There was a short window -- mostly post WW II, pre, oh, call it the Newt Gingrich-Bill Clinton sparring, when legislative supermajorities behaved with some restraint towards fellow legislators who were members of the minority party. They might be sticking it to disfavored constituents, but their nominal peers who were in the club and far away from the levers of power were ornaments of tolerance and open debate -- it wasn't like they were going to get anything done, after all.
It doesn't work that way now. From expulsion (at least two successes in at least three recent attempts, and the successes backfired spectacularly) to the shadow-ban approach of the Chair simply refusing to ever acknowledge a member (at least two examples in two different state legislatures), supermajorities are behaving in ways that reflect deep-rooted insecurity, and treating debates they know they will win as if they were threats.
In more balanced legislatures, where compromise and accommodation are the only way to get anything done, members instead embrace deadlock and use the unlikelihood of moving the needle as an excuse for preposterous, base-pandering efforts that play well to their electorate but accomplish nothing -- see the U. S. House and Senate for as many examples as anyone could want, if they were fool enough to truly want them.
"The politics of personal destruction" has become the norm and, unsurprisingly, created ruins. You can make a wasteland and call it peace -- but it's still a wasteland.
Be careful what you wish for. Be magnanimous in victory. Work and play well with others. Share your toys. It doesn't diminish you. Nor will fingerpointing reverse present trends.
I suppose it'll all be moot once (or are we still saying "if?") China slips the leash and trips into WW III, but it's certainly awkward now. Well, it was awkward last time, too.
BUILDING A 1:1 BALUN
4 years ago
2 comments:
I think back when both sides recognized the truth of "What goes around comes around". However we in the majority treat you today is going to be reflected in how you in the majority treat us when it's your turn. They seem to have forgotten that (or assume that once "they" win it's forever).
That and they thought and planned further out than just the next election cycle (which now seems to start Wednesday morning after the Polls close).
I'm pretty sure all the 24 Hour news channels having to fill up the schedule to attract the buyers of kitty litter has a big influence on the situation.
Yup. Whatever you devise to gain an advantage will eventually be used by your opponents. I see all the gamesmanship in the House and Senate that’s focused on winning the news cycle and wish those folks would devote that kind of energy to solving real problems.
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