tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14072474.post3119410111686384177..comments2023-11-03T06:36:27.305-04:00Comments on Phronesisaical: The Massachusetts Senate Racehelmuthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09069600766378586919noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14072474.post-45616331932612633732010-01-22T09:34:01.625-05:002010-01-22T09:34:01.625-05:00Rather than blaming the criminals, I'd prefer ...Rather than blaming the criminals, I'd prefer to blame the conditions that beget and abet criminality. That is the liberal way, grasshopper. But if you need it painted in black hats and white hats, of course the Republicans are the bad guys. Go have some fruit. It's high in vitamin C.MThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02341704109256270557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14072474.post-43571551465241750862010-01-21T12:20:34.664-05:002010-01-21T12:20:34.664-05:00So let me get this straight - you're blaming l...So let me get this straight - you're blaming lack of consensus in the Democratic party on the GoP? That is, I'm sorry to say, absurd. <br /><br />The Democrats had almost a year with a supermajority and they squandered it. The sooner Democrats start to take responsibility for their own failures and quit blaming the GoP for everything the sooner they'll be able to actually govern.Andynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14072474.post-43141840557155212152010-01-21T10:07:19.195-05:002010-01-21T10:07:19.195-05:00Or maybe what really needs to be said is that it&#...Or maybe what really needs to be said is that it's time to <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/11/opinion/11geoghegan.html?scp=1&sq=mr.%20smith%20rewrites%20the%20&st=cse" rel="nofollow"> end de facto supermajority rule and put the senate back the way the founders intended.</a>MThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02341704109256270557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14072474.post-14256545718353839472010-01-20T13:19:26.149-05:002010-01-20T13:19:26.149-05:00Yeah, by "along party lines" I meant som...Yeah, by "along party lines" I meant something vaguer than what it implies. Anyway, sure there has been dissension among the Dems, but it seems to me that partisanship--by Republicans--that underlies it. The legislative compromises that have divided the Dems were to appease Republicans who--were everyone acting reasonably--should have been appeased, but won't be in the end, because they'll have chosen to follow the Republican game plan instead.MThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02341704109256270557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14072474.post-3355441622046755402010-01-18T13:34:04.691-05:002010-01-18T13:34:04.691-05:00MT,
Except it's not simply just along party l...MT,<br /><br />Except it's not simply just along party lines. The Democrats have the votes to pass the legislation no matter what the GoP does (which seems to suit some Democrats just fine). The main problem for the Democrats is reconciling the competing interests within their party - something that may not be possible in the end. If there was party consensus (much less national consensus), this bill would have passed long ago.Andynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14072474.post-195468503757192302010-01-18T13:01:15.223-05:002010-01-18T13:01:15.223-05:00"Hanging on a single vote" and "alo..."Hanging on a single vote" and "along party lines" as well needs to be said--and perhaps "during an episode of the kind of bad-faith, zero-sum gamesmanship that prevents consensus on anything and always has."MThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02341704109256270557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14072474.post-31243022523745247262010-01-18T12:00:25.308-05:002010-01-18T12:00:25.308-05:00Yes, it never ceases to amaze me how the extreme p...Yes, it never ceases to amaze me how the extreme partisans on both sides of the aisle love to snatch defeat from measurable but imperfect victory with their litmus tests and ideological purity requirements.<br /><br />Even if this bill passes, I think it has an uncertain future simply because it doesn't have the kind of consensus to make it enduring like Social Security, Medicare and the Civil Rights act. IMO, the fact that this bill is hanging on a single vote is about all that needs to be said.Andynoreply@blogger.com