A Requiem for Reasonable Discourse

I avoid posting politically-oriented thoughts on Facebook or my blog.  Experience has taught me that they only create anger among those who disagree, and further entrench convictions held by those who may agree.  No one is enlightened, and everyone simply gains more fodder for their own diatribes.  However, I am going to dip my toes into the water and hope the piranhas don’t devour them.  I’m not expressing support or disapproval about a particular issue, but registering my dismay about what has happened to our nation’s political process.

Today I pulled up notes from a sermon I preached in August 2001, hoping to glean some pearls I might be able to use on Sunday.  While making the point that adversaries may be able to respect and even cooperate with each other, I said “You would think the Democrats and Republicans would want to rip each other apart.  Some countries make that mistake, when they believe that political parties should attack each other at any cost.  Republicans and Democrats may disagree strongly, but they share a common loyalty to the Constitution and to our nation.  When push comes to shove, they work together.  They have different goals and strategies, but they are on the same team.”  Perhaps I was naïve sixteen years ago, but these remarks certainly don’t describe politics in the United States today.  The primary objective of our elected officials has become the ascension of their party over the other.  The welfare of our nation and its people, and respect for the Constitution, have taken a back seat.  At best, they have become talking points put to the service of partisan agendas.

I miss the good old days when we expected our elected officials act with respect and honesty.  Do you remember when a President could face impeachment for lying?  Or the shock we felt when a Vice President told a senator of the other party to “Go f--- yourself”?  At the time, episodes like these seemed to have hit the gutter of partisan politics.  Now, they would barely last a news cycle.  American governance has become a zero-sum game: in order for “my” team to win, the “other” team must lose.  The definition of winning in Washington has become the defeat or embarrassment of the other party.  The deliberative process has lost its give and take.  The goal is to do all of the taking and none of the giving.  The concept that the best result comes from both parties working together is now dismissed as a quaint notion.

If you doubt the hypocrisy that both parties demonstrate, go back eight years when the Democrats had the White House and majorities in both houses of Congress.  The Democrats are now saying what the Republicans did then, and the Republicans are repeating what the Democrats did then.  The majority party blames the minority party for being obstructionist, and the minority party protests that the majority is forcing their agenda upon the nation.  It is not the issues that matter, but who holds the power.

If you are inclined to comment on this post by arguing that the “other” party is to blame for the decline and fall of American governance, take care.  Your comment may simply become one more example of how partisanship has trumped reasoned discourse.  And as the originator of this post, I reserve the right to remove insulting or profane comments. 

Now, let’s see if I can survive those piranhas….