February 11, 2009--The Ladies of Forest Trace: Definitions Republican Style

“I’ve only got a minute.” It was my mother calling.

“Me too. Are you OK?”

“I’m fine. I’m fine. But I have to run in a moment. It’s one of the girls 100th birthday and they’re having a pizza party for her this afternoon. I want to get a table in the back so I can sneak out without being noticed. I don’t have all day for these things.”

“So?”

“Did you see Barack Obama’s town meeting in Ft. Myers?”

“I did.”

“So what did you think? Good, no?”

“I thought he did well but not as well as the day before in Indiana and then at his press conference. I thought he was a little more articulate then, but he did do well today.”

“I’ll get to that in a minute, but did you also listen to that new head of the Republican Party Sunday on Stephanopoulus?” I told her I hadn’t. “Well, you sure missed something. They got into a big fight about the difference between work and a job. He was attacking Obama’s stimulus plan saying it was going to create work but not jobs. Staphanopoulus couldn’t help himself from almost laughing at that, saying there wasn’t a difference. But this man, whose, name I’ve forgotten. . .”

“Michael Steele,” I said, “I think he was the lieutenant governor of Delaware or Maryland.”

“Whatever. Can you believe this? They’re doing it again. Just like during Bush. Making up their own definitions of things. If this is the best they can come up with, they’ll never become the majority party again. As we saw earlier today in Ft. Myers people are hurting and angry and the best they can come up with is this.”

“I agree. It sounds pathetic. I think Steele’s point must have been that Obama and the Democrats don’t believe that private business is the best way to create jobs, which is what the Republicans keep saying, even though these businesses are laying off tens of thousands of workers, and that the government jobs are really ‘make-work,’ and don’t add anything to the economy.”

“Exactly. But isn’t it true that if a government decides to fix a bridge and has the money to do it they hire a private contractor to do the job? Government workers don’t do it.”

“That’s my understanding of how this works.”

“So they’re just playing politics again.”

“I agree with that too.”

“But what I really called you about is another definition, like with ‘work’ and ‘job.’”

“I’m listening.”

“Did you see today who introduced Barack Obama?”

“I missed that. I was on the phone when he began.”

“Charlie Crist. You know of course who he is now that you’re spending the winter in Florida.”

“Yea I do. The governor of Florida. I’m hearing that he wants to run for president in four years.”

“You’re making my point for me. So what was he doing introducing Obama? He’s a Republican. Republican members of Florida’s congressional delegation didn’t even come to the meeting, but Crist was not only there but introduced Obama and said he supported the stimulus plan.”

“That is interesting. I’m sorry I missed it.”

“Well, to me this was the same thing as that Steele was saying on Sunday.”

“I’m not sure I’m following you.”

“This time I’m talking about bipartisanship.”

“Again, I’m not . . .”

“The definition. Of ‘bipartisanship.’”

“Go on.”

“You’ve been hearing all the people on TV talking about this. How Obama is trying to act that way but no one in the House of Representatives voted for it and only three I believe it was in the Senate.”

“Yes, three.”

“They keep saying how this bipartisan thing is not working. Maybe, they claim, the Republicans are trying to see how much they can get Obama to compromise and agree to put in the bill for them; but then when it comes time to vote no one vote with him.”

“Yes, I’ve been following that line of argument.”

“So what then do you make of Charlie Crist? Or Arnold what’s-his name in California? Aren’t they Republicans?”

“Schwarzenegger. And yes they are.”

“And aren’t there other governors who are Republicans, and mayors too, who are supporting the president on this?”

“Yes, there’s Jodi Rell in Connecticut and Governor Daniels in Vermont and, can you believe it, even Sarah Plain. Your favorite. And Governor Daniels from Indiana and . . .”

“I told you I have to run so you don’t have to tell me all the names since I’ll promptly forget them. At 100 you lose your short-term memory.”

“You seem to be doing pretty well to me.”

“I’m lucky if I know what I had for dinner yesterday.”

“You’re doing great mom. And you always tell me how bad the food is in the dining room.”

“So it’s a good thing then that I can’t remember what I had.”

“Please, finish your point. You told me you have only a few minutes.”

“You see, I forgot that too!” She chuckled at herself. But added, “It’s again about definitions—‘work-jobs,’ ‘bipartisanship.’ It’s not just about how many votes he gets in Congress. Isn’t it also about the support he gets from other politicians? Governors and mayors too? And what about the people?”

“Again I’m not . . .”

“Well, if 75 percent of the people think he’s doing a good job, since he got only 53 percent of the vote in November, this must mean that lots of Republicans now are supporting him. Isn’t that also bipartisanship?”

“I suppose . . .” But she had already hung up. She had to run. The pizza would be getting cold.