Pot, meet kettle.
Just an observation from my little niche here in Chandler, Arizona:
After twelve years of seeing some of the most bitterly partisan governance coming out of the Republican controlled Congress and White House, I think it's pretty rich to be lectured by them in schoolmarmish tones on the need for comity and bipartisanship now that the Democrats are in charge.
I thoroughly agree with the principle of bipartisanship and comity in governance. I strongly crave it from our leadership. I pray for them (and me) to have this spirit of collaboration.
But let's be bluntly honest for a minute. Coming from some Republicans, the call to bipartisanship is deeply hypocritical.
Many Republicans weren't interested in bipartisanship during the Roberts and Alito hearings. They weren't exhibiting much comity during the Schiavo affair. They weren't modeling inclusiveness when Tom Delay announced that only legislation that passed "the majority of the majority" would ever see a floor vote. And then they weren't displaying a sense of mutual responsibility when they changed the House Ethics rules in view of Tom Delay's scandals.
And they have been anything BUT collaborative in considering strategies in Iraq, warrantless wiretapping, elimination of habeas corpus, the Patriot act, etc., outright calling Democrats cowards, defeatists, terrorist appeasers and sympathizers, and so forth.
Time and time again, Republican committee chairmen have waited until the very last minute to hand the Dems a copy of draft legislation just before it went to a floor vote. They've repeatedly forced floor votes on legislation that Dems haven't even had a chance to see. Legislation that has had secret provisions inserted deep into the text of the bill in the 11th hour. They've played wedge issue legislation knowing full well that the legislation wouldn't pass, but just to game the process and try to undermine Democrats.
President Bush says he welcomes bipartisanship. But it's clear from his record that he only does so when it happens to agree with his preconceived agenda. He says he's happy to work with the Dems, but only after he has no choice but to do so.
Republicans have run over, gone around, shut out and insulted Democrats time and again in recent years when they had the power to reach out and be bipartisan and inclusive. Now, let's be fair: Democrats have been pretty argumentative, as well. But the Dems have been in the minority, and have been pretty much shut out of a lot of the process, so one can understand a little bit of their frustration.
Rancorous partisanship may be the way the game is going to be played in the 21st Century. That will be pretty sad. I hope it's not the case, though the temptation for the Dems to "get even" will be there. I'm choosing to believe that the Dems will have heard the message of the American voters, who rejected the Republican leadership not only because of their policies and scandals, but also because of their partisan practices.
But in my wishful thinking, I'm not forgetting which party has been in charge of Congress for the past 12 years. I'm not forgetting which one had the power to actually extend a bipartisan and inclusive olive leaf to the minority party, but so often refused to do so.
Republicans may well wish for bipartisanship now, and I sincerely hope they get it. But if and when they do, it won't be because they modeled such behavior when they had the chance.
After twelve years of seeing some of the most bitterly partisan governance coming out of the Republican controlled Congress and White House, I think it's pretty rich to be lectured by them in schoolmarmish tones on the need for comity and bipartisanship now that the Democrats are in charge.
I thoroughly agree with the principle of bipartisanship and comity in governance. I strongly crave it from our leadership. I pray for them (and me) to have this spirit of collaboration.
But let's be bluntly honest for a minute. Coming from some Republicans, the call to bipartisanship is deeply hypocritical.
Many Republicans weren't interested in bipartisanship during the Roberts and Alito hearings. They weren't exhibiting much comity during the Schiavo affair. They weren't modeling inclusiveness when Tom Delay announced that only legislation that passed "the majority of the majority" would ever see a floor vote. And then they weren't displaying a sense of mutual responsibility when they changed the House Ethics rules in view of Tom Delay's scandals.
And they have been anything BUT collaborative in considering strategies in Iraq, warrantless wiretapping, elimination of habeas corpus, the Patriot act, etc., outright calling Democrats cowards, defeatists, terrorist appeasers and sympathizers, and so forth.
Time and time again, Republican committee chairmen have waited until the very last minute to hand the Dems a copy of draft legislation just before it went to a floor vote. They've repeatedly forced floor votes on legislation that Dems haven't even had a chance to see. Legislation that has had secret provisions inserted deep into the text of the bill in the 11th hour. They've played wedge issue legislation knowing full well that the legislation wouldn't pass, but just to game the process and try to undermine Democrats.
President Bush says he welcomes bipartisanship. But it's clear from his record that he only does so when it happens to agree with his preconceived agenda. He says he's happy to work with the Dems, but only after he has no choice but to do so.
Republicans have run over, gone around, shut out and insulted Democrats time and again in recent years when they had the power to reach out and be bipartisan and inclusive. Now, let's be fair: Democrats have been pretty argumentative, as well. But the Dems have been in the minority, and have been pretty much shut out of a lot of the process, so one can understand a little bit of their frustration.
Rancorous partisanship may be the way the game is going to be played in the 21st Century. That will be pretty sad. I hope it's not the case, though the temptation for the Dems to "get even" will be there. I'm choosing to believe that the Dems will have heard the message of the American voters, who rejected the Republican leadership not only because of their policies and scandals, but also because of their partisan practices.
But in my wishful thinking, I'm not forgetting which party has been in charge of Congress for the past 12 years. I'm not forgetting which one had the power to actually extend a bipartisan and inclusive olive leaf to the minority party, but so often refused to do so.
Republicans may well wish for bipartisanship now, and I sincerely hope they get it. But if and when they do, it won't be because they modeled such behavior when they had the chance.
posted by Geo at 12:46 PM
1 Comments:
I think that's a good point, Joe. When Dems follow through on the whole accountability thing, you can bet that some Republicans are going to be screaming "See! There they go! They're being partisan!"
Personally, I'm hoping our next "Truman Commission" will turn up the truth about Iraq, torture, warrantless wiretapping, etc. The citizens of America, to say nothing of the rest of the world, deserve to know the truth about what this administration has been up to.
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