The Search for Common Ground
The polarization of US politics has reached new extremes beginning in the 1990's when the Republicans were doing everything in their power to try to derail Clinton and they used the so-called Contract with America to elect new Republicans to Congress. The frustrating animosity that now prevails among many politicians has led many moderates in both parties to leave public office, usually by not running for re-election.
What we are left with has been aptly called a politics of blame, in which each side blames all societal problems on the other side. There is no serious concern for finding common ground to work from in solving problems. This is unfortunate, because joining an opponent in a search for common ground usually leads both to the higher ground where the vision is clearer and extends for greater distances. Working together on a higher level can be inspiring and can lead to further successful alignments and joint accomplishments.
In the Vice Presidential Debate, Dick Cheney took everyone by surprise when he said that as President of the Senate, he goes there every week they are in session and that he had never met Senator Edwards before the night of the Debate. Cheney meant to cast aspersions on the Senate attendance record of Edwards. Of course it was actually a false statement meant to capture a headline. Like much of what Cheney says, when this statement was later investigated and found to be untrue, it was corrected on the back pages. However, the investigation into this Cheney statement revealed something else which should have been taken very seriously but was not discussed in any depth by the media.
What the investigation revealed was that on Cheney's trips to meet with the Senate, the meetings were closed meetings and he only met with Republicans. Democrats were not allowed to meet with the man who is by our Constitution the President of the Senate. All the Senators chosen by the American electorate in all 50 States should be entitled to meet with the President of the Senate, but the Bush Administration, again in contrast to one of the false mantles Bush claims, chose to be dividers and not uniters, excluders and not includers.
By contrast, the truly bi-partisan 9/11 Commission set an excellent example of how people of different parties can choose the higher ground and work together with clearer vision and impressive and potentially long-lasting results. The work of the Commission has received much deserved praise and many of its recommendations for intelligence reorganization have now been passed into law (with tepid support from the White House and over the objections of quite a few Republicans in Congress). Unfortunately, as more moderates become discouraged and leave Congress, the likelihood of Congressional bi-partisan seeking of common ground diminishes.
What we are left with has been aptly called a politics of blame, in which each side blames all societal problems on the other side. There is no serious concern for finding common ground to work from in solving problems. This is unfortunate, because joining an opponent in a search for common ground usually leads both to the higher ground where the vision is clearer and extends for greater distances. Working together on a higher level can be inspiring and can lead to further successful alignments and joint accomplishments.
In the Vice Presidential Debate, Dick Cheney took everyone by surprise when he said that as President of the Senate, he goes there every week they are in session and that he had never met Senator Edwards before the night of the Debate. Cheney meant to cast aspersions on the Senate attendance record of Edwards. Of course it was actually a false statement meant to capture a headline. Like much of what Cheney says, when this statement was later investigated and found to be untrue, it was corrected on the back pages. However, the investigation into this Cheney statement revealed something else which should have been taken very seriously but was not discussed in any depth by the media.
What the investigation revealed was that on Cheney's trips to meet with the Senate, the meetings were closed meetings and he only met with Republicans. Democrats were not allowed to meet with the man who is by our Constitution the President of the Senate. All the Senators chosen by the American electorate in all 50 States should be entitled to meet with the President of the Senate, but the Bush Administration, again in contrast to one of the false mantles Bush claims, chose to be dividers and not uniters, excluders and not includers.
By contrast, the truly bi-partisan 9/11 Commission set an excellent example of how people of different parties can choose the higher ground and work together with clearer vision and impressive and potentially long-lasting results. The work of the Commission has received much deserved praise and many of its recommendations for intelligence reorganization have now been passed into law (with tepid support from the White House and over the objections of quite a few Republicans in Congress). Unfortunately, as more moderates become discouraged and leave Congress, the likelihood of Congressional bi-partisan seeking of common ground diminishes.
posted by Tom Blake | 2:42 PM
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