It's amazing to see just how short the attention span of the American political class has become. You'd think people who follow political trends for a living would be capable of remembering what happened just a few years ago, and
understanding how important those events are in providing context to what's happening today. But with very few exceptions, the people most of us rely upon to provide context are either unwilling or unable to fulfill that most basic of their responsibilities. (Shout out to Brian, Katie, Charlie and your crews!)
Take the current sky-is-falling debate over the stimulus bill and up-coming financial rescue package.
The unquestioned assumption is that the Democrats need to get at least 60 votes in the Senate, because otherwise the Republicans will filibuster the bill to death. For those who are unfamiliar with it, the filibuster is a way a party can stop a bill -- even if they don't have the votes to defeat it -- by simply refusing to stop talking. They basically shut down the Senate by using their right to just keep talking and talking. You need a super-majority of 60 votes to make them shut up.
The filibuster is the Washington equivalent of a four year-old's temper tantrum in the grocery store. "Give me what I want or I'll scream and scream and scream!"
Here's where the short attention span comes in. Just a few years ago, when the Republicans controlled all three branches of government, the Democrats talked about possibly filibustering Samuel Alito's Supreme Court nomination, as well as a few (7 out of 212) of Bush's most radical hard-right judicial appointees.
The Republicans went nuts, claiming the tactic was "unprecedented" (factually wrong) and generally dirty-pool (debatable). They even went so far as to propose the so-called nuclear option of changing the rule that allows filibusters in the first place.
The Republicans response to the threat of filibuster was basically, "How dare you?"
Now, they're daring the Democrats to say a word against the certainty that they'll use exactly the same tactic to stop Obama from making any progress on his attempts to defuse the economic road-side bomb Bush left for us before it blows up the whole world's economy. Unless they get what they want: less social spending and more tax breaks for the wealthy.
How dare they?
And more importantly, how dare the Washington press corp not point out the toe-curling hypocrisy of this situation?
Far be it from me to offer Obama political advice, but what's the downside in simply passing the sort of Invest in America bill serious economists like Paul Krugman favor, and letting those few Republican senators who feel so inspired go down to the Senate floor and start filibustering. Filibuster til the cows come home and the chickens come to roost.
Call their bluff.
Obama has overwhelming support right now and the country is rabidly opposed to the obstructionist approach to government these tired old men with their hackneyed slogans and silly charts represent. Let them drone on for a few days about how America needs more tax cuts for the wealthy and trillion-dollar space defense systems, but we just can't afford "wasteful" spending on schools, hospitals, fire departments, and basic medical coverage for children. Let's see how long it takes before a tsunami of public disgust rises up and shames these men into the silence and obscurity they so richly deserve.
