I was reading Mother Jones today, I try and at least follow the blogs. But, between you and me, the site almost always has something worth reading. I happened upon this articleby Kevin Drum.
Drum has been arguing that, while many Progressives may be upset with the president, Obama is trying to project an image of "being the adult in the room."
More below the fold
I'm going to go off in a different direction now-- stay with me though and I'll tie it all together.
I have been doing some research work with a professor of late. I have been reading Richard Felson's work on violent crime. He speaks a lot about "adversary effect." Think of the Cold War. We drop the A-bomb, the Soviets develop one. We build ICBMs, they follow. And so on and so forth until you get to MAD. It's a hip theory in Criminal Justice circles attempting to explain the reason for such high gun violence (and many other applications I haven't seen yet, I'm sure).
Back to politics
On Friday, on the Diane Rehm Show, they were discussing the "super-committee." And postulating what would come from that discussion. Much was made about how Republicans would stand by Norquist's foolish pledge, and the agreement seemed to be that the committee would fail, likely along party lines. OR... that Democrats would make concessions to ensure that the axe didn't fall effectively screwing them both.
My first thought was, "Why won't Pelosi and Reid put more partisan Democrats on the committee to check the Republicans?"
That's what caused me to think of the "adversary effect." Which is where our politics are going. The further to the right the Republicans go, it seems the further to the left the Democrats go. In an almost endlessly repeating cycle.
Today, when I read Drum's article, I thought Obama is doing the right thing. He's staying-- for the most part-- in the middle. I think that the Democrat Party should follow his lead. Perhaps WE can bring some sanity back to politics. Eliminate silly reactionary bickering. And focus on our core beliefs, and explaining to the public (not the teabaggers) how our stances and core beliefs will improve things for them. Perhaps, by avoiding the childish back-and-forth we can help more people see the need for more progressive policies.
It certainly can't be worse than the alternative which we suffered through during the debt ceiling debate.