Extremism: Nuanced?

Allen West accusing democrats of communism.

The subject of this post is the extremism of the GOP. Why a single party holds more than its share of the blame for our current political stagnation. This post will hopefully deal with the claim that the radical positions of politicians are shared equally between parties, and explain the history behind why all of this became true.

We have been discussing historical nuance in class recently and an article that was sent to me by my father got me thinking about a comment that Mr. Bolos made one day. He said that the current state of congress is nothing new, and that there has only once truly been a time of compromise. After reading this article, though, I believe that even though times may not have always been good, they are currently the worst.

According to political analysts Thomas Mann and Norman Orstein, "extreme remarks" and "totalizing ideologies" have become commonplace on the congressional floor because the GOP has capsized in a sea of deceit. These remarks cover issues from the dismissal of scientific evidence for religious reasons, accusations of democratic members of congress as communists, and allow for the polarization of the once the great floors of this nations capital. (The times when Tip O'Neill could go to the White House and drink with Ronald Reagan eventually getting a compromise are two have most definitely ended)

Many assume that both parties are to blame for this rush to ideological certitude, and that things such as the stress of the economic downturn as well as an upcoming election underpin the rising blood pressure of many constituencies, yet this is not the case. In another article by columnist David Frum of CNN, the reason that this is no longer the case is corroborated. Because of the increasing anger of the population, and a rush to certainty, the more pragmatic, "moderate" republicans have virtually become extinct. This is not so in the democratic party.

There are a few specific instances of this that collaborate the point. The first two main factors influencing Republican extremism are historical. Influencing the actual composition of the House of Representatives and starting in 1979 was a push by Newt Gingrich to regain a republican majority. In order to accomplish this goal, he bombarded the democratic party with negative criticism and blanket claims about the futile nature of government, and when he finally achieved his goal and became the speaker of the house, the next factor took effect.

The downfall to this movement, as outlined in the Mann and Orstein article, was the creation of an ideologically "pure" group that came to be known as the tea party, which has now been given some control of congress.

In 1985, the "Americans for Tax Reform" group was started by Grover Norquist, and released a document that would forever control the decisions of republican congressmen. The "Taxpayer Protection Pledge" makes it so that any signer can never support an increase in taxation, and 238/242 Republican congressmen have signed it.

These two things have made it impossible for Democrats to negotiate with Republicans. When something that is so key to this nations well being, revenue, is taken off of the table, so many doors are shut, and extremist comments are made in order to cover up the lie that there really is not an equal amount of extremism in both parties.

The truth about this issue is that, while there is a historical nuance to how the parties have changed, overwhelming support, both historically, and by forefront political analysts show that Republicans have held up congress, stopping the passage of any kind of important legislation.

This post hopefully educated many as to this issue in congress, and through that education, hopefully disillusioned the story the the G.O.P. has for so long been telling.

Compromise is necessary, this is a pragmatic post, I am not furthering the views of either group, just trying to point out the root of the failings of both. And that root is the G.O.P.

I would love to hear if anyone has anything to add to this, but as the year is ending, you will have to comment over the summer! Lets keep these blogs up and running!