THE TYGRRRR EXPRESS

It is time to get back to politics and policy.

Over a week ago much of the America political world came to a screeching halt due to the tragic shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. This freeze was highly appropriate, and good people everywhere continue to pray for Congresswoman Giffords and mourn the victims. Nothing is more tragic than the death of a child, and that should never be forgotten.

(I personally feel additional great pain over the Giffords shooting because she is Jewish. I would still feel bad if she were not Jewish, but with the attacks on Congressmen Weiner and Cantor, I pray that the madman who shot the Congresswoman was not motivated by anti-Semitism.)

Yet we cannot indefinitely put life on hold. With the greatest respect to those still suffering, those not directly connected to the tragedy have to get back to normal. Sometimes that involves serious disagreements about issues that matter greatly.

Civility means sticking to policy and not engaging in vile personal attacks. It does not mean we all “come together” and agree with each other.

I support the vote to repeal Obamacare. Many agree with me and many others do not. The discussion does not have to turn into chairs being thrown in the not so great tradition of Jerry Springer and Geraldo. It certainly should not be solved with gunshots. Yet disagreements in general are healthy. George Washington had unity during war. Yet John Adams and Thomas Jefferson had competing visions of America that still exist today. Both of those visions should be treated with dignity. We need more speech, not less.

So while we were appropriately mourning, the rest of the world did not stop.

The American dollar is still in free fall.

Our states are going broke, with California and other states possibly needing a federal bailout.

Drugs are destroying our youth, and the economic “recovery” is proving illusory as jobs remain scarce.

Our schools are declining into training grounds for future prisons, while actual prisons are overflowing.

2010 was a bad year for America, but 2011 has gotten off to a far worse start. At least in 2010 no members of Congress were shot. In addition to Ms. Giffords and Judge Roll, a high ranking federal official in the prior presidential administration was recently found murdered and dumped in a bizarre place more appropriate for a Mafia victim.

As if the domestic scene was not bad enough, the rest of the globe is going bonkers all at once.

Third world genocidal lunatics running Iran are still trying to kill us all.

(I used to say “third world genocidal lunatics in Iran…” I am from now on replacing the word “in” with “running” to clarify that I am referring to the leadership, not the people. We all need to make an effort.)

North Korea continues to threaten its neighbors while millions of people starve.

For every optimistic story of a Sully Sullenberger or a Chilean Mine Rescue, it seems that two or three negative events are happening.

It is too simplistic to blame the media. They may thrive on conflict and misery, but maybe things really are that bad.

Rather than actually confronting problems honestly and ethically, people look for excuses.

People get shot, and the blame falls on talk show hosts.

Then we are told to come together, and the solution is to have congresspeople sit next to each other.

Playing musical chairs does not solve a single problem.

The only solution is to truly respect that good ideas can come from everywhere, and that some differences cannot and should not be bridged.

Many of you over the last four years have pointed out that I spend very little time discussing social issues. I have opinions on abortion, gay rights, and illegal immigration. I just refuse to discuss them.

The world is on fire. If we don’t prevent Armageddon and save our economy, we will cease as a world people to be. Terrorists flying planes into towers did not distinguish Americans from Mexicans or heterosexuals from homosexuals.

I respect that others are fueled primarily by social issues. Just be respectful and understand that different people have different passions.

There is a ton of work to get done.

So let’s make this simple.

Barack Obama is a democratically elected president. He was born in Hawaii, not Kenya. He is a Christian, not a Muslim. He is fundamentally wrong on issues I care about, but he loves America in his own way. He is a good husband and father, and an inspirational figure to many. His liberal supporters are not unpatriotic.

Sarah Palin was a democratically elected governor who was selected to be the 2008 vice presidential nominee. She is a loving wife and mother, and an inspirational figure to many. She is not evil or stupid, and her supporters are not unpatriotic either. They are not dangerous. Dissenting from the president is not a threat to democracy. It is democracy.

(Special thanks to former New York Mayor Ed Koch for his defense of Sarah Palin.)

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2011/01/18/palin_defeated_unfair_critics_at_nyt__msnbc_108561.html

Until people can accept that the people on the other side are a noble opposition, nothing will get done.

Yet sometimes inaction and failing to get things done is a good thing. What we call gridlock, the Founding Fathers saw as the system working.

There is a middle ground between ripping each other’s eyes out and fake pious calls about coming together that are unrealistic. We come together when we need to. We always have, and always will. We came together after Pearl Harbor and after 9/11.

If something is that important, we will come together. If not, we will stay on opposite sides. As long as this is done non-violently, these instances of separation and division are positive.

We don’t need screams of bloody murder or holding hands and smoking peace pipes.

We don’t need rage or Kumbaya.

We need to respect our differences, without trying to paper them over.

Differences are healthy.

So we can calm down without insincerely coming together.

America was founded on differences. It is time to stop kidding ourselves. We are not ideologically homogeneous, so we should just get back to the normal business of fighting…yes fighting…as in feuding and fussing…like we always have and always will.

There is only one appropriate way for politics to result in a person’s demise. and that is for Congresspeople to give speeches and bore people to death.

(Thank you Hugh Hewitt for referring to C-Span as “the political equivalent of waterboarding.”)

It is time for our leaders to get back to doing something, doing nothing, and even accusing each other of doing nothing while simultaneously doing bad things, which technically is something.

It is time to get back to politics and policy.

eric

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 18th, 2011 at 4:15 am and is filed under POLITICS. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.