Just in case anybody actually reads any of the posts here, I should probably say a brief something about where I am coming from.
Two things. First, I am and always have been (or at least as long as I have thought about it) one of those life-long Democrats -- the "yellow dog" variety. Years ago (I am now almost 61), I decided that my epitaph, among other brilliant pithy comments, should read "As long as he lived, he never voted for or gave a damn dime to a Republican".
Second, I don't believe in and downright hate partisanship. At least, the kind of partisanship the pundits, talking heads, and most politicians talk about.
In case those two facts seem to be mutually exclusive and contradictory (hence, our first example of the challenge of nailing jello), I don't think they are. I do believe that our political party system (the two-party variety) may be one of the most brilliant inadvertent creations of our founding fathers and their contemporaries and immediate successors in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. George Washington and John Adams were probably the last of the "non-partisans". Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, the first "Democrats" although they called themselves "Republicans", and Alexander Hamilton, the earliest "Republican" even though he referred to himself and other like-thinkers as a "Federalist", were the first partisans. The brilliance of the idea of two major political parties seems to me to be that it provides a means of conducting the most heated of political debates about the nature, course, and future of this great experiment in a democratic republic called the United States of America. With the exception of the detour in the middle of the 19th century called the Civil War, the system has also kept the lid on and the temperature of the political waters just shy of the "boiling over" point.
In my view, the Republican and far-right conservative groups' "hatred" of the Clintons during the 1990's and the Democratic and liberal groups' fears and detestation of Bush-Cheney since the initial shock and national unity of 9/11 wore off, are examples of both the type of "partisanship" I can't stand and the ability of true "partisanship", through the two-party system, to keep us from shooting one another rather than merely yelling at each other while screaming our respective side's arguments and virtues and the other side's shortcomings and flaws.
With that said, let's get on with the debate.
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2 comments:
Hi there! I heard from your very fun and smart offspring that you had a blog, and that we should all check it out because you're "a pretty smart cookie." Obviously I have, and I think it's way cool. As for political commenting, I came to politics late in the game (post college almost), so I'm still learning, but I'm a rabid avid NPR listener, and wondering why you hadn't mentioned it yet :-) But I loved your notes on partisanship and I'll definitely be browsing here frequently. So let me shake your hand, I'm Lex from NJ (Ramona and I went to Drew together), and it's nice to meet you!
Same right back at you, alexis. Our local NPR and PBS station is essentially "owned" by the Catholic Diocese. They just yesterday cancelled their latest fund-raising drive because they only had six "viewer/listener" responses in four days. The general manager of the station is one of the Diocese priests, and they generally do not carry programming which might be considered contrary to the church's doctrine. If you are Catholic, please don't take offense, but I don't care to get my political news or commentary through that type of filter. I don't however mind getting Saturday evening blues music or a periodic dose of Sunday afternoon Click 'n Clack Car Talk there. Sorry for the mini-rant -- she probably told you that I'm prone to that and you may have noticed that it is genetic. Anyway, welcome to Nailing Jello.
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