely (though not exclusively) a function of the petty partisan posturing of the Democrats.

What is happening with judicial appointments, Dick? Why won't Daschle's denizens hold hearings? Why not at least provide the courtesy of a vote on Bush nominations? Are the 80 percent approval ratings of the President a statistical anomaly?

Little Dick and the collection of wannabe hopefuls recommend bashing the GOP as the party of greedy corporate special interests -- as if the Dems have been incapable of gouging their share of greedy corporate special interests.

Trying to saddle the Bush administration with the Enron disaster is both absurd and dangerous. Enron was apparently an equal opportunity dispenser of both bribes and gratuities. Enron largess flowed to whoever was in a position to help them. Enron really was non-partisan. Democrats attempting to saddle the Bush administration as somehow coddling or expediting the abuses of Enron do so at their own peril. Ron Brown may be dead but the paper trail remains.

Arguably the most outrageous, hypocritical, totally BS rant was from Katrina Vanden Heuvel. She edits the Nation, a sycophant magazine of record for liberal doctrine. Man, you talk about gagging maggots! She had the chutzpah to actually articulate the following on camera:

"The Bush-Cheney administration marks a radical overthrow of traditional American values and policies. It will shamelessly exploit the tragedy of last Sept. 11 to block debate. These people are extremists. They have no self-restraint and almost no respect for truth in public debate. They will do anything to increase their power and say anything about those who disagree with them, including branding them as traitors. They are bullies."

Hold on!

Before the Democrats' welfare cancer destroyed the nuclear family, enslaved minorities, skyrocketed black illegitimacy rates and reduced old school liberals to a redefined (but never acknowledged) totalitarian-socialist-New Left serfdom, traditional values were traditional. Those values had as a foundation the Constitution and Judeo-Christian ethic. Traditional values were not and are not any hybrid fiction of socialism, communism, fascism, or any other new age bastardization of any other "ism."

In December the Senate wanted to vote on an economic stimulus package. If allowed to go to the floor of the full Senate it was acknowledged it would have passed then. Tom Daschle single-handedly demonstrated "no self-restraint" and absolutely "no respect for truth in public debate." He killed the bill procedurally.

Again, the Bush judicial nominees issue: "Truth in public debate"? Unrestrained, hypocrites in the unbridled liberal camp "Borked" Judge Pickering and denied the full Senate even the opportunity to vote on a man they had previously approved. Pickering was "Borked" for petty, partisan, "no self-restraint" politics. And not only did Tiny Tom demonstrate "no respect for truth in public debate," he didn't even have the stones to allow the full U.S. Senate to perform its function.

"The hardest tumble a man can make is to fall over his own bluff."
—Ambrose Bierce