Monday, October 28, 2013

Fundraiser Day Two: Extremism Decried / Moderation Called For



Thank goodness someone finally has the guts to speak out about The Extremes on Both Sides:
Congress Can Become Civil and Productive if Moderate Voters Demand It
by Joshua DuBois Oct 28, 2013 5:45 AM EDT

The dysfunction and ugly rhetoric typical of this Congress is on us, the voters, but the electorate can force a change, writes Joshua DuBois.

I hate to say it, but this crazy Congress is our fault.

Me and you.

Yep, that Congress. The 9 percent approval rating Congress. The pointless 2-week shutdown Congress. The “You Lie,” impeachment-seeking, “die-quickly,” Congress. It’s tough to hear, but guys, that’s on us.

The reason that this Congress is our fault is that we haven’t given them incentives to get it together and actually solve our nation’s problems. It’s not that Washington isn’t listening; they’re just listening to the wrong voices. The vast majority of members of Congress hear from individuals and groups at the polar ends of our politics: far-right conservative activists and far-left liberal advocates, both of whom have their place and aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. We, the people of the middle, haven’t created a demand for decency, an incentive for compromise.

...
Listen, RedState.com, Heritage Action, Family Research Council, and other voices and groups on the political right have a job to do, and they do it very, very well. The same for Daily Kos, NARAL, and groups on the left. Their focus is trying to keep their elected representatives as ideologically pure as possible, and protect the issues and interests they hold dear. So they’ll send people to town halls, they’ll organize email campaigns, they’ll tweet and blog and raise money and participate fully in the political process. It’s a #tcot and #p2 world out there.
...
No, this is not a bad parody written by me and slipped past the sleepy editors at "The Daily Beast" to raise a few dollars.

This is just one more example of the genuine, cornucopial magic of the Great Mainstream Media Centrist TurDuckEn -- that no matter how packed-in-sideways-with-a-pile-drive full of blindingly obvious false equivalents it may seem to be, there will always be room enough to cram one more fistful of Both Siderism up its ass.



5 comments:

bowtiejack said...

"the Great Mainstream Media Centrist TurDuckEn . . ."

Just marvelous. I salute you, sir!

Kathleen said...

Who the hell is that clown?

steeve said...

I was confused by the fact that the liberal malefactors weren't unnamed this time. Turns out it's because the both-siderism actually detracted from the bigger issue: "Congress Can Become Civil and Productive"

Civility is not a goal. Productivity is not a goal. Policies that don't suck should be the goal.

If this doofus were forced to write a piece about how the policies of both sides are bad, he'd be forced to leave the liberal "examples" unspecified, like both-sider pieces are supposed to do.

Coldtype said...

Well Drifty, Both Sides™ are fully on board with the "need" for a Grand Betrayal of retirees calling for cuts to Social Security and Medicare. Both Sides™ were and are on board with the bailout and continued subsidization of the Wall Street hustlers who cratered the economy. Both Sides™ cling to the irrational belief that the private sector will be the vehicle by which the economy will be pulled out of the Great Recession thereby negating the need for a federal fiscal initiative on the scale of FDR's New Deal.

I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that these issues have more to do with the public's low opinion of Congress than anything else.

Cirze said...

What Coldtype said!

Because both sides (other than Bernie Sander's side) do it constantly.