Back in 2004 when George Bush was fresh off a victory over John Kerry, my friend Andy Colyer predicted that Bush’s incompetence would heavily damaged the Republican party, damaging our country which relies on a two party system. 

Part one of his prediction came true. Tuesday night was a huge referendum on Bush’s Republican Party. This is only two years after the GOP suffered terribly in the mid-term elections. Time will shortly tell if a Pelosi-Reid- Obama trio will damage the United States – as happened at other times when there was one party control such as from 1992-1994 and 2000-2006 (despite the Senate tipping to the Democrats for a while in 2002 thanks to an Independent Senator from Vermont).

The post-mortem on the 2008 election reminded me of former Maryland Lt. Governor’s recent book “Failing America’s Faithful: How today’s churches are mixing god with politics and losing their way.” Kathleen Kennedy Townsend’s premise is that the Catholic Church once stood for issues such as helping the less fortunate, but has now become an organization that is “anti” everything – anti-abortion, anti-gay marriage….

The same thing can now be said about the GOP. The party, which once stood for fiscal responsibility and less government has created the largest government in our nation’s history and racked up debt with too many zeros to run in this blog.

They got stomped in 2008 because they had no defensible platform. They aren’t trusted to make government or our budget smaller. More importantly, they have no workable solutions to our country’s biggest problems: health care, the environment, the economy, and energy independence. Instead they remain the “anti” party. Anti-abortion, anti-gay rights, anti-healthcare solutions, as well as against solutions for global warming and energy conservation. 

People don’t necessarily want more government, but they expect the government to enact solutions to our nation’s problems. Market based solutions haven’t worked on energy, the environment or healthcare. We’re falling behind the rest of the world in education and life expectancy while we consume 25 percent of the planet’s energy.

The Democrats have an opportunity and a responsibility now to deliver on those issues without negative consequences. It’s a huge challenge, and as a country they need to be successful. In the meantime, the GOP will be in Diaspora, hopefully gathering their own ideas on how to fix these problems. 

At some point, truth in advertising will demand this publication’s name be changed to “The Democratic Party (sometimes Jewish) Times.”

What Mr. Buerger knows how to do is parrot back the “narrative” fed to him by Democrat Party operatives, such as Media Matters, moveon.org, and the Daily Kos.

What stuns me about Buerger’s musings is just how shallow and adolescent they are. The word “sophomoric” comes to mind, meaning intelligent imbecile.

Buerger has long given free reign to his brand of Bush Derangement Syndrome, and even now he can’t stop.

Many of his points are true, but a deeper thinker would see them as not true enough. On spending, yes, Bush betrayed his base. But what spending does Buerger object to? AIDS in Africa? The prescription plan for seniors? The Kennedy education bill?

Before he says the war, I’ll remind him that most democrat senators were, like the party’s 2004 nominee, for it before they were against it. And when did they turn against it? At precisely the moment when they saw Howard Dean could garner money and votes in the primaries, backed by….moveon.org and the Daily Kos.

Does the Jewish Community really want to be affiliated with these organizations? They are, outside of black groups Obama is associated with (Jeremiah Wright’s church and others like it, Farrakhan’s Nation of Islam, and Malik Shabazz’s New Black Panther Party)the leading voices of Left-wing anti-Semitism today.

Don’t believe me? Look at what happened to Senator Joseph Lieberman here in my home state of Connecticut in 2006. Look at how he is being treated today. Its a stunning fall for the Democrat Party’s 2000 VP nominee.

Buerger will call out transgressions of what he thinks are civility - when he gets his talking points from elsewhere. Buerger is for reaching across the aisle, except when the bi-partsan gesture is from the Democrats to the Republicans.

My evidence for this? The “Jewish Times” has been entirely silent on what has happened to Senator Lieberman, without question the most important elected Jewish politician in the nation.

Why? Because he is an Orthodox Jew? Possibly. Or perhaps because he dared to take a stand on a matter of principle, thereby defying the unanimity demanded by the Politburo of the Democrat Party of the United States.

Buerger thinks he knows something about the Soviet Union (he doesn’t), but the point to be noted is his cheer leading for one political party over a matter of principle that ought to be of interest to all Jewish Americans: US interests, including support for Israel.

Clearly what happened here is the Democrat Party left Senator Lieberman; he did not leave it. Are there lessons here for those of us who care about our own national security and Israel’s? You bet. Does the “Jewish Times” cover it? Of course not. Why? Because it does not fit the current narrative of the Democrat Party.

On energy, Buerger, following what he thinks is the “timeless” brilliance of NY Times columnist, Thomas Friedman, stomps his feet like a child, and demands a fix now. A more intelligent observer might glance back to the oil embargo of 1973 to see how we got to the point of where we are today. Its ugly, on a bi-partisan basis. He will stomp his feet again when the Social Security system goes bust. When that happens, there will be the same difference between the immediate occasion and deeper cause as there is on the energy issue. Buerger will look to blame.

On healthcare, what solution does Buerger propose?

On abortion and gay marriage, lets hear what the Jewish position(s) are on these issues. At what point does abortion become infanticide? Does partial-birth abortion constitute infanticide? Do we as Jews care? What are the differences between civil unions and gay marriage? Why do ballot initiatives across the counter, time after time, fail on the question of legalizing gay marriage? Do we as Jews care?

On these issues, Buerger uses the Catholic Church as a proxy. What he is really against are any rules and standards of behavior.

This explains the “Jewish Times’s” regular bashing of Orthodox Judaism. Buerger wants an “anything goes” society, provided what goes accords with the liberal-left agenda of the 1960s.

What is entirely lacking from “Andrew Buerger Thought” is the caution of a more fully developed and mature mind that, knowing what seems apparent on the surface usually masks a deeper and more complex and even contradictory reality, steps back, takes a deep breath, and assesses coolly and dispassionately.

This is the problem with Mr. Buerger: he “feels” more than he “thinks.” In doing so, he sets the tone for the entire publication

The question readers of “The Jewish Times” ought to ask themselves is this: to what extent does this much-loved journal continue to serve the Baltimore Jewish community, as opposed to other interests that any critical reader can easily identify?

A great commentary on the state of both political parties as they exist today. The Republicans wasted a great opportunity to change the way government works, way back when W was first elected. Instead they became just like the other guys, so there is virtually no difference between them… despite the “anti” tag. The Republicans need to return to the party they claimed they were… less government, less taxes, less spending. And the Obama/Reid/Pelosi group may or may not make a difference. My bet is not. Despite a new face at the top, it’s still the group that are spending their way (and our money) into oblivion. This nasty economy is the result of government meddling in the marketplace, beginning with the mortgage policies badgered on Freddie Mac and Fanny Mae, by the congress and administrations alike.

The chickens of failed government policies have come home to roost and we are all roasting on the spit!