"Sometimes our differences run so deep," he said, "it seems we share a continent, but not a country."
- G.W. Bush's inauguration speechwriter.
Lately, I wonder if I'm listening at all to the ideas being presented by the "other" part of the country. The ones who believe in moral certainty and in less government and in the ability of faith to provide a moral compass. I worry that I am immoderate - intolerant.
I want to examine my political bias for a moment. It seeps out everywhere, this petulance regarding G.W. Bush. Like in the quote I reprinted above, why do I feel it necessary to abstract the author of the quote? Do I truly believe that G.W. would never think those words, that he actually is the little-boy-lost, fish-out-of-water, deer-in-headlights caricature that seems so popular to depict? Is that reality? Would I ever have treated an inauguration speech similarly if it was made by, say, Bill Bradley?
I have sympathy for many politicians and public servants. Not all, of course. As in any collection of people (i.e. catholic priests, software programmers), any group of politicians includes despicable people. But many seem to be making an earnest attempt at public service and I wonder how they can pull off any meaningful political alliances of any power at all. The atmosphere in their everyday social environment is so poisonous. I love the way my Dad put it when he looked at the genesis of the deep cynicism that accompanies many politicians. He said, "with so many arrows in the air, if you were hit by one, you never would know where it came from."
My perverse vice-versa worry; however, is that fostering this sympathy is exactly how to lose a political battle. Has anyone out there made a silly "Survivor" analogy to the current state of American partisanship? (Probably, and with better armchair analysis, to boot.) What I'm wondering is whether the Democrats are the Pagong - a scrappy bunch of individuals that make incremental strides based on individual effort - facing the Tagi-like Republicans who create a core team dedicated to partisanship at every turn in order to win the larger battle.
Which reminds me that I wanted to listen to this soon. It is an episode from NPR's This American Life titled "Two Nations, One President." "In the wake of the bitter Presidential election, the two political halves [ or "the non-intersecting realities" ] of this country seem angrier at each other than they have in decades. This week we bring you tales of the widening rift." [via Boy and His Basement]
How dismissive am I being? Am I missing good ideas?
Or is G.W. actually adrift?