In recent news, Republican Judd Gregg stepped down from his newly found position as the head of the Commerce department. He is quoted in the Washington Post as:
he focused on his unwillingness to be part of a team, particularly if he didn't believe in its views "110 percent."
Essentially, Obama had extended the olive branch to Republicans, making a bipartisan country where the best ideas from both sides can be pulled, debated, and used to fix our country, and the Republicans slapped it away.
Is it really that difficult to work with people or for people who have different opinions than yourself? Does one need to be able to agree and support 100% of their boss's ideas in order to bring competence and progress to the table? Sometimes I wonder how people like Gregg deal with everyday life without the ability to agree to disagree or compromise.
It is further proof, in my mind however, that the Republican party really is that sore over losing the election, and, will do anything to stunt the growth of the country, and their constituents in order to preserve their archaic ideologies and unwavering inability to to so much as work with anyone they disagree with. They label the Democrats as "pansies" and "spineless" when they work together and find compromises with the republican party on issues.
Perhaps if they didn't, they would be forced to either make compromises or risk showing their true colors.
That is to say, they place their political priorities over the well being of their constituents.
Gregg's decision, and the RNC's approval of the decision calling it a "rebuke of Obama's liberal agenda" will turn out to be a large political mistake. First and foremost, if they are refusing to take positions offered to them, then they are willingly giving up power. Perhaps they believe that they can then turn on the Liberal Agenda Conspiracy theories, but of course we all know you can't claim a conspiracy power grab when the positions were willfully refused. They could have some modicum of power and a platform to share their ideas, but opt not to.
Perhaps they haven't any good ideas.
The other problem is that it makes them look bad. As if they could look any worse after the last eight years, and McCain's terrible campaign the remaining players opt to act like unhappy children, stomping off the playground, taking their elephant toys with them. The moderate Republican voter base, and the independent scene must be looking at them in awe right now. Perhaps even disappointment that they can't find it in their hearts and minds to make amends, and focus on the needs of the country, rather than ideological fodder.
Placing one's political party over the needs of the people in the areas one represents sounds eerily familiar to another type of political ideology. But I'll leave it to you to guess what that is.
6 comments:
When have you ever know for politicians to be mature people? Just look at a presidential debate. They are not speaking calmly and trying to show their points of view in a respectful manner. They are yelling and getting upset.
You couldn't find a more perfect way to describe them by comparing them to children on a playground.
And it's always going to stay like that if we don't evolve.
Here in canada, we have more parties participating in the elections. We even have a "green party". Of course they don't get elected but when you hear and see those people behave, it gives you hope. Intelligent and cultivated people. Now those other big shots might seem cultivated but knowing a lot of things and really understanding them ain't the same thing.
In real life, it would be the same thing. Haven't you ever seen some homosapien yelling at cashier in a department store for some small misunderstanding? His name could be
Judd Gregg. :P
I now have a mental image of Gregg sneering at a cashier and swearing on his dead aunt's head that he'll never come back NEVER!! :D
I just think it's a bad move in general though. The Republican party here is doing everything in it's power to alienate as many people as possible. granted, getting the crazies out and isolating them isn't a bad idea, however if the moderate Republicans lose their control of the RNC, that's bad for the country.
Even as much as many would love to see the Republican party implode, I dread the thought of a one party country. That leaves us with no checks and balances. No opposition. Even if I like much of what the Democrats are proposing right now, you and I both know that absolute power corrupts absolutely - so it'll turn ugly at some point.
*shudder*
Popped this story on PopRule: http://poprule.com/story/republicans-really-are-sore-over-losing-election
Would love to see more of your posts on PopRule in the future!
Thanks Andrew, I'll have to check that out!
I think it would be difficult to work with someone that held a completely different ideology than you but that should not be a reason to refuse a job. I think you would grow more as a person and become a better negotiator for it. That would be a major benefit. On the other side there was rumors that President Obama was attempting to gain another senate seat for the democrats. So who knows what was really going on.
I think the Republicans have a strategy in mind when they refuse the political olive branch. They want this administration and Democratically controlled Congress to fail so that they can be swept back into power with a wave of "we told you so." I believe that most Republicans still believe that the past 8 years have not been a total travesty of a an administration. They still cling to the belief that the Republican controlled Congress and White House had made all the correct decisions. By refusing to take part in a bipartisan administration, they are "washing their hands" of responsibility. I think it's too late for moderate control of the Republican party. I think John McCain represented moderates in the party and his defeat signaled to the party leader that extreme conservatism must be the way to bring the party back to the majority.
I despise the malicious propaganda and fear mongering of the Republican party, but I dread a single party system as well.
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