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Tuesday, August 02, 2011

"Washington" Is Not the Problem -- Republicans in Washington Are the Problem

When Democrats (the President very much included) blame "Washington" or "politicians" for the sins of Republicans it is far worse than letting the primary culprits off the hook, though it does. Far worse, it actually amounts to Democrats providing a voluntary sermon in a right-wing ideology they despise and which disempowers their cause, as well as a free campaign ad for their opponents, the very culprits responsible for much of the deception, corruption, dysfunction, acrimony Democrats rightly mean to decry. At the heart of the Republican's brand is precisely a self-declared and self-defining hostility to the very idea of a good government attracting dedicated politicians and public servants to work together to solve people's shared problems. At the heart of the ethos of the Democratic Party is the idea that it is the organized movement to direct the resources of government to champion the needs and aspirations of the majority of people in this country who work for a living, while collaborating with everyone through government to solve our shared problems. Republicans hate good government and very predictably almost always give us bad government as a result. Democrats believe in good government and strive to participate in the great work of good government. Although everybody is prone to error and frailty, the fact is that when bad government is the problem, the problem isn't government itself, the problem is that there are people in government who are devoted heart and soul to making government bad. "Washington" Is Not the Problem -- Republicans in Washington Are the Problem.

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