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| Frank Zappa got it too! |
We have been studying Washington politics and Congress for more than 40 years, and never have we seen them this dysfunctional. In our past writings, we have criticized both parties when we believed it was warranted. Today, however, we have no choice but to acknowledge that the core of the problem lies with the Republican Party.
The GOP has become an insurgent outlier in American politics. It is ideologically extreme; scornful of compromise; unmoved by conventional understanding of facts, evidence and science; and dismissive of the legitimacy of its political opposition.
When one party moves this far from the mainstream, it makes it nearly impossible for the political system to deal constructively with the country’s challenges.
“Both sides do it” or “There is plenty of blame to go around” are the traditional refuges for an American news media intent on proving its lack of bias, while political scientists prefer generality and neutrality when discussing partisan polarization. Many self-styled bipartisan groups, in their search for common ground, propose solutions that move both sides to the center, a strategy that is simply untenable when one side is so far out of reach.
Well hell it took long enough!
Still I am hoping that OTHER newspapers, blogs, and news programs soon get with the program and follow suit.
There is NO LONGER any doubt that the problems of this country, and the complete gridlock which has brought progress in Washington to a halt, is the fault and responsibility of the Republicans and their corporate overlords. And it is WAY past time that journalists started to aggressively call them out for it.
After all Stephen Colbert, Jon Stewart, and Bill Maher can't do EVERYTHING!
