Dana Milbank – With ‘Pledge to America,’ Republicans are new Foundering Fathers

Interesting article….Here is a brief excerpt and I encourage you to click the link to the full post.

The 45-page booklet explaining the Pledge contains archaic fonts reminiscent of the founding texts, and it is filled with random snippets of historical phrases such as “consent of the governed” and “bearing true faith and allegiance.” The Republicans illustrated their own importance with a full-page photo of Mount Rushmore facing a full-page photo of Rep. Rob Wittman (Va.) working at a meat counter.

The lawmakers piled on layers of sentimentality. “We pledge to uphold the model for our country our founders envisioned, a grander America, the exception among the nations of the Earth, where promise of liberty refreshes the hopes of mankind,” exulted McCarthy, who designed the Pledge.

Yet for all the grandiosity, the document they released is small in its ambition. The policy goals they cited were banal (“Support the troops! Fight the terrorists!), and their prescriptions were often narrow and procedural (regular votes on proposed regulations).

The flaws became apparent when the lawmakers made the mistake of taking questions. “There are not many specifics in here about how you would get to the balanced budget if you plan to extend all the tax cuts and expand defense spending,” the Associated Press’s Julie Hirschfeld Davis pointed out. “So can you give us some more details?”

via Dana Milbank – With ‘Pledge to America,’ Republicans are new Foundering Fathers.