Poles Apart 

        by Tom Woodard

I was raised in an era when moderate men controlled the United States Congress, and compromise was expected to take place. It was an era when a Democrat and a Republican could fight tooth and toenail on the floor of the Senate or House and then go out to dinner together. Personal insults and character assassination were rare indeed, and civility ruled the day, with exceptions so rare they were practically scandalous when they did occur. The rules of each house were so constructed as to encourage lively debate and to afford the same opportunities to introduce legislation, or offer amendments to bills, to the party in the minority as to the majority party. But for the past eight years we have had in Congress what one old timer in the Senate termed “an unprecedented level of hate” in our Congress. Hatred breeds contempt, and contempt breeds abuse.

When President Clinton was in office, he had, except for the first two years of his first term, a Republican Congress. Although many of them hated him, and indeed tried to impeach him on grounds which theretofore would have been considered unimpeachable, he worked well with the Republican Congress, balancing the budget for the first time in a long time (and for the last time, to date) and passing much needed welfare reform. But when President Bush, the Younger, took office, despite his proclamations of reaching across the aisle, the Republicans erected virtual iron walls down the center aisles of both houses and announced to the Democrats that they were irrelevant. They weren’t allowed to introduce legislation, nor to take a meaningful part in the legislative process. They were essentially emasculated. The Republicans then, with amazing arrogance, as if they would hold power forever, passed massive tax cuts for the rich, chipped away at our democratic freedoms through other pieces of legislation, labeled Democrats, in mass, as Traitors and Athiests, and ran up staggering deficits with unprecedented levels of pork barrel. President Bush, the Younger, did likewise, crudely shutting out the Democrats in Congress as though they didn’t exist, giving the lie to his promises of bi-partisanship, and ineptly leading the Country into disaster after disaster - as if those naturally imposed upon us weren’t enough!
 
This went on for six long years, until the Democrats re-took control of Congress in 2007. Now, since President Obama has been sworn in (and actually, since the day he was elected) and the White House and Congress are controlled by the same party - this time the Democrats - what do we see? Speaker Pelosi has passed the most draconian House Rules in history, virtually stripping the minority Republican members of any power or effective role in the legislative process. The result, so far, has been a so-called stimulus package that is rife with unparalleled  levels of pork and billions of dollars allocated to special interests which will do nothing at all to stimulate the economy or bring us out of this economic crisis. To his credit, President Obama has put several prominent Republicans in his Cabinet, and is trying to reach across the aisle in what he calls a post-bipartisanship era. Unfortunately, Pelosi and Reed, the leader of the Senate, they of the ultra left, are having none of it, thereby undermining the efforts of their own man in the White House. For them it’s business as usual, and also pay-back time for what they suffered under the lately departed Republican rule.

So, where is this going to stop? Will the Republicans, when they next gain control of Congress (which, sooner or later, aided by the arrogance of the presently triumphant Democrats, they will do - history does repeat itself) try to outdo the Democrats in repressing the minority, in violation of every principle of governance through a representative democracy, just as the Democrats are now doing in retaliation for the 2001-2007 Republican neo-cons? Are we to suffer increasingly anti-democratic abuses from first the ultra right and then the ultra left, and back again? Are we to have a battle, as they did in Germany prior to World War II, between those who dreamed of a Facist State (under Hitler) and those who dreamed of a Socialist State (those leaders, in Germany, ending up on Hitler’s meat hooks)? I fear that the answer to these questions is “yes”, unless the American people say “Enough!”, and demand a return to adherence to true democratic principles, moderation, compromise, and civility. If President Obama can accomplish this alone, he will have done a great deed for America. The question is whether he can stand up to Pelosi, Reed, and Company, and that is doubtful. Let us cry out in a loud voice, “Enough! We are sick of your disgusting, hateful ways, on both sides.” What benefit are Americans receiving from this ill-mannered,  hateful, anti-democratic behavior?
      

Copyright February 4th, 2009, by Tom Woodard
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