When the Democrats came to power in 2006, everyone was sure there was going to be some challenging of George W. Bush’s policies. Surely there would be hearings! Surely there would be a check on the Bush administration’s abuse of power! But no, nothing happened. The Democrats kept getting steamrolled by the Bush administration, telling us that they were toothless, that try as they might they couldn’t do anything because—believe it or not—there were too many Republicans in the House and Senate! These Republicans kept stymieing the Democrats at every turn, preventing them from doing anything that would even appear to be a check on the Bush administration.
In 2008, even more Democrats were elected. Barack Obama became President of the United States. Things were going to get done! Health Care Reform was going to happen! Except for the fact that now, Democrats were still stymied by Republicans, who only had to threaten to filibuster in order to stop actions from being taken, but by the Blue Dogs, who had seemingly come into existence in 2006 for the sole purpose of telling America, "Yes, Democrats can be conservative! Please don’t group us with those godless liberals who are part of our party!" The Blue Dogs quickly worked to vote against Democratic measures and make sure that several bills that might have been a good idea at one time would never end up on the books.
And now the Republicans have control of the House, and both the White House and the Senate are stumbling over themselves to capitulate. You want the tax cuts kept in place? No problem! Shall we draw up some impeachment charges against us while we’re at it?
Well, that’s enough for me. Even though the next election is two years away, I can still call out the poisonous elements of the Democratic party. Namely, the douchebags who are conservative in all but name, and the cowards who are content to let themselves sit back and get walked over. So get comfortable and start preparing the tar and feathers. This could take a while.
My first subject is none other than Heath Shuler, who is currently trying to be Minority Leader in the House of Representatives because...well, Pelosi is too darn liberal, for one! She helped pass the Health Care Reform bill! Not Heath Shuler, though. He can proudly stand up before all Democrats and say that he voted against Health Care Reform! He and 39 other so-called "Democrats. That should pretty much tell you everything you need to know about Heath Shuler right there. He is solidly with the insurance companies when it comes to health care.
Heath Shuler didn’t start out wanting to be a congressperson, though. No, his first choice of career was pro football player. He was drafted from the University of Tennessee by the Washington Redskins in 1994, a choice that ESPN honored as being the fourth biggest NFL Draft Bust of all time. Undeterred with his performance in the NFL, Shuler became a successful real estate salesman before running for politics, where he continued his streak of disappointing people who had hope in him.
His first run for Congress was in the 11th district of North Carolina, where he attacked Republican Charles H. Taylor for not standing up for the interests of the 11th district. Taylor attacked Shuler for being potentially another vote in Nancy Pelosi’s pocket, a worry which he has since discovered was groundless. The only thing that really separates Shuler from Taylor is the letter before the name. You could also make an argument that Shuler has been more effective in standing up to Pelosi than Taylor would ever be. After all, as a Democrat, he is on the Committee on Small Business’ Subcommittee on Rural and Urban Entrerpeneurship and the Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight. He is also on the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Building and Emergency Management and the Subcommittee on Highways and Trust, and as a Democrat he can do so much more to weaken the party within by demanding compromises than he could as a Republican by just refusing to do anything that a Republican doesn’t suggest.
According to Wikipedia, Shuler is a somewhat conservative Democrat, which is like saying that Glenn Beck is a little bit crazy or Rush Limbaugh is a little bit addicted to Oxycontin. He agrees with Republicans on abortion, gun control and immigration. According to Project VoteSmart, he supports the American Conservative Union, the Club for Growth, and the Concerned Women for America. He also supports the English First movement, a group that wants English to be America’s official language and eliminate multilingual policies. Isn’t he a charmer, folks? But other than these minor, minor issues he’s with the party, all the time! So long as you don’t count him opposing the 2009 stimulus bill, and health care reform. According to Politico, he’s on the top of Nancy Pelosi’s "disfavor list," and the feeling seems to be mutual. Lest anyone think he’s against big business, he also sides with the National Taxpayers Union, which has among other things come out against Net Neutrality and for Telecom Deregulation. But he’s with us on everything else! Did I mention he’s also against gun control? Granted, he says he’s for the passing of legislation that reduces the effects of Climate Change. Then again, he did vote yes on ending the moratorium on deepwater drilling righs. Oh, and he also voted to explore for oil in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska. Not to mention he voted against repealing "Don’t Act, Don’t Tell." Oh, and he voted twice against extending unemployment benefits!
But he did vote for trade-in vouchers for fuel efficient cars. And he voted for the "cap and trade" program to regulate greenhouse gas emissions that sets goals! Which is pretty much all talk once you get down to it, but he put on a good show of being mildly liberal on an issue or two.
What really pushes me over the edge, though, is his wanting to be Minority Leader. Come on, aren’t the Democrats spineless enough? They capitulated on giving aid to 9-11 responders, for God’s sake! With Heath Shuler at the helm, who knows how far they would go to please the Conservatives? Become honorary Republicans? Vote with them to impeach President Obama? Go on Fox Ne—no, Shuler’s already done that.
Bottom line, Heath Shuler is a douchebag. He’s a conservative who wants to invest in windmills, and his idea of progressivism would make Strom Thurmond smile from his spot in Hell.