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.