Bipartisanship Is Bullshit

In a nutshell, this is how I feel. I know my president is a more forgiving and inclusive man but I am not. I’m not because I know there is nothing to be gained from it. Reaching out to republicans on any issue is like dipping your hand in the piranha tank at feeding time. They’ll rip the flesh off your hand given half a chance.

There was a time in the distant past where there was an honest exchange of ideas between the two parties. The trouble is that, once rightwingers started winning elections using scurrilous scare tactics, they would not quit when the election was over. The proceeded to govern using the same scare tactics and pissed in the well as far as cooperation was concerned. Democrats were less and less likely to come to the middle only to be demonized for doing so in the next election cycle. It stopped being about what was best for America and it became all about one-upping the opposition and winning elections.

Do nothing Congresses run by republicans became the norm and the political climate was increasingly hostile to any outreach. The selection of Chimpy in 2000 wrote an end to serious bipartisanship. The Chimpster wasn’t interested in what Democrats had to say. This bozo could not even get the name of the party right much less come to the table in good faith. “My way or the highway” was the NeoCon mantra he put into place and he made it stick. Moderate republicans were challenged in their own districts by Club For Growth NeoCons approved by the Chimpster himself. It made no difference how long the official had carried the water. He was out unless he marched in lockstep with Chimpy and his flying monkeys. The aura of bipartisanship took a real blow with the Iraq War fiasco.

As soon as it became apparent that the NeoCons had cooked the books on the intel and that lie after lie was told to get us into the war, Democrats started to wake up. We weren’t going after Osama like we should have but we were blowing our wad on a fool’s errand. The elections of 2006 and 2008 took the steam out of the Lie Machine the republicans used to get elected and they were kicked out of power. What Democrats did not count on was President Obama opening the door and letting them back into power.

His first clue should have been the Stimulus package that was supposed to save the economy from melt down. The republicans offered and got amendments added to the package, mainly to help out their districts, and then en masse voted against it. Not one republican voted for it. They railed about it before and after it was passed but not one of them gave back any of the money.

Now comes the health care measure. We’re in the same boat again with these clowns. Change after change was put into the bills before Congress but the result is the same old thing: no republican support for reform. Boehner was even talking about  how the President should hit the Reset button and start all over again on health care. I have one question: what the hell for?

The republicans are in the minority. They are out-voted. Elections have consequences. They had plenty of time to fix what was wrong. They knew what to fix but you did not. Step aside and let the adults in so we can move forward as a country. You had your turn. You failed.

Mr President, you were elected to do a job. You ran on the platform of fixing health care. Now fix it. Don’t ask them for help because they are fresh out of ideas and helpful suggestions. Move forward. Either they will get on the train or they will be left at the station’s platform to wave goodbye to us as we go down the track. I say leave them.

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Posted in Politics
Tags: bipartisanship, bullshit, Chimpy, health care, Iraq War, Stimulus plan