A tough read for some, no doubt, but refreshing in its unvarnished truth.
David Michael Green
writes:
.....
Bipartisanship is all the rage now, for three reasons, each of which is as abysmal as it is absurd.
The first is that the Republicans, having given the country a wee taste of their politics these last years and decades, were shown to the exit door by the American electorate in two election cycles in a row. Now, completely bereft of power except by means of every reprehensible delaying and blocking tactic imaginable, the Great Obstructionist Party is whining at every opportunity about the need for bipartisanship. But this is an almost entirely foreign concept for them, since, when they had control of the government, they simply rammed their agenda down the throats of everyone on the horizon, including historic allies of the United States, and even – as with Bush’s prescription drug bill – members of their own party in Congress. If they were running over the French and Germans and even Congressional Republicans, needless to say they didn’t hesitate to make frequent road-kill of Democrats, without so much as a fleeting glance in their rearview mirrors.
Thus, all the newfangled talk about bipartisanship is simply another in a series of ploys which seek to cripple the Democrats from doing what one would normally expect a party to do once it had won control of the government. Namely, govern.
But, of course, the Democrats seem nearly as adamant as Republicans about making sure that nothing happens in Washington, which is the second reason you hear all this crap about bipartisanship, especially from President Teddy Bear and his White House. Part of that is quite personal, I suspect. If you look at Obama’s psychological makeup, it seems pretty evident to me that he has some sort of deep-seated need to be the conciliator in the room. But part of it is also programmatically convenient. Neither Obama nor the supposed flaming Bolsheviks in Congress are remotely serious about pushing a progressive agenda. The attempt at bipartisanship allows them to avoid doing so, and to then turn to their base with the absurd argument that, “Sorry, but gosh, our hands were tied”. As if owning the presidency and three-fifths of both houses of Congress wasn’t enough to do the job. As if George W. Bush didn’t get nearly everything he wanted from Congress, without any of the advantages Obama has.
The third reason you hear a lot about bipartisanship is because the public is dumb enough to embrace it. And, this is really dumb, if you think about it. Why should anyone care about whether or not a legislative proposal has the support of both parties? Do we care whether it comes gift-wrapped with a bow? Do we care whether the pope is also on board? Do we care whether it is similar to what they do in Botswana? No, we do not. And we should not. The only thing that really matters about any given piece of legislation is whether or not it is good policy. Apart from my own representatives, who will soon be asking me for my vote to help them keep their jobs, I couldn’t care less how the bill was adopted or rejected. As a citizen, I don’t have any interest whatsoever whether it was done by this coalition or that one, by a strict party-line vote or a chaotic aisle-crossing mash-up, by unanimity or by the barest of threads. None of that will affect my life. What is really important is simple: The bill either becomes law or it doesn’t, and it’s either good for the country or it isn’t.
.....
But the fallacy of the bipartisan god runs even deeper.
.....
The window of opportunity for reforming health care is slamming shut. And there, it will remain for at least another generation.
Your move, Mr. President.
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