Hey, Republicans, you're going the wrong way! http://buzzflash.com/articles/carpenter/302 It seems to me that Republican pols are misreading not only the moment, but more critically, they're still misreading the most fundamental trait of the American character as well.
Few any longer question that in the paws of Congressional Republicans the developing stimulus package has become a political plaything of their most immediate delight. They don't like this provision or they don't like that, whether it's contraceptives or National Mall turf, or alternatively they object to the percentage breakdown of fiscal spending vs. tax cuts. But the particulars are of little import. It would have made little difference had the bill been fashioned otherwise; Republicans were sure to drop dead away from a dramatic case of the vapors. The poor delicate things, they're in their third year now of minority status, and they just don't seem to be adjusting. But, whatever (as Mr. John Boehner said recently of Ms. Sarah Palin's clandestine journey to D.C., which actually instilled in me some momentary respect for Mr. John Boehner). That's just the fleeting gamesmanship part of politics, which the largely non-political multitudes may not particularly admire, but did expect. In other words, the GOP's acute political sins are of the venial kind. On a more chronic and cardinal level, however, Republican pols seem increasingly to be buying their own propaganda -- that the American character's most fundamental trait is a steady, reliable and unswerving conservatism. I would agree -- as would, I think, most students of the American experience -- that a cautious conservatism lies at a fundamental level, but not at the deepest. Go a bit farther and what you'll find is what Barack Obama as successful presidential candidate (and perceptive student of history) found: an enduring sense of pragmatism; an almost instinctive rejection of abstract theories and a national yearning, instead, for whatever works. Especially in times of crisis. Because at its core, pragmatism is, as one of its philosophical co-founders (William James) wrote, "a method of settling metaphysical [which is to say, ideological] disputes that otherwise might be interminable." And -- this sure ain't rocket science -- interminable disputes in the midst of bedlam and collapse are potentially lethal. Hence by and large Americans prefer to see something being done -- anything; whatever might work -- as opposed to hearing ponderous debates on the possible benefits of this ideology versus that one. This is what FDR understood and this is what Obama understands and indeed for the moment, anyway, even usually more ideological Congressional Democrats understand it, as evidenced by Nancy Pelosi's recent remarks that "I didn’t come here to be partisan, I didn’t come here to be bipartisan. I came here, as did my colleagues, to be nonpartisan, to work for the American people, to do what is in their interest." In short, Democrats are presently firing on both political cylinders: They are properly reading the moment as one of urgency and properly avoiding, as best they can, the ignition of ideological explosives. Americans just don't want to hear it, because didn't they just have an election about this? Republicans, however, are utterly missing the point. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
