Liberals are on a bender right now. There panties are
thoroughly bunched at the conservative politicians and Tea Party Republicans
who really, genuinely, truly, super-dooper-times-a-gazillion meant it when they
signed a pledge not to vote for new taxes or tax increases. They’re absolutely
gorging themselves on hating Grover Norquist, who runs Americans for Tax Reform.
And in cartoon form here (http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-norquist-anti-tax-pledge/2011/07/21/gIQARqzjSI_video.html)
And snarkily here (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/31/opinion/sunday/bruni-norquist-taxes-and-a-dangerous-purity.html?scp=3&sq=Grover%20Norquist&st=cse)
And government sponsored here (http://www.npr.org/2011/07/14/137800715/the-man-behind-the-gops-tax-pledge)
It actually beats the “hostage-taking GOP” meme that reminds
us all of fonder days when liberals were still wringing their hands over
crosshairs on political ads and the “rhetoric of violence.” As a result, Norquist
has been summarily elevated to niche celebrity as the right-wing boogeyman. Previously, this post has been ably held
by Karl Rove (who had the gall to get Republicans elected), Donald Rumsfeld
(who had the gall to believe that the world was better off without Saddam
Hussein), and Ken Starr (who had the gall to believe that perjury was a felony)…among
others.
As an intellectual force, Norquist regularly mops the floor
all the most popular people at all the most fabulous DC parties:
Chris Matthews doesn’t seem to understand politics (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DncElYQmAF0)
Client #9 doesn’t seem to understand economics (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENbQ2StXKRY&feature=related)
And an entire smattering of know-nothings get woodshed’d on
just about everything: (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbvQjYUd_L8&feature=related)
I’ll cut short the tour of YouTube. Norquist isn’t the point
of this whole thing; he’s in the hand that the magician is waving around while
the other hand is fishing for the rabbit. Liberals are absolutely aghast that Republicans
want to govern in absolutes. The entire narrative is set up around lauding
flexibility, promoting compromise, praising capitulation. John McCain has made
a thoroughly underwhelming career out of being the least-hated mortal enemy of
the liberal media. This isn’t new either, but it’s been in exile since the Gang
of Something or Other (probably led by a certain
Senator from a certain state of
Arizona) struck a deal to coerce Democrats to allow Bush’s judicial
nominees through in 2005 (conspicuously, this media reflex seemed absent circa
2006-10). The media noise is the Pavlovian reinforcement mechanism that forced
us to sit through 5 decades of limited government as a pipe dream. It’s why
despite Ronald Reagan, Newt Gingrich, and two decades of conservative
ascendancy, the government continues to grow to an unprecedented girth.
Forget for a moment that if Republicans are being
recalcitrant on resisting tax increases, Democrats must therefore have been
equally obstinate on insisting on tax increases in the first place. Yes, it’s
the Law of the Conservation of Political Priorities in action, but there’s more
going on here. This isn’t about the debt ceiling, or revenue, or class warfare or
even maintaining tax increases as a theoretical construct for deficit reduction
(despite it being economic hogwash). This is about fearing the absolute no
matter the irrationality. Civics 101: the point of government is the
establishment of an absolute set of rules so that affairs aren’t settled by the
biggest club. Those existence of absolute rules is what keeps civilization afloat
and
That’s why we have the Constitution. It’s why we have
written laws. The Constitution is our nation’s one sacred, inviolate text. It
is the law. Hundreds of thousands of intelligent men and women have spent 224
years parsing every word. There is no reason that our politicians should be
compelled to be flimsy and arbitrary in writing laws that are, by definition,
hard and fast. When liberals’ bender of flexibility and compromise wears off,
the American people are left with the hangover of rigidity and the absolute. We
live in a republic—not a democracy--for good reasons. The voters can’t dictate
what a representative will do when he gets to Washington. However they can, and
should, pin a note to their elected officials’ lapels that says “Good luck in
Washington. Remember why we sent you. We’ll be watching.”
Obviously the denunciation of pledges and the politics of
absolutism is wildly irrational for ordinary citizens. For the media, the
rationale may simply be the result of intellectual laziness, faulty logic, and
poorly-drawn conclusions. More likely, however, is the precarious position of
the career Washingtonians facing a shrinking government who resent having their
influence on political affairs supplanted or diluted by the influence of the
voters. Those posturing about the virtue of compromise have directed their
entire argument towards preserving a less democratic republic.
Tip of the cap to the House Republicans. I know your seat is
hot right now. Thanks for remembering that your constituents can light a fire
that President Obama can’t.
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