For GOP, Shoe Is on Other Foot
 

At heart, I am a pacifist. But boy, does it feel good to come out swinging.

After eight years of watching the Republicans go after the Democrats with both barrels blazing
— not to mention special prosecutors prosecuting — it's just plain exhilarating to have the tables turned.
The shoe is on the other foot, and it's aiming for the gut.

As President-elect George W. Bush attempts to get his cabinet appointees approved, he and his minions seem shocked, shocked by the onslaught of opposition. With tight smiles, they plea for a little bipartisan bonhomie.

The Democrats like this idea about as much as they liked that very beacon of bipartisanship, Newt Gingrich.

In fact, they like it about as much as they liked all those good-natured Republican attacks on Clinton's nominees
Zoe Baird, Kimba Wood and Lani Guinier.

They like it just the way they liked seeing Secretary of Agriculture Mike Espy prosecuted on 30 counts
of bribery and wrongdoing. (The verdict, four years and $21 million later? Not guilty on all 30 counts.)

Democrats appreciate this plea for mutual respect as much as they truly appreciated the four-year, $10 million fight
against Housing Secretary Henry Cisneros, which ended with him pleading guilty to a single misdemeanor.

And, of course, they savor the opportunity to give the GOP a fair chance to serve as much as they savored Filegate.
(Did the Clintons filch FBI files on Republicans? Conclusion: No.)
And Whitewater. (Did the Clintons fudge a land deal? No.)
And Travelgate. (Did the Clintons gun down a room of innocent travel agents and their babies?
Conclusion: That's not exactly what they were accused of, but anyway — not guilty.)

Face it: The Republicans have been hounding the Democrats ever since Clinton won.
Asking Dems to suddenly forgive and forget is like asking Richard Hatch to finance your
dot-com startup after trying to vote him off the island.

"How dare you suggest we should cave in to your conservatism!" rails former Gov. Mario Cuomo
on the subject of Bush's plea for conciliation. "Gore beat you! The people don't want you!
How dare you tell us that if we object, we are unfairly partisan!"

The fact that Bush lost the popular vote provides Dems with that soupçon of righteousness
needed to negate any twinge of "maybe we should give the guy a chance" guilt:
Why give Bush carte blanche to run the country when the majority of people didn't give him that job at all?

And after a campaign stressing "moderation" and "uniting," fumes one-time Democratic consultant Phil Friedman,
Bush's conservative cabinet picks are all the more needling. "In this game of 'gotcha,'" he fumes, "Bush deserves it."

So it's no surprise the Democrats are ready to rumble.
And after eight years of sparring, they're in fighting trim.