By any standards, contemporary American politics has come off the rails. Two hundred and thirty-four years of constitutional government and democracy is being threatened with irreparable damage. This is especially apparent in the most recent maneuvers on Capitol Hill by the Republicans who seem hell-bent on tearing up the very fabric of American democracy. Meanwhile, for Democrats it is business as usual.<\/p>\n
Most recently the headlines have been dominated by the Republican refusal to entertain a bi-partisan commission to investigate the January 6th assault on the U. S. Capitol even though such commissions are the usual response to national tragedies. Republicans contend there are already significant ongoing investigations that will reveal the facts about that fateful day. The real reason, of course, is that such an investigation might very well show that the sitting president and the Republicans were complicit in inciting and carrying out the attack, the first since the British burned Washington in 1814.<\/p>\n
In contrast, President Biden and the Democrats have continued to go about focusing on immediate problems such as passing legislation to upgrade America\u2019s infrastructure. Unfortunately, they have reverted to the time-honored political practice of including items that do not fit the traditional definition of infrastructure to meet party goals and appease their left-leaning members and constituents. It is strictly a partisan move as practiced by both parties as the price of doing business. Unfortunately, it threatens the much needed bi-partisan fix for the nation\u2019s infrastructure.<\/p>\n
The two tales described here are reflective of today\u2019s politics. While the Democrats continue to do business and play politics as usual, the Republicans have abandoned all pretense of governing in favor of a scorched earth policy for staying in power. The Democrats should leave child care and other items for later legislation to move the infrastructure bill forward. The Republicans should quit acting like maligned adolescents and own up to their role in the January 6th debacle so the country can move forward.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By any standards, contemporary American politics has come off the rails. Two hundred and thirty-four years of constitutional government and democracy is being threatened with irreparable damage. This is especially apparent in the most recent maneuvers on Capitol Hill by the Republicans who seem hell-bent on tearing up the very fabric of American democracy. Meanwhile,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-690","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-by-robert-fischer"],"yoast_head":"\n