No doubt about it, the Republican Party appears to be in its death throes. A majority of voters is moving in one direction on issues like background checks for gun buyers, gay marriage, immigration and climate change, while the Grand Old Party is moving in another and acting as a spoiler. As James Wolcott writes in Vanity Fair, Republican politics “… isn’t about winning anymore. It’s about fouling the works—poking a stick between the spokes.” (“Andrew Breitbrart’s Circus Maximus” by James Wolcott, Vanity Fair, June 2013, pg. 66.)
By design, our forefathers limited the power of the president and kept much of the governing authority in the hands of Congress. Their assumption seems to have been that reasonable minds, though they differed, could work together. Theirs was a bright beacon of hope. But make no mistake, in a country as diverse as ours, legislating isn’t easy. I’ve tried it. Obstructionists, though they be in the minority, can bring the government to a halt, weakening not only the opposition but the country as well.
Let us hope that the party of Abraham Lincoln will rid itself of the intractable minds that have brought it low. Democracy depends on a diversity of opinions. Both parties must be well enough and secure enough to see compromise not as a defeat, but as a step forward.
(Courtesy of www.cagle.com)
