Question: Why is Gridlock a 'Dirty' Word?
by Brian Johnson Nov. 3, 2010
So the media gushes over how Harry Reid is now reaching out to the Republicans in the spirit of bipartisanship.
I have watched Harry Reid and the Democrats viciously attack every Republican, conservative or RINO, for the past 10 years. They did call a truce for about two weeks after 9/11, when they even had their kumbaya moment on the Capitol steps singing "God Bless America", arm and arm with Republicans, because it was political suicide to do otherwise. Shortly thereafter, we had 8 years of hyper-partisanship from the Dems. Some of the criticism, Bush certainly deserved, especially on spending. But much of the criticism was nothing more than a hangover from the "Bush stole the election" mantra of the far-left, which even the NY Times debunked. But I digress.
Harry Reid, Barack Obama, and the rest have no intention of playing nice with Republicans, or even moderate Democrats, over the next two years. Hell, they sacrificed most of the blue-dog Democrats in this election. The left-wing of the party poured millions of dollars into the campaigns of Reid, Barney Frank, Patty Murray, and Barbara Boxer. The moderate Democratic candidates were hung out to dry, and now lay stacked like cord wood on the political ash heap of the 2010 midterm election.
No, when Harry Reid talks compromise, he means that the GOP needs to compromise their principles and move farther to the left, toward Democrats positions. Harry Reid was willing to sacrifice the moderate wing of his party, because he now has almost entirely hard-left ideologues, whom he and the leadership can better control, and present a united front without fractures in the ranks. The Republicans were, for the most part, able to maintain a united front over the last 2 years due to necessity. They were badly outnumbered in both Houses of Congress. A single defection would effectively give carte blanche to the Obama agenda. Even with that, it wasn't enough to stop anything. It was Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi's inability to prevent defections of moderate Democrats which held up much of Obama and the Dem's agenda. That, and the voices of millions of Americans who descended on Washington D.C., and the Tea Parties from coast to coast. As far as Harry Reid and the Democrats are concerned: "good riddance" to the Blue Dogs in their ranks.
If the Republican leadership has learned anything in the last 2 years, compromising their principles on spending, taxes, and overreaching-government to make nice with Harry Reid and the left will cost them. When it comes to all of these things, I and millions of others would prefer gridlock to what we've witnessed the last 4 years. I have never understood why gridlock is such a dirty word. I prefer gridlock. It means that the politicians are not passing reams and reams of new regulations, taxes, and God knows what else. HAIL TO GRIDLOCK!!
Yet, already there are some of the establishment Republicans who want to "co-opt" the new incoming freshmen conservatives and show them "how things work here". To hell with that! They were sent there to change the way things work. How things work now is what is broken. These old-boy, establishment Republicans like Lindsey Graham, Murkowski, McCain, Snowe, and others have put giant political bullseyes on their backs. They think that 2010 is a one-time tsunami. I've got news for them.Tsunami's come in sets of 2, 3, and 4, and this was only the first wave. There will be more of this, both Republican and Democrat, in 2012, 2014, and possibly 2016. This wave will appear to recede, but we are just building up for the next set. 2012: Surfs up again!
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