After an appeal by all of the living Secretary of States (including supposed hawks like Henry Kissinger and Condoleezza Rice) and most of the military top brass, recalcitrant senators finally saw sense and ratified the New START treaty, which, importantly, allows US inspectors to inspect the Russian nuclear arsenal again, in an anti-proliferation drive. Yet many shrill conservatives (probably like the one running for deputy treasurer in Stark County last November – he had to be a Republican, didn’t he) raise hue and cry that this a capitulation to Russia and that Barack Obama has “bullied” Congress (interestingly, Obama is either a “do-nothing” president or he is a bully, but there is no middle ground - as you would expect from demagogues). Obama even through wavering Republican senators the bone of $85bn programme for the nuclear labs that examine the warheads. In the end, it was a comfortable victory of 71 to 26, four more than the minimum needed for foreign policy treaties, proving that Congress doesn’t always have to be the opposite of progress, contrary to the joke.
Indeed, the last two years have seen the most active Congress in living memory, operating like a normal parliament in Western democracies, instead of an overblown anachronism, designed for 13 states, with a further 37 grafted on. Moreover, important deals were done in the so-called ‘lame-duck session’, in addition to New START, such as ending tacit homosexual discrimination in the army (14,000 forced out over 17 years is a law that clearly needs replacing) and tax cuts for many Americans. Conservative commentators fume that the politicians signing these deals have no legitimacy as several will be leaving come January 4th. But voters gave these people a mandate until 4th January 2011 and any laws they pass have full legitimacy until that date. Then again, Republicans have never been too bothered about the democratic process, just so long as they gain power by it.