I could be wrong, but I seriously doubt that anybody in the history of American elections cast a ballot thinking Gee, I hope the first thing this candidate does is to compromise on the issues for which I am sending her/him to the office I am electing them to. This is why the arguments – on both sides of the aisle – that the other side is causing gridlock – that things would work so much more smoothly if the other side would simply let the first side do whatever it wants, dont hold water. Thats not how it is supposed to work. Democracy is supposed to be an ugly, acrimonious, even brutal, full-contact process. Peoples lives and livelihood are at stake, therefore there should be all manner of conflict surrounding the process. Thats why the government was designed the way that it is, with the archetypal checks and balances, with a legislature divided into two houses and the ability of each branch to counter the effects of the other. Its not supposed to be about people falling in lockstep behind anyone individual or any group of individuals. What amuses me is when people complain about how Republicans have been keeping progress from happening is that when I ask anyone of my friends who hold this viewpoint exactly what on their part they would be willing to compromise on in terms of deeply held beliefs – nobody can provide a single one. Consequently, why should anybody be expected to compromise on anything that they hold dearly? They shouldnt. Which is why change happens impossibly slowly in this country – but it still happens. Nobody can argue that we are a far better country than we were 50, 100, 200 years ago. Anybody who insists that progress has not been made is just obstinate, a fool, or insane. Its just that it doesnt happen as rapidly as any individual or group of individuals wants it to happen. And hence the frustration. Incredibly, for the first time since Reconstruction, an African-American has been elected to the Senate. That he happens to be Republican is immaterial. The fact that it has happened is a good thing. Is it incredulous that it took 150 years to put a black man from the old South into the Senate? Unquestionably. But it has happened. And now that has happened, it is probably going to happen a lot more. Progress is being made, its just being made a lot slower than the people who envision themselves as being progressives are comfortable with it happening. All of existence is a question of balance. Some progress is good, more is better, but when you start thinking in terms of infinite amounts of progress, you start going off the train rail, and the intent of a nation founded by, of, for the people - not the government - not some segment of the populations idea of what progress should be - starts to go out the window. Now is not a time for gloating on the part of Republicans. The events of yesterday are not that remarkable. Theyre not an anomaly. They are nothing more or less than the results of sociological mechanics. If you push a population in one direction too hard, too quickly, theyre going to rebel against it. Thats all that happened yesterday. It happened to the Republicans previously, yesterday was the Democrats turn to take their hit. Eventually it will be the Republicans again. But for now, at this moment, it is a time to bind up the nations emotional wounds, and for the Republicans to take the lead in leadership. Which means not compromising, but also making an attempt to reach out to the other side to crate a dialogue, and in that dialogue attampt to make a logical argument for the other side to consider. Both sides should make their best arguments, and then whatever the results are, thats what were left with. For the time being. When George W. Bush was elected the second time, Nancy Pelosi wasted no time calling him a liar and dangerous. Bushs response was to invite her to the White House the following Friday. When President Obama won reelection, his first response was to announce at a cabinet meeting I won and essentially made no gesture to reach out to the Republicans. Ill let you decide which might be a better demonstration of leadership. President Obama is of course welcome to keep driving in the same direction he has been for the last six years. But if in the process of doing so he ends up giving the Republicans the White House in addition to the House and the Senate, well, dont blame me.
Posted on: Thu, 06 Nov 2014 01:54:03 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015