This is what it sounds like when pigs fly

I stumbled onto an interesting article by MSNBC's Tom Curry, who asked " What would a Democratic majority do in 2007?" – a question that, despite its utter impossibility, shows what's wrong with the party that counts on my vote but offers me little in return.

Sure, I'd love to think about a return to core liberal issues and resolving the obvious problems cultivated in the GOP's reign of terror. But what are Democratic congressmen really creaming their shorts about? Investigations. Ooooh, that's sexy. That's a great idea – let's bog down the flow of government and add to the already almost universal distrust for all politicians – regardless of party affiliations.

"We will have subpoena power, and that's why the Republicans are so afraid that we will be able to show the public how they arrived at a (Medicare) prescription drug bill that is born of corruption," House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi told NBC's Tim Russert on Meet the Press Sunday. "Investigation is the requirement of Congress. It's about checks and balances."

Perhaps the most relentless new committee chairman, if the Democrats win the House, will be Rep. Henry Waxman of California, who is now the senior Democrat on the Government Reform Committee, the House's principal investigative committee.

In an interview Tuesday, Waxman said that if he takes the helm of the committee in 2007, "I would pursue a much more vigorous set of investigations (than Republicans have)…. I'd certainly consider a high priority to investigate abuse of prisoners, manipulation of intelligence that has gotten us into Iraq, I'd want to know about waste of taxpayers' money by private contractors, whether it's in reconstruction of Iraq, or work in the Louisiana-Mississippi Gulf region or for homeland security."

I understand the importance of *proving* that the Bush administration acted unethically and immorally on dozens of occasions, but the court of public opinion reached this conclusion months ago. Why waste political clout by proving that mistakes have been made, even while those same mistakes remain uncorrected?

Senator Harry Reid seems to get it, saying that his agenda, as prospective 2007 majority leader, would be addressing "the energy crisis, health care, allowing our children to go to school… these staggering (federal budget) deficits."

The clincher came when Reid was asked about Senate investigations of the Bush administration: "I'm not heavily into investigations. That should be way down at the bottom of our agenda."

Maybe it's silly to even consider the possibility that he (or any of his liberal peers) will serve as Senate Majority Leader next year, but Reid is correct. If the American public somehow comes to its senses and elects a Democratic majority, it won't be because we wanted GOP assholes to be investigated. It would be because we want our nation restored to some semblance of its former glory. It would be because we are committed to having the mistakes corrected of Bush's cronies, flunkies and douchebags. It would be because we refuse to allow our country's future to be further mortgaged for short-sighted and selfishly motivated gains.

Of course, if you believe any of it will happen, I've got a Halliburton contract I'd love to sell you.