OH, DEAR, MUST WE ENDURE THIS? – AT 6:58 P.M. ET:  The Washington Post made some fine appointments to its op-ed page recently, but one that definitely is not fine is Katrina vanden Heuvel.

Vanden Heuvel, in my view a certifiable nutbag, is editor of The Nation, a magazine wrongly described by some as "liberal."  The Nation is not liberal.  The New Republic is liberal.  The Nation is far left, and often floats among the debris of the far-left fringe.  Vanden Heuvel is a very rich lady – she comes from the family that founded Universal Studios – who is often seen in leather pants.  Genuine leather, I'm sure. Her editorship of The Nation got so bad that, in the months after 9-11, apparently to prove that she was at one with the pro-jihadists, The Nation started running Holocaust denial ads, until her own staff stopped her.

Now WaPo has her on its op-ed page.  Today she honors her world of insanity by viciously attacking retiring Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana, from all accounts a decent guy, for not being partisan enough.  Yes, that's just what America is demanding, through Katrina's brain – more partisanship:

So Evan Bayh, the Senate's poster boy for bipartisanship, is, in the immortal words of the Jackson 5, "goin' back to Indiana." The senator explains, "There is too much partisanship and not enough progress [in Congress] -- too much narrow ideology and not enough practical problem-solving." Bayh is correct -- there isn't enough practical problem-solving in Congress. But his brand of bipartisanship should not be mourned. In fact, the country would be better off with a lot less bipartisanship, in any form, right now.

What wisdom.  Of course, quoting the Jackson 5 demonstrates that Katrina once listened to a black group.  A required credential.

Bayh's idea of bipartisanship, it would seem, was to call oneself a Democrat in the caucus while promoting center-right policies in the chamber. He worked to turn the Democratic Party into a kinder, gentler version of the GOP. And although the conventional wisdom is that his departure is bad news for Democrats, the caucus arguably would be stronger with 54 or 55 senators who would get real about governing and work to reform the anti-democratic filibuster than with a supermajority dependent on "conservadems" such as Bayh.

Earth to Katrina:  It takes two thirds to abolish the filibuster.  That's 66 senators.  So 54 or 55 couldn't do it.  That's math.  Okay, it's my mathematical point of view.  On the far left that's only an opinion, an alternative narrative forced on us by the oppressor class. 

Earth again to Katrina:  Bayh was elected from Indiana, a conservative state.  You ought to be thankful that any Democrat could be elected from Indiana.  You would have run an ultra-liberal in the Indiana election, lost by 25 points, and been proud of yourself. 

Achieving progress through "practical problem-solving" shouldn't mean legislating as the wolf in sheep's clothing. And milquetoast conviction isn't what most of us want out of our senators. After all, even a fifth grader, charged up with public-school patriotism after reading Johnny Tremain, could tell you that compromised convictions in the name of "bipartisanship" are not what Esther Forbes had in mind when she closed her historical children's novel with, "A man can stand up."

Oh, dear.  A man can sure stand up.  But it helps to have the country with you.  Vanden Heuvel really believes that her far-left crypto-socialism is what the people yearn for.  If only the peasants out there understood!

Oh Katrina, go back to the big co-op on Manhattan's West Side.  Have a party.  Serve healthy foods and bemoan what you undoubtedly consider Obama's conservatism.

February 16, 2010