Change, and mostly for the better (my weekly newspaper column)

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Also available online at:
http://cumberlink.com/articles/2006/11/09/editorial/rich_lewis/lewis90.txt

Change, and mostly for the better
By Rich Lewis, November 9, 2006

I'll make no bones about it, election night this year was a lot like Christmas Eve for me: The excitement kept me up till dawn and the presents were fantastic.

I know that a lot of my Republican friends feel like they got coal in their stockings, and I'm not here to gloat. But I am very happy to see some balance restored to the government, because one-party rule wasn't working out very well.

That being said, I'll leave it to others to "explain" what it all means for the future of the country. I suspect it will be better in some ways and worse in others - though in what ways and what proportions are beyond me to predict.

I'll just comment on a few details that I found interesting.

1. Three groups achieved important historic "firsts."

California Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi will become the first female Speaker of the House in U.S. history. This is a huge step forward for women - breaking through what Pelosi has called the "marble ceiling" in national politics and placing her only "two heartbeats" away from the presidency insofar as the speaker is third in line for that office. Pelosi previously made history by becoming the first woman to lead a party caucus when she was named House minority leader four years ago.

Elsewhere, two new women senators were elected Tuesday - in Missouri and Minnesota - raising their number in the Senate to 16, a new record. Overall, the Feminist Majority estimates that "when the dust settles, women's representation in Congress will likely increase to 16 percent." That's still pretty weak for a group that makes up slightly over 51 percent of the population - but Pelosi's promotion somewhat makes up in quality of position what still is lacking in quantity.

Are women necessarily better leaders? No, but that's not the point. There is no reason whatsoever that men and women should not be represented equally in government at all levels, and when the proportion is skewed 84-16 percent in Congress, it can only be the result of negative forces that should be (and are being) erased.

The second amazing "first" was the election of the first Muslim to Congress. Previously a state lawmaker, Keith Ellison is also the first nonwhite sent to Washington from Minnesota. This is a positive because Congress should include representatives from every significant group in our melting-pot society - and recent studies estimate that between 2 million and 7 million Muslims live in the United States.

But more importantly, we are at point in history where Westerners from the Judeo-Christian tradition increasingly view Muslims as "other" - and worse, as the "enemy." That attitude is false and dangerous - and will only be reversed when the two groups come into close and regular contact in a variety of settings, including government. The presidency was once closed to Catholics, until JFK came along and transformed the political-religious landscape. New bridges between the races were built after blacks and Hispanics started winning political office. The same will be true for Muslims and non-Muslims.

Finally, and restoring a little luster to an honorable political tradition that was unjustly trashed during the Cold War, Bernie Sanders of Vermont becomes the first avowed Socialist elected to the U.S Senate.

2. Politicians should never tell jokes when the cameras are running. No, I'm not talking about John Kerry's "botched" education joke, or George Allen's infamous "macaca" crack (though what more proof could you want?). I'm talking about John McCain, who, when asked in October what he would do if the Democrats won the Senate in November, said, "I think I'd just commit suicide."

Oops. McCain later had to explain that he was "just joking." Of course he was, just as Kerry was. And (maybe) Allen was. But these guys really should leave the edgy humor to Letterman and Leno.

3. Children should not be used as political ornaments. I was thrilled to see Bob Casey beat Rick Santorum — and very impressed with Santorum's gracious concession speech. Good for him.

But what did not impress me was that Santorum brought his children up on to the stage with him while he made that speech. His young daughter was openly crying while the TV cameras rolled. How could he allow his child to be exposed in that way? Why would he allow us to watch her pain? Santorum was never shy about using his children for political advantage. They were featured in one of his campaign commercials this year.

But using their understandable sadness as bunting for his farewell address seems indecent to me. The kids deserved some privacy. Then again, privacy was never high on Santorum's list of values. As he once said, "The right to privacy doesn't exist in my opinion in the United States Constitution."

That was actually the second example of this particular kind of child abuse we've seen recently. It found it equally horrifying that disgraced evangelist Ted Haggard chose to admit the accusations against him to a TV reporter while sitting in his SUV — with his kids in the back seat looking on in shock. Like Santorum, Haggard was required to endure the moment of humiliation. But his kids deserved better.

Ah well, politics. Glorious and grotesque all at the same time.

Rich Lewis' e-mail address is:

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