In the Democrats' World, 100 <> 100

I've been following the start of the 110th Congress like a hawk and...OK, that's not remotely correct. I suppose (and so does the media) there are those out there--on both sides of the aisle--with stopwatches and checklists. I am not one of them, but this AP piece got at least a bit of my attention.

During the 2006 campaign, you may have heard the Democrats talking about all the good they were going to do in the first 100 hours of a Democratically controlled Congress. Indeed, the front page of Nancy Pelosi's site currently says:

In the first 100 hours of the 110th Congress, we will pass the elements of our “Six for ‘06” agenda to meet the everyday needs of all Americans.

There is even a cute little javascript-type clock which ticks off the seconds labeled "Time elapsed in the first 100 legislative hours." Apparently, in the eyes of the Speaker, this is an important distinction--for while the House has been in session (at this point) for close to 50 hours, Pelosi's clock has only ticked off about 18 1/2 hours. The Democrats are keeping track of not what actually goes on in 100 hours' time, but of how long it takes to get their six pet bills passed.

Now, this sort of public-relations-by-careful-definition is nothing new to the political arena. But it's only been a couple of weeks, and the Democrats have already shown how hollow some of their principles and pronouncements are:

• A super-ethical Congress? How about if we appoint John "Abscam" Murtha and convicted perjurer Alcee Hastings to positions of power?
  
• Noses to the grindstone? Let's announce a five-day workweek, then postpone the start of the session so we can attend a college football game.
  
• Undoing the "culture of corruption"? Let's campaign on earmark reform, but vote to block it in the event a robust reform plan emerges.
  

Pelosi calls this "A New Direction for America." Sounds like more of the same to me.

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