May 5, 2007
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Partisanship
I was reading back through the ‘where we are’ series, and at one point desertvet responded this way:
That goes for both parties Ira…
This all begs the question, gentlemen, how do we fix it, and whats the solution?
I like the two of you am tired of the status quo, I am tired of partisanship. Our differences in politics aside, what can WE do about it?
And I’m not trying to pick on desertvet, really, just to address this kind of assertion, because it’s so pervasive.
It’s not ‘both parties.’ It’s the right wing. The dynamic in American politics is for the right to make fun of their critics, to jeer at them, to call them names. That’s all there is to right-wing politics, in fact. It’s just saying that liberals are traitors, or that colleges are too liberal and indoctrinate students into ‘left-wing thought,’ (as if anyone who has leveled that criticism against American colleges has ANY FUCKING IDEA what ‘left-wing’ really means). The right says that people who think science is worthwhile are godless heathens who should be stamped out of public life.
The reason we’re in the polemic predicament we’re in at the moment is because ‘the left’ hasn’t been partisan enough. ‘The left’ (which is to say anyone who’s not a right-winger) has accomodated, allowed for, given room to, and otherwise entertained the radical right-wing based solely on the hope that if we let them yell enough, they might run out of steam.
Except no, they don’t. Give an inch, they take a mile. Give a Florida, they take Iraq. Give a hearing on creationism, they take the school board. There’s nothing like the give and take of other societies, though ‘the left’ has tried. They want schoolkids to learn that God made evolution, in science class, all because liberals know about science and that’s bad.
Partisanship is good. Partisanship means that I get power, and if you want something I don’t like, you lose power to me. That’s the game the right-wing has been playing for thirty years, and it’s really impressive that they’ve been able to do it. But it’s bad for America, and that’s all there is to it.
Republicans have ruined America. And if our society hadn’t been so tolerant and non-partisan, it wouldn’t have happened.
So the answer to your question, desertvet, is this: How do we fix it? We push Republicans out of power. We teach Democrats to be political street fighters. Or perhaps ninjas. Ninjas are a better metaphor, I think. We must restore balance.
On a related note: The NRA finally figured out that the Global War On Terror is ‘arbitrary.’ Glad they could finally figure it out. It took Bush coming after their guns for them to start caring.
Comments (6)
This is so hard because I see that the direct result of not letting reactionary fundamentalists be involved with soceity is violence and terrorism. Egypts “progressive” government has created more terrorists than has islamic Iran. Abortion clinic bombers and serial killers are quiet guys who keep to themselves, ie not integrated into society. So, I want the right wing to have a place in a democratic society, if only because it ensures my access to democracy. This means that sometimes they take over our school boards and try to make legislation based on a morality other than love and compassion. I don’t know how to stop this from happening other than by voting and speaking my mind and participating actively in life, because I’m not willing to compromise democracy.
So yes, perhaps the problem is that the left has been too democratic, too tolerant, but I’m not sold on the alternative.
Also, have you read Suburban Warriors? If you haven’t I really do recommend it. After Ida B. Wells’ “Southern Horrors”, no other book has so disturbed me while giving me a clear understanding of the enemy.
There is a fundamental problem with the system in the US. Part of it is the effectiveness of the right-wing strategy. This began with Reagan’s propaganda campaign that labelled “government the problem” – which is actually telling people – if the US were a democracy – that “they” are the problem, because, outside of the insanity of the American right-wing, democratic governments are the society.
Reagan convinced people that government was bad, and he convinced moderates and many liberals that “politics are evil” and he destroyed American democracy much more effectively than he altered anything in the Soviet Union.
To restore it, you not only need more partisanship from the left (as in, “sorry, no funding for the was without deadlines”), you need much better left-wing communication, and we may need to scrap the “first past the post” voting system (which degrades democracy in the US and UK) and the Presidential system – which is, everywhere, an invitation to tyranny.
Multi-party democracies with multi-member constituencies are true democracies. The US system is closest in nature to the government of Napoleon III – though that government was far more open, and far more rooted in democratic principles.
Betty, I don’t think democracy is the problem. I think that the problem has more to do with being accepting of lunacy than anything else. The dichotomy of teaching creationism in science class versus right-wing terrorism is a false one, although it can also legitimately be said that if you give them a bone or two, they’ll still be jerks about it, and there will still be right-wing terrorism (the abortion clinic bombings are on-going, for instance).
I’m just saying that the time for ‘bi-partisanship’ is way over. When the right-wingers tell you they want to be ‘bi-partisan,’ what they’re saying is they want to maintain the power they already have, because they’re dominating our society right now.
And that’s the real thing here: Power. I don’t want to be in a minority that believes creationism shouldn’t be taught in school.
Well you can see the reality of things when the president wants the congressional leaders to come over and talk because he’s really sure that they can come to an understanding. What he means is that he’s sure that they’ll see it his way. No, the conservatives are not going to give on anything (willingly) because for the last six years (or more) they haven’t had to and mindsets are hard to change.
The best thing we can do, politically, is to grow the “third” parties. The Greens and the Libertarians. To put more pressure on the big parties to be accountable and also, if anyone is going to throw around terms like “liberal”, let there be a truly liberal party on the scene.
Careful now, Americans cannot grow “third parties” until you change election laws. Third parties only hurt the cause unless (a) fusion voting is allowed (as in New York) or (b) you have multi-member constituencies with proportional representation, or (c) you have single-transferable-voting.
Since only 3 states allow any of these, you are stuck with two parties until you change the law.
Tell me if I got this right? Democratic delegates gather at various houses in Iowa, have some pizza and some wine and gracefully slide in to corners representing their choice in a candidate….then the corner with the most delegates wins the nomination??? Hmmmmm! A “gathering of neighbors”…..in Iowa? Hardly seems a place where any non-traditional politican would stand a chance. But, I guess it still beats the ‘straw’ polls that the Republicans are notorious for! LOL