New Era in Politics?
In history, it is often very difficult to truly discern big changes as they are happening. Oftentimes things that seem like major shifts turn out to be nothing when viewed from the distance of time. However, I am beginning to feel that we truly are entering an era of politics unlike any we have faced since the Civil War.
I still am not sure whether this is a new era. I'm certain that I don't know what the trigger will turn out to have been. One option was the Republican's witch hunt against the Clinton's that led to Clinton's impeachment. Another option was the 2000 election and the Democrat's insistence that the election was stolen.
Nevertheless, we definitely seem to be heading down a path where our politicians seem to be no longer concerned about working together to build America. They seem to be content to spout party dogma over and over again as if the more they say it, the more likely it will be taken as truth by voters. Both sides do it. Republicans imply that Democrats don't care about the safety of Americans just because they disagree with the administration’s methods. Democrats imply that Republicans lied in the run-up to the war when everyone on both sides believed Saddam had some sort of WMD, there was just disagreement about what to do about it.
However, it’s the most recent evidence of this partisanship that has made me truly start to believe that we are seeing a new era. Samuel Alito is going to be confirmed to the Supreme Court. However, he will receive fewer than a half dozen Democratic votes! None of these Democrats voting against his confirmation believe that he is unqualified to serve on the Supreme Court. Instead, they spout stuff such as “too in favor of executive power” or “not committed to privacy” or “didn’t give us enough information”. Bullshit. They are voting this way because of politics. They are voting this way because of abortion, and President Bush…. Partisan politics.
You may say, “Yes, but this is how it has always been”. Bullshit. Ruth Bader Ginsburg, former ACLU lawyer, was confirmed in 1993, 96 – 3. Stephen Breyer, another Democratic nominee, was confirmed 87 – 9. Think about those numbers for a minute and compare them to Roberts and Alito. Roberts was confirmed 78 – 22, in spite of the fact that many people agree he may be one of the most qualified, and charismatic men to ever be nominated to the Court. Alito will fall to almost a straight party line vote, even though his qualifications as a judge and a person are impeccable. For another perspective, Clarence Thomas was confirmed by a similar margin to Alito in spite of very serious allegations of sexual harassment. Does anyone doubt that Alito would have lost the nomination had another Anita Hill appeared during his hearings?
Frankly, I’m tired of it. I’m tired of the Republicans and I’m tired of the Democrats. Unfortunately, if this is the beginning of a new era, we are most likely much closer to the beginning of it than the end.
posted by Carl Spackler @ 5:27 PM
3 Comments
3 Comments:
Spackler,
I have to agree with you here. You can see it even more prevalent when Canada elects a 'conservative' and then Al Gore goes on to rip him saying he was put there by oil money and will be a friend of big oil. Needless to say, Canada has a great more deal of campaign finance than we do and Gore's comments seem to be way off base. I think he just wanted to attack a conservative no matter the country.
This definitely happens on both sides of the aisle but the Alito confirmation was an abomination. Both sides grandstanding and pontificating. Teddy hitting him for his society enrollments when Teddy himself was in one that did not allow women. The republicans leading him down the path without asking a tough question.
I do not care if a democrat or republican is in there or in the white house or in congress, these are simply labels.
I do think this could give a third party candidate the opportunity to win an election. Call me crazy but Ross Perot (before his craziness became evident) scored a ton of votes in an environment when the public was not fed up. I think if he ran in today's environment he may have had a legit shot.
I too am in agreement with Mr. Spackler. Clearly there are no independent thinkers left in Washington politics. Where was the debate on this man's qualifications? All I heard from both sides was party line. We know that he was given the highest of marks from the American Bar Association. We can all read his past decisions and assess his judicial temperament. He was overwhelmingly approved to the federal bench. What changed between now and then? Not his writings during the Reagan Administration as they were already out there. Not his ability to render an impartial decision. Politics is the only real answer. Our leaders in both parties feel the need to pander to their "base". They don't want to loose a sure thing so they let the chips fall where they may with the rest of us. I feel that our Senators have failed not only us, but Justice Alito as well. He deserved better during his hearings. We all deserved better during his hearings.
Death to both parties! Alito was emminently qualified and deserves to serve on the court simply on those merits regardless of what one thinks of his political or idealogical inclinations. For example, I do think he would vote for a further expansion of power for the executive branch, but I also think that issue is a smokescreen for those Senators who wish to justify their NO vote. If the Democrats wanted more of their idealogy on the court they should try winning some elections.
I will say that this is not necessarily a new era as much as a further evolution of an existing trend we have seen in American politics over the last generation. The parties no longer bother speaking to the center, they only wish to appeal to the fringes and the special interests because that is where the money is generated.
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