Fed Up With Partisan Knee-Jerks

Watching President Obama’s not-a-State-of-the-Union address in front of a joint session of Congress after his first month in office showed, in no uncertain terms, how screwed up our political system is. A number of times, especially early on before the word got passed around that it looked bad on TV) when the Democrat-side of the chamber was applauding, the Republican-side sat on their hands in unison. It was embarrassing.

When did we get to be so either/or? When I was younger, I remember when political debate was an actual political debate, and not some dogmatic reaction to some plank in my party’s platform. There would always be a muddle of centrists from both parties who made certain that votes were at least a little less strident.

I think it’s funny. In a city where political power is everything, no one realizes that it’s the centrists that actually wield the most influence. Just look at the recent wad of money that was finally agreed to in the Senate. Three centrist Republicans got a ton more of what they wanted than the other 40 who pouted combined. It’s always that way.

We still of a bastion of reason with the Supreme Court. Sure, I wail whenever the political balance of the court tilts one way or the other (I want a court that is forever in the political middle), but the fact is that it’s not uncommon for a justice or two to vote their conscience and not their political label.

But Congress… Congress has always been a hotbed of partisan politics. I think the money has just gotten too seductive. DNC. RNC. PACs. Lobby-crooks. They have basically created an institution of polarization. Vote against party and you risk being shunned. No legislation. No committee appointments. No money.

Is it no wonder that I continue to suggest that the House of Representatives truly become a house of the people? Make it like jury duty. Every eligible voter is in the pool that gets selected at random. Those selected take a basic test on our government. Those that pass get conscripted to serving the rest of their fellow citizens from their district. Put them up in three or four villages set up in the area to house them (most citizens, unlike their current elected representatives, don’t happen to be millionaires). They can opt out of service after two years, but can serve no more than four.

Think of all the campaign money we’d save.

That’s it. Just a quick rant. I’ve written about this enough. I hate thoughtless politics and politicians. They just aren’t worth it.