What "bipartisanship" in Washington means

From Salon courtesy of Crooks and Liars:

But more importantly, "bipartisanship" is already rampant in Washington, not rare.

And

In almost every case, the proposals that are enacted are ones favored by the White House and supported by all GOP lawmakers, and then Democrats split and enough of them join with Republicans to ensure that the GOP gets what it wants. That's "bipartisanhip" in Washington:

To support the new Bush-supported FISA law:

GOP - 48-0

Dems - 12-36

To compel redeployment of troops from Iraq:

GOP - 0-49

Dems - 24-21

To confirm Michael Mukasey as Attorney General:

GOP - 46-0

Dems - 7-40

To confirm Leslie Southwick as Circuit Court Judge:

GOP - 49-0

Dems - 8-38

Kyl-Lieberman Resolution on Iran:

GOP - 46-2

Dems - 30-20

To condemn MoveOn.org:

GOP - 49-0

Dems - 23-25

The Protect America Act:

GOP - 44-0

Dems - 20-28

Declaring English to be the Government's official language:

GOP - 48-1

Dems - 16-33

The Military Commissions Act:

GOP - 53-0

Dems - 12-34

To renew the Patriot Act:

GOP - 54-0

Dems - 34-10

Cloture Vote on Sam Alito's confirmation to the Supreme Court:

GOP - 54-0

Dems - 18-25

Authorization to Use Military Force in Iraq:

GOP - 48-1

Dems - 29-22

Click here for the rest.

This is soooooo true.

I've watched for over a decade now as Republicans have taken the concept of "hissy fit" into the realm of high art. That is, whenever they don't get their way, they just freak out until the Democrats hand them what they want on a silver platter. After only a couple of years of this give-and-take, or more accurately, take-and-take, the space on the political spectrum we call "the middle" was successfully dragged quite a ways toward the right, which is where it resides to this day. Of course, I don't lay all the blame for this at the GOP's feet: it takes two to tango, and if the Donkey Butts had simply said "no" whenever their opponents started frothing at the mouth, we might still have some actual democracy left here in the USA--you know, democracy, created by the ancient Athenians, which requires vigorous debate and citizen participation in order to function, not this voting-charade and endless TV show we have here today.

The bottom line on this is that you have to have some actual opposition in order for the concept of bipartisanship to have any real meaning. The Democratic game plan of "cave in until they shut up" can in no way be considered bipartisan--really, it's just a sick joke that leaves the GOP in actual power even when they have very little official power.

All of this means that calls for bipartisanship from elder statesmen and old-man journalists in Washington, as well as Barack Obama's uplifting "unity" bullshit, are problematic at best. That is, I'm not quite sure what they mean by the word "bipartisan." As long as Republicans can scare the shit out of Democrats by freaking out 24/7 on Capital Hill, in the White House, and on FOX News, "bipartisan" means "do what the Republicans want." When you get right down to it, any actual gridlock in Congress comes from those few occasions when Democrats find a spine, defying Republican psychic dominance. This kind of actual gridlock, however, has been quickly resolving itself in the Bush era: Dem defiance draws even more "hissy fits," bogus calls of "obstructionism" and the like, from the GOP, which usually result in a return to "bipartisanship," with the Dems again backing down, giving the Republicans what they want. Only when this pathetic dynamic ends can our Senators and Representatives get down to the hard work of hammering out some real compromises, which will probably be very messy and unsatisfying to all, but will also get the country moving again.

In short, there is no shortcut here. True bipartisanship means hard work. It means checking egos and fears at the door. It means deep reflection, nuance, and subtlety. And, unfortunately, I don't see any of that on the horizon at the moment. Until the political class is able to abandon all this bullshit, calls for unity and bipartisanship are so much fantasy.

Besides, what the hell is wrong with partisanship? Like I said, democracy requires vigorous debate. That's the idea, opposition. Pretending that we all agree with each other is sheer lunacy.

But then, sheer lunacy is what America seems to be all about these days.

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