Friday, June 1, 2012

The Beat Goes On



You're probably wondering what this video has to do with a blog about the presidency and Congress, right?  Well, Sonny Bono was a congressman after his entertainment career ended...though some might say what Congress does IS entertainment for the political class.  And that, dear reader, is entirely the point.  The beat does indeed go on.  Partisans on both sides of the aisle seek ways to make the other side look bad so as to gain an advantage for their own party.  A new blog out this week makes the case that what we're seeing in Congress is not so much ideological polarization as it is hyper-partisanship.  In a polarized system, individuals disagree ideologically about pretty much everything that's important.  In a hyper-partisan system, individuals may agree with each other but oppose each other anyway so as to avoid allowing the 'other side' to get any credit for successful accomplishments.  That's largely where we are now as we watch Republicans voting against things they've always supported (and will support again if they unify control of government).  I speak of things like the Simpson-Bowles deficit reduction plan.  It was, after all, a Republican idea.  But because a Democratic President empaneled the commission it had to die a miserable death so Republicans could claim the president wasn't serious about deficit reduction.  Of course, the president hasn't helped his cause either.  He should be barnstorming the country demanding that the Republicans (and the Democratic Senate) get serious about the problem now instead of playing partisan games to make each other look bad.  Both parties are acting like spoiled school children trying to impress the teacher by smearing mud on the other kid's face.  And the beat goes on....

Another example is yesterday's vote in the House on a bill that would prohibit abortion based on gender selection by imposing criminal penalties on both women and doctors who performed such abortions, knowingly or unknowingly.  The House rules committee rigged the vote so the bill would fail by requiring a 2/3 majority (290 votes when all seats are filled) to pass...knowing full well the bill would fall well short of that number.  Predictably, it failed by a 246-168, mostly along partisan lines, though some Republicans opposed and a few more Democrats voted in favor of the bill.  It is this kind of nonsense legislation that tunes Americans out to politics.  Nobody in their right mind supports abortion  based on the gender of the fetus.  In fact, most abortions take place before it is even possible to discern gender.  But, as GOP operatives admitted, it forced many Democrats to go on the record opposing the bill, which will then be spun as supporting 'gender-selection' abortions.  And the beat goes on.....




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