Calls for "Bipartisanship" miss the point
"The standard diagnosis for the lack of civility in our politics centers on partisanship. America is divided. Gerrymandering has rendered Congressional districts more partisan than ever before. Therefore in order to cure this dreadful plague of incivility, we must reach for bipartisanship. This is the holy grail of those who are so thoroughly a part of the successful establishment that any substantial change to the American system is likely to effect them negatively."
"Bipartisanship sounds like a good idea when ideas affect you in purely abstract ways—when your rights and your power and your wealth and your standard of living will all be fine no matter what Congress does. This describes the situation of the vast majority of the pundit and political class bent on promoting bipartisanship."
"Everything in politics cannot be solved by compromise. Abortion is legal, or it’s not. That awful Supreme Court justice is confirmed, or he’s not. Pollution is properly regulated, or it’s not. Our tax system is sufficiently progressive, or it’s not. We go to war, or we don’t."
"Some things cannot be reconciled. Democratic socialism cannot be reconciled with crony capitalism. A belief that health care is a human right cannot be reconciled with a belief that only those with enough money deserve decent care. A belief that workers deserve the right to organize cannot be reconciled with a belief that unions should be eradicated. A belief that a certain military action is immoral cannot be reconciled with a belief that it is necessary. Bipartisan compromise on such issues is not a virtue; it is a sin. And a pathetic one. It is a sin of not caring about things that you should really care about."
http://fusion.kinja.com/bipartisanship-means-i-dont-understand-what-politics-1796268741
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