Second thoughts on "shadow government"

After letting the words used by Jeb Bush sink in, "shadow government" doesn't sit too well with me. It sounds vaguely threatening, like "You're shadowing me." It has an element of menace in it. It isn't openly an "opposition" government; no, nor is it concilatory; it's there to criticize. The consistent thing about guys like Jeb Bush, in line with the old Republican philosophy, is to be against something, not for it; to be in a position to scare people, not to advocate good positive things. Putting people and ideas down is the tack they have taken; witness McCain's whole campaign; witness Sarah's natural proclivities. So Jeb Bush starts off by surfacing and proposing that the Republicans start a "shadow government" to watch, and criticize, and follow what Obama's Administration does closely. What bothers me about this, deeply, I might add, is the fact that it is not being supportive in any way. No one is saying, if we want to survive, we have to work together, guys. No, the implication is that "they" (Democrats) are the enemy. And in this terrible time, when the country is literally falling apart, and everybody is unsettled, these isolated Republicans are settling in to be critical. As if they aren't losing their savings, too; as if they are exempt; as if, should the country really fail, they wouldn't be affected. Quite a blind spot. isn't it. They aren't even pretending to help, to support, to work with their counterparts to make things better for everybody, themselves included. How antedeluvian, how "old school", how traditional, how like McCarthy and all of the Republican demogogues, to stand back and continue criticizing the Democrats who are working very hard, very earnestly, to fix what went wrong with this country. So Jeb Bush is nothing more than another toxic Republican, joining in the long line of negative right-wing naysayers and destroyers, no better than Limbaugh and Hannity and O'Reilly. Pretty disgusting, I'd say. Stand on the sidelines and criticize while the Titanic goes down; criticize everything the crew and captain does. Disgusting, guys, absolutely disgusting.

We stood back and criticized, and watched them make mistakes, as well as successes. We criticized them for their mistakes, made fun of them, and trampled on them when we could. And when the wave came and engulfed us all, Republican and Democrat, Independent and Libertarian, it all became real and they were weakened, and we knew we had plenty to atone for. But it was too late. The damage had been done.

Jeb Bush Surfaces, Finally

At last. For sometime now I've been waiting for Jeb to surface and now he has with the wonderful catch phrase of setting up a "shadow government." Jeb, you may remember, was the popular Governor of Florida and the heir apparent before his brother beat him to the Presidency. Jeb was the smart brother. He wants to lead the opposition, of course. He's already denigrating Obama's victory by saying that OBama had a significant advantage because of his fundraising warchest; yet he's also saying in the next breath, so to speak, that the Republicans can't be “the old white-guy party,” and need to reach out, especially to Hispanics. He told NewsMax.com, “We have to actually be proposing solutions to what appear to be intractable problems as it relates to education, healthcare, infrastructure. Across the board there are ways that we can show that we are truly on the side of the people that are concerned about the future of the country, without abandoning our principles.” And what are those principles? Some of the Republican staples, such as lowering taxes, reforming education, and reform in general. It's only the beginning, folks, of a long and sustained campaign and it will be interesting to see him cross paths with Sara Palin in times to come. I still believe Jeb Bush is the man to watch.