From The Providence Journal, 12/25/05:
http://www.projo.com/opinion/columnists/content/projo_20051225_clharr.31fde54.html

A march to the middle

By Froma Harrop


THE RIGHT-WING takeover of this sensible country has been stopped.

With this pleasant thought, we enter 2006.

In one golden week, three things happened that bore a common thread.

In each case, mainstream positions won out over the bluster of
blowhards.

People of principle stared down charges that they were unpatriotic,
loved Osama or hated religion.

The results were gratifying -- not only to liberals, but to moderates
and a good number of self-described conservatives, who have distanced
themselves from their leaders' excesses.

For starters, the Senate said "no" to opening the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling.

It has saved the refuge before, but this time the Republican oilmen
turned the vote into a game of chicken.

The drilling provision was first stuck to the budget bill.

When lawmakers balked, it was unstuck and attached to the
defense-spending bill.

Once there, the gamesters figured that they could smear anyone voting
against it as uncaring about the troops.

The defenders of the wildlife refuge, which included several
Republicans, did not cave.

Sen. Maria Cantwell, Democrat from Washington, accurately called the
bill "legislative blackmail."

Sen. Joseph Lieberman, of Connecticut, announced that the defense bill
was not going anywhere with drilling in it.

The Democrat had just returned from a grand tour of conservative talk
shows, where the hosts covered him with praise for supporting the Iraq
war.

Any charges of not backing American forces bounced right off his
armor.

The pro-environment senators easily ignored the latest tantrum by Sen.
Ted Stevens, the Alaska Republican obsessed with developing the
refuge.

And then they turned the tables on the opposition:

Some questioned the patriotism of those who would load the "must-pass"
defense bill with extraneous special interests.

In another vote, the Senate temporarily extended the USA Patriot Act
past its Dec. 31 expiration date.

President Bush wanted the anti-terrorism law renewed, but that wasn't
going to happen without a frank conversation on his recently revealed
surveillance activities.

Not long ago, anyone who wanted to contain the president's powers was
smothered by accusations of leaving America open to attack.

It's true that after Sept. 11, many of us agreed that the government
needed more powerful tools to track the bad guys.

That the rules had to change, however, didn't mean that there should
be no rules.

The citizens have not signed on to giving Bush the right to wiretap
Americans making international calls without a warrant -- especially
since he already can do it in an emergency and ask permission later.

The president says he can basically do as he pleases.

Vice President ***** Cheney bared his teeth and warned that politicians
who criticize these policies will pay a heavy political price.

Sen. Chuck Hagel, Republican of Nebraska, coolly responded, "My oath
is to the Constitution, not to a vice president, a president or a
political party."

Expect to hear that kind of thing more often.

The third victory for rational thinking took place in central
Pennsylvania.

There, a federal judge ruled that "intelligent design" -- a
crypto-creationist challenge to the theory of evolution -- is
religion, and forcing it on science classes in Dover, Pa., was
unconstitutional.

Judge John E. Jones, a Bush appointee, called intelligent design
"relabeled creationism."

He accused its backers of lying about their true intentions, which was
to promote religion in a science class.

And before the intelligent-design sponsors could utter the words
"activist judge," Jones told them to get lost.

Actually, the tide first turned against the intelligent-design
boosters in November.

That's when the Dover voters removed school-board members pushing the
scientific-sounding doctrine.

As far as I can tell, there's hardly a liberal in this story.

The judge is a Republican.

The voters who kicked out their school board come from a staunchly
conservative community.

It appears that the movement to sneak religion into science class --
which has commanded a national debate -- is the work of a noisy few.

All these events, one after another, suggest that the newfound courage
of moderates is not a fluke.

And there never was this big groundswell to develop a wildlife refuge,
make Bush king or teach creationism in the schools.

The nation has begun to march in another direction from the right-wing
majorettes.

May the parade grow long in 2006.

____________________________________________________________

Harry