Only dedicated politicians can do the dance

By Dick Tunison

I don’t dance. Stepping too close to a dance floor has been known to give me a severe nosebleed. That doesn’t mean I don’t like the idea of dancing. I’d just prefer to be an observer rather than a participant.

A couple of years ago, my wife and I attended a convention in Philadelphia. Each evening an orchestra played dance music after the dinner had been served. I watched my wife out of the corner of my eye and knew what was going in her head. She wanted me to take her hand and march her right out onto the dance floor and swing her around with the music. But Fred Astaire I am not and I have many blood stained shirts to prove it.

As I said, I don’t mind watching people dance when they really know what they’re doing. One evening after dinner the orchestra played line dance music and everybody but the two of us at our table ventured out onto the floor. It ranked among the most stupid dances I’d ever seen. The dancers stood in a straight line and first stepped out a couple of paces and then retreated. Then they did the same thing to the right and then the left. They never got anywhere! Not only that, the whole thing was graceless – nothing at all like the waltz, for instance.

If you’ve been watching and reading about the aftermath of the great “port sale of the century” as played out this past week you have observed what I’m dubbing “The Congressional Line Dance.” The only things dumber than the dance were the dancers who couldn’t figure out which way they were supposed to go next. First, they stepped toward national security. Then they retreated toward sticking it to the president. Next they moved toward expelling all foreigners from any American strategic business, and finally they expressed the sentiment that only congress had the wisdom to protect the critical interests of the country.

All the time they danced they sang lyrics written by some elitist for the consumption of the masses: Bush is selling our ports to the terrorists, tra-la. He’s in cahoots with the money changers, tra-la. The lyricist was always careful to say “ports” even though he knew the word should be “terminal.” It was always “sell” and never “lease.” It was always “control” the port and never did they say “operate” the terminal, and invariably, it was “take responsibility for security” rather than “guard the gate.”

Antics by the boot-stompers on both sides of the aisle have been an embarrassment. They have played deceitful politics to the hilt. The underlying game has been an effort on the part of far too many congressmen to expand their political importance. They want to investigate everything the administration does so they can second guess the president and criticize his decisions. In the process, many have resorted to fabrications and misstatements that served only to confuse an already uneducated public that is easily aroused.

With the incessant harping about the president’s “lies” concerning nearly everything he has attempted to accomplish, it’s easy to understand why a great number of Americans can be tempted to join the line dance. To argue that the United Arab Emirates do not now present a security risk somehow translates into a gigantic lie when we are reminded that it was through Dubai that funds and terrorist moved toward 9/11. But in creating doubts, we miss the point that Dubai is vital to our strategic military needs in the Middle East, and the UEA has worked hand in glove with us to foil terrorism in the area.

I have discussed the economics of our relationship with foreign countries in previous writings. Yet, our overly politicized congressmen and senators are overwhelmed with the opportunity to make hay at the expense of the realities of international finance and our need for the infusion of more than $3 billion dollars a day to maintain our fiscal integrity. They step forward and then they step backward seemingly unable to grasp the facts.

Although some of the readers of this essay will gnash their teeth at what I say, this week has been a sad week when we look at the performance of the line dancers in Washington. They could never seem to get their sense of direction because they’ve been blinded by political opportunity. Yes, it’s been a sad week.

My apologies to all my friends who really love to line dance. I know in their hearts they’d rather be dancing than have a seat in congress. As for myself, I don’t dance.

Addendum

While I’m in an apologetic mood, let me touch on a subject that some readers are sensitive about. I frequently refer to groups as if there are no exceptions to their composition. That is, I may write “Liberal thinkers suggest…” “Democrats oppose…” “Conservatives are advocating…” “Liberal theories are failing…”

I’ve had a number of liberal friends take issue with my seemingly all-inclusive statement, because it doesn’t reflect their personal view and they would prefer that I write, “some liberals” so that they could find themselves among the “not some liberals” group. I think I can understand not wanting to be counted as thinking in a particular way when I actually don’t agree with the stated concept. But that opens up a larger question: Are “some” liberals liberal in name only? Is it possible they are closet conservatives occasionally peeping through the crack? I have not had time to research this matter, but it does provide some intrigue.

Suppose a large proportion of liberals who live on the east and west coasts simply want their friends and neighbors to think they are left leaning. After all, in Hollywood that would sort of guarantee acceptance, wouldn’t it? Here in Oklahoma, where I live, it takes a very brave soul to proclaim one’s liberalism. Who do you think buys all the Kevlar vests – hunters heading for the quail pastures?

I would love to spend the evening with one of my (I quiver as I say it) liberal friends for the purpose of testing the depth of their convictions. I would bet a large percentage of them are really conservatives who have lost their way as a result of listening to CNN day and night.

Now comes my apology: I really don’t want to offend anybody with my essays, but I do want to get the “some liberals” to question the basis of their assumptions. So, I’ll keep trying until it works.