So the thought of the day is this:
Partisanship aside, we have two factions in our political system. We also have the administration that wields veto power, we have the house and the senate that needs a two thirds majority to be able to override any presidential veto.
Bottom line is there are still only TWO major party's with a few independents thrown in on any given year.
I will assume since I haven't broached any hot topics as of yet, that we can all, at least agree on this much, yes?
We have two major political factions.
So now that we have established that this can be agreed upon, lets take it a step further here.
The 109th Congress, Republican majority, Democrat minority, got nothing done because of procedural rules that allows things such as filibusters and other procedural motions in the house and the senate. The Republicans blamed the Democrats for obstruction.
Tide turned and now:
The 110th Congress, now, is Democratically controlled and due to those same procedural motions, including filibusters in the Senate, is still not able to get anything done. The Democrats blame the Republicans for obstruction.
We still in agreement here?
In both cases, the majority party can be stymied into getting nothing done because of procedure, or a Presidential veto if the majority party does not have the votes to override said veto in both houses.
We still in agreement here?
Now let us throw the American people into the mix.
Being a republic that hold democratic elections, that is basically where the people power ends, UNLESS, something comes up and the politicians from both sides of the aisle, understanding that they alone create the laws, but that we, the people, have the power to see to it they do not get elected again, should they go against us, so the politicians do factor us in, for no other reason than political survival.
Two examples here are the Fox debates that the Democrats, after hearing their supporters LOUDLY, had to cancel participation in, and the second example, the Immigration Reform Bill, where once again, the people made their voices heard, and the politicians understood that participating/passing the legislation would be political suicide.
Now, I am pretty sure everyone is on the same page here, we haven't discussed hot topics, or partisan topics at all, but the bottom line of this little exercise is that we have the Republicans and we have the Democrats and because of procedure and the will of the American people, when they speak up loud enough, barely anything at all is being accomplished.
So far, so good? Are we all still in agreement so far?
Now for the hard part, broaching a subject where both sides simply turn the brains off and go with gut and rhetoric.
IRAQ.
We have established that here, in America, our political system has two major factions and can get nothing done politically, because of procedure.
Iraq has THREE.
Think about that. We cannot do anything because of two and Iraq has to negotiate between three factions.
Better yet, god help them, they look to us as an example???????????
So, for those that consistently wish to criticize the Iraqi's for their lack of political progress, something relatively new to them in comparison to the U.S., maybe you should step back for a second and look at our own, dysfunctional political realm.
I am very partisan, I admit this, perhaps more so because I was formerly a Democrat, but even I can step back for a second and see the idiocy of asking a newly formed government, with THREE political factions, to be savvy enough to do better than we here at home are capable of doing with only two.
How much longer have we been at this than the Iraqi's?
So, yes, General Petraeus is doing an outstanding job, in a short amount of time that he has been in charge, to create space so that political progress can be made, but please, try to be honest enough, even if it is just with yourself, to admit that political reform is much easier to talk about than to do, for us AND the Iraqi's.
It simply amazes me that anyone at all can look at Iraq and state, with a straight face as if they are serious, that the Iraqi's are not moving fast enough, politically, for their liking.
ummmmm, have they even bothered to look in the mirror. Do these people even understand that they are like the kettle calling the pot black.
This also isn't a partisan attack, because I hear the same tripe from Republican politicians as I do the Democratic politicians, "The Iraqi's have GOT to do this, they have GOT to do that", the whole time they are saying this, they THEMSELVES are busy infighting between our two political factions and getting nothing done.
Does anyone else see how completely asinine that is? Ridiculous even? Ironic? Whatever word you want to put there, it equals the same thing.
How hypocritical can we, as a country be, to make those types of statements about the Iraqi's when we cannot even see how badly, we ourselves, do the job we keep insisting they should be able to do?
Just something for all of us to think about.
[Update] I am as guilty as anyone else for arrogantly demanding the Iraqi's step up and do what we, ourselves, cannot do, so this is not an attack on others. Just yesterday I said:
I am not blaming the Iraqi politicians, lets be clear on this, it took America far longer during and after the American Civil War, to come to any political settlements, but with the atmosphere in Washington being what it is, we are going to have to see the Iraqi politicians do a better job than we here at home can or did.
I was right about our political atmosphere in Washington, but I was wrong to say they must do better than we can, because WE are their example, and that demand was completely arrogant on my part, just as it is on anyone else that makes that statement. [End Update]
Others to read:
Captain's Quarters, Let Freedom Ring, Blue Crab Boulevard, Wizbang.
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