Ahh, politics as usual. It's refreshing to be back in a nation that has political dissention in it. That's the main point of our founding documents, right? And yet the Grand Old Party is hard at work again, doing what it does best: trying to fill our heads with nostalgia for better times, when bipartisanship and cooperation were the norms. No, they're not referring to the halcyon days of "normalcy" (fittingly, a made-up word); they mean instead those hellish waking hours that were the aftermath of 9/11.
It's a historical irony that Sept. 11, a day that supposedly changed the world irreversibly into a brand new place, has become the crown jewel in the backwards-reaching ideals of a very old political game. But sadly, the dignity is gone. When Reagan played this game, one could argue with his methods, but not his sincerity or character. I must say that President Bush has now gone too far to be believable.
"Bipartisan" is a word that used to imply compromise, or at least the mutually agreed-upon best interest of the nation. Now it has lost that value, having been thrown around as a catch phrase, an appeal to emotion. Surely, for the first six weeks or so after 9/11, it was important for us to put political feelings aside to complete some crucial tasks (i.e. airline security), but we're no longer in an emergency. We're dealing now with the grip of a recession that started in March, and there's just no pretending that Democrats and Republicans have, or should have, the same economic philosophies.
Why, then, is Bush complaining that the Democrats aren't being bipartisan enough by not accepting his tax reduction plan? Rather than argue the merits of his plan, the President has been content to make snide remarks about "what economics textbook [the Democrats] are reading," and, worse, conjure rhetorical nonsense by alleging that refusing to lower taxes according to his plan is in itself a tax raise. Yes. And, according to recent statistics, monkeys might fly out of my butt.
On top of this all is Bush's boldest statement yet, that only over his dead body will "they" raise taxes. To date, the only voices that have spoken in favor of a tax increase are the ones in the President's head. Not only is this a cheap and desperate tactic of argument, but it also ironically puts the nail in the coffin of bipartisanship. No, Bush didn't say "Democrats" when he so vaguely spoke of the tax-raising villains, but there's no denying his implications.
I like partisanship. I don't love the parties, but I think the Republicans should fight for their tax plan and the Democrats for their own. The butting of heads of the different interpretations of national good is what makes this place good and safe to live in. I don't know what possesses Mr. Bush to expect or hope for anything else, but he continues to insist that his is the only plan that intends to help the nation. He is discouraged by the lack of support for his ultra-conservative economics, and relies on the illusion that "they" want to raise our taxes and take our money away because they're evil politicians.
Let's cut the crap. This kind of behavior is befitting only a schoolyard bully calling everyone names if they don't play by rules that perpetually allow him to win. If you want to hark back to a great era of bipartisanship, try Clinton's second term. No one worked harder to negotiate and compromise with the opposite party than the former President. But rather than sit down with Senator Daschle and discuss the requested specifics of his budget, the new President seems insulted that we all don't have total faith in him as he pushes a terribly partisan piece of legislation. Rather than deal with his opponents face-to-face in Washington, he's running around the country, delivering more lies about bipartisanship and the evil Democrats and hopping from one issue to the next like a lesser tree shrew on four shots of espresso.
Maybe I do have an explanation for why the President thinks he can get away with this. He has enjoyed great bipartisan support and yet completely mistaken its source. The office of the President is, in itself, a seat of enormous power in times of crisis, and it is nothing new that the presence of an external threat gives a sense of awe to "the President," whatever party he's from. Executive power was intended that way. But Mr. Bush has given himself too much credit for the climax of his power won the easy way. I say that if he wants any chance of lasting longer in office than George Bush the former, he's got to fight for his domestic policies the hard way and quit making a bully of the bully pulpit.
