Pelosi’s Poodles: They Can Bark, But Can They Bite?

They call themselves blue dogs, but they never told us what breed they represent. Now we know that many of them are poodles. To be more precise, they are Nancy Pelosi’s poodles. When she says jump, they say: How high? Then they perform exactly as instructed irrespective of the consequences to the nation or their constituents.
Sadly, the House of Representatives has been converted into a large circus tent. Everywhere one looks on the Democratic side of the aisle, one encounters well-trained animals and/or gyrating clowns. Totally absent, however, are independent judgment and courageous statesmanship. It does not seem to matter to these tribunes of the people if, for the sake of party unity, they bankrupt millions of ordinary Americans.
This is the lesson of the recent midnight vote to approve one of the worst pieces of legislation ever to make it to the floor of congress. The Pelosi/Obama health care plan, despite never having been read by the overwhelming majority of those who voted for it, just squeaked through on the strength of deeply ingrained habits of obedience.
And then—amazingly—once it passed, Nancy’s throng of yapping lap dogs cheered. Evidently entranced of the validity of well-rehearsed talking points, they were convinced that they had made history. And perhaps they had. Never before had such an expensive bill, one that also reduced medical services to the elderly, passed during a deep recession.
To judge by the gubernatorial elections that preceded the vote by mere days, many of Nancy’s poodles were cheering for their impending demise. As of now, it looks probable that many of them will not be returned to Congress next November.
So why did these theoretically mature adults act so self-destructively? Why did they support what the public seems neither to want or need? As importantly, although these compliant legislators proved that they can make themselves heard, will they also prove to possess the mandible strength to make their bites felt?
The immediate reaction of several influential senators indicates that the House bill will be dead on arrival in the Senate chamber. So why did the poodles take a chance on endorsing a measure that is both unpopular and likely to fail? Why did they so loudly proclaim what is both inept and disliked—especially after having earlier passed a similarly unpopular cap-and-trade energy bill?
Two answers seem likely, both of which can be traced to Nancy and Barack Obama. These are arrogance and ideological purity. A third reason may also be simple naiveté. Both Nancy and Barack seem to believe what they are peddling. They are so deeply committed to government provided health care that they will do whatever it takes to advance the cause. Coupled with an unbridled belief in their own abilities, they cannot help but push forward.
But why did so many of their team-members decide to follow them over the cliff? Why did so many who clearly had their doubts about the wisdom of making this political statement fall into line?
Could it be that they were victimized by their own propaganda? After decades of liberal half-truths about the benefits of public sponsored medical treatment, many legislators may have come to believe them. Despite tons of evidence to the contrary, they may have felt like hypocrites had they voted against their party’s effort to implement a long-held ideal.
If so, they sold their souls for the sake of childlike idealism. Instead of using their heads, they mindlessly conformed to a set of principles that are liable to have horrendous implications.
The bottom line is that we, the American people, must now hope that our nation can evade the rabid bite of Pelosi’s pack of pusillanimous poodles. These legislators were whipped into line by the ideological arrogance of their leaders, but we had better hope that we can resist such pressures. Only when these radical liberals have been defanged—as by electoral defeat—will we be able to rest easy. Only then can we be sure that they will not bludgeon us into accepting their misguided ideals.
Melvyn L. Fein. Ph.D.
Professor of Sociology
Kennesaw State University