Why Is Washington So Polarized?

Townhall.com ^ | February 16, 2013 | John C. Goodman

[Texas resident]

The dim party has morphed into the cpusa.
Look at their goals and the actions of the dim party and their president. Same same.
They are overtly cooperating with the radical muslims becuase they have the same goal.
The MSM is on the same team, so they will never “out” jarrett.

[Little Ray]

It isn’t.
The polarization is between DC, and most urban area, and those of us living in “flyover country.”
This might occasionally show up in Congress, but mostly Congresscritters just go along to get along - esp. the GOP.

Cruz is simply a breath of fresh air, and he’ll be corrupted into the system shortly.

[TexasFreeper2009]

I just don’t agree with the article. What I see is the world moving toward a middle ground, sort of a democratic socialism (or Democracy with a safety net), which neither side is happy with.

[Cringing Negativism Network]

I don’t thing Cruz is going to be corrupted.

He’s the real McCoy.

Was very sorry to read just now, he’d Canadian? Is that true?

(bummer if so)

[KC_Lion]

John Adams was a Blind, Bald and Toothless Man.

Thomas Jefferson will allow American Children to wither on a French Pike.

[GBA]

Thank you for posting this. I've not had many reasons to be hopeful, but this is a good reminder of where we were and how far things actually have progressed and really have moved forward, and not the way the progressives have in mind.

The one stream media's lock down on good news is effective, but people are waking up anyway, not liking what they see and making changes.

[cripplecreek]

Bring back the bullwhips and dueling pistols.

Abe Lincoln once jumped out a window to avoid voting and another time he challenged a senator to wrestle for a vote.

[Little Ray]

If they don’t start that way, then the power and access will eventually corrupt them.

For example, an otherwise good judge, Roberts, got nailed because he circumvented Irish law to adopt his kids - now we have Obamacare, permanently. The same thing can be done to just about anyone.

There is always leverage on everyone. If there is not, then Parties will do their best to rid itself of them.

[gusty]

I also disagree, but for different reasons. 50 years ago, 1962, our politics were not as competitive as they are today. Back in 1962, the two parties operated on a left of center consensus based on the New Deal. Democrats strove to keep the New Deal going, while Republicans just wanted the expansion of the New Deal to be scaled back just slightly. The whole basis of the New Deal was an accepted reality. The Republican Party accepted its minority status as the way things just are.

[Paladin2]

"We are chaining ourselves up to some TV saga, that simply starts a brand new twenty-four hour cycle tomorrow morning...fresh, and with new story-line. And the truth is...our lives aren’t improving much. "

As outlined in Fahrenheit 451.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Not just Washington but the entire country is polarized because we've had fifty years of the Left following Saul Alinsky's "Rules for Radicals" like the bible.

Polarization is the entire goal of those rules, especially #13, which is their favorite.

SAUL ALINSKY'S RULES FOR RADICALS

• RULE 1: “Power is not only what you have, but what the enemy thinks you have.” Power is derived from 2 main sources – money and people. “Have-Nots” must build power from flesh and blood.
• RULE 2: “Never go outside the expertise of your people.” It results in confusion, fear and retreat. Feeling secure adds to the backbone of anyone.
• RULE 3: “Whenever possible, go outside the expertise of the enemy.” Look for ways to increase insecurity, anxiety and uncertainty.
• RULE 4: “Make the enemy live up to its own book of rules.” If the rule is that every letter gets a reply, send 30,000 letters. You can kill them with this because no one can possibly obey all of their own rules.
• RULE 5: “Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon.” There is no defense. It’s irrational. It’s infuriating. It also works as a key pressure point to force the enemy into concessions.
• RULE 6: “A good tactic is one your people enjoy.” They’ll keep doing it without urging and come back to do more. They’re doing their thing, and will even suggest better ones.
• RULE 7: “A tactic that drags on too long becomes a drag.” Don’t become old news.
• RULE 8: “Keep the pressure on. Never let up.” Keep trying new things to keep the opposition off balance. As the opposition masters one approach, hit them from the flank with something new.
• RULE 9: “The threat is usually more terrifying than the thing itself.” Imagination and ego can dream up many more consequences than any activist.
• RULE 10: "The major premise for tactics is the development of operations that will maintain a constant pressure upon the opposition." It is the unceasing pressure that will result in the reaction of the opposition that is essential for the success of the campaign.
• RULE 11: “If you push a negative hard enough, it will push through and become a positive.” Violence from the other side can win the public to your side because the public sympathizes with the underdog.
• RULE 12: “The price of a successful attack is a constructive alternative.” Never let the enemy score points because you’re caught without a solution to the problem.
• RULE 13: “Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.” Cut off the support network and isolate the target from sympathy. Go after people and not institutions; people hurt faster than institutions.

  ---

[staytrue]

For a long time, it was dems 40, reps 30, ind 30 and the dems won all the time.

This meant that the dems had to worry more about governing than winning and the repubs chipped in by being gracious losers but also trying to improve the dems product.

Now it is dems 30 repubs 30, ind 40. Now the dems are more concerned about winning than governing. The Repubs instead of being a cooperative minority are now a competitive party and also want to win.

It is now all about winning and not so much about governing.

[GJones2]

Since the U.S. election I haven’t been optimistic about this country’s prospects. Seeing some instances in which European countries are stepping back from socialism is encouraging. Maybe there’s hope that once things become even worse here, leftists too will start to see the error of their ways (or a portion of them anyway).

Still, on the whole socialism seems pretty dominant in Europe. I have my doubts about its being able to move very far back in the other direction. Also in Europe the Muslim population is increasing, and along with it the threat of Islamist extremism. There’s not much left of the optimism that I felt for the West (and for the world as a whole) at the end of the Cold War. Glad to see the listing of some positive developments, though.

[staytrue]

Agree with your post 29.

[gspurlock]

It was those years where we paid more attention to sports than politics that the great strides toward communism were made. From Social Security to LBJ’s war on poverty (which greatly expanded poverty) to Agenda 21 which is already making great strides. We almost slept too long. Far better they know who the politicians are and what they are up to than sports teams. In fact, I’ve been suspecting for a while that the bread and circuses of sports was what distracted Americans from their civic duty. When the American Revolution occurred, we had 150 years experience with self-government. We have been on auto-pilot, letting politicians run amuck for about a century now - so we are paying dearly for our past dereliction of duty as citizens.

Let the games continue, polarization is not the problem.

[Sal]

I am taking some hope from Rule #12:

RULE 12: “The price of a successful attack is a constructive alternative.” Never let the enemy score points because you’re caught without a solution to the problem.

Zippy has NO solutions. He keeps doing the same destructive things while campaigning against them. We know he wants the destruction, but most people have no clue. Hopefully, as the fiscal situation deteriorates, more people will notice that he DOES nothing--only talks.

The time race is whether they figure it out before he has cinched the deal and totally destroyed the whole country and then they turn on him. I hope we can wake up these losers in time!

Of course, the complicit fellow traveler media are all that keep him safe from reality. They are the ENEMEDIA!!! We will need to beat them too.

[ripley]

“Paul Krugman is a New York Times columnist who routinely questions the motives, the ethics, and even the sanity of people who disagree with him.”

That’s the reason for the toxicity in Washington.

Multiply that sort of venom by hundreds of Progressives in Congress and the recipe for nastiness, bad manners,
and schoolyard-bully tactics makes its appearance in an atmosphere that hangs heavy like smog.

IMHO

[Vaduz]

Freedom vs Socialism

[x]

True enough, I guess. But this idea that “the state” can or should be “dismantled” is questionable. Can you really make that a slogan and put it on flags and bumpers and expect the atmosphere not be polarized?

[matt1234]

Easy answer in a sports analogy:

Conservatives’ goalposts are in a fixed location.

Liberals’ goalposts are always being moved further away from conservatives’ goalposts.

Hence, polarization is always increasing.

And, BTW, every compromise with liberals is an implicit approval for them to move their goalposts again.