the "insurgent outliers"

[djjasper]

Interesting article, and although obviously written with a left-wing bias, I think it's worth a look no matter which side of the political spectrum you happen to be on. I think it outlines some game-changing dysfunction in this country's political system that may be getting beyond rescue. This is my first foray into the Political Forum on this site. I am interested to hear people's opinions:

FULL ARTICLE IS HERE: http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinio...UlT_story.html

Let’s just say it: The Republicans are the problem.

By Thomas E. Mann and Norman J. Ornstein, Published: April 27

Rep. Allen West, a Florida Republican, was recently captured on video asserting that there are “78 to 81” Democrats in Congress who are members of the Communist Party. Of course, it’s not unusual for some renegade lawmaker from either side of the aisle to say something outrageous. What made West’s comment — right out of the McCarthyite playbook of the 1950s — so striking was the almost complete lack of condemnation from Republican congressional leaders or other major party figures, including the remaining presidential candidates.

It’s not that the GOP leadership agrees with West; it is that such extreme remarks and views are now taken for granted.

We have been studying Washington politics and Congress for more than 40 years, and never have we seen them this dysfunctional. In our past writings, we have criticized both parties when we believed it was warranted. Today, however, we have no choice but to acknowledge that the core of the problem lies with the Republican Party.

The GOP has become an insurgent outlier in American politics. It is ideologically extreme; scornful of compromise; unmoved by conventional understanding of facts, evidence and science; and dismissive of the legitimacy of its political opposition.

When one party moves this far from the mainstream, it makes it nearly impossible for the political system to deal constructively with the country’s challenges.

“Both sides do it” or “There is plenty of blame to go around” are the traditional refuges for an American news media intent on proving its lack of bias, while political scientists prefer generality and neutrality when discussing partisan polarization. Many self-styled bipartisan groups, in their search for common ground, propose solutions that move both sides to the center, a strategy that is simply untenable when one side is so far out of reach.

It is clear that the center of gravity in the Republican Party has shifted sharply to the right. Its once-legendary moderate and center-right legislators in the House and the Senate — think Bob Michel, Mickey Edwards, John Danforth, Chuck Hagel — are virtually extinct.

The post-McGovern Democratic Party, by contrast, while losing the bulk of its conservative Dixiecrat contingent in the decades after the civil rights revolution, has retained a more diverse base. Since the Clinton presidency, it has hewed to the center-left on issues from welfare reform to fiscal policy. While the Democrats may have moved from their 40-yard line to their 25, the Republicans have gone from their 40 to somewhere behind their goal post.

What happened? Of course, there were larger forces at work beyond the realignment of the South. They included the mobilization of social conservatives after the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, the anti-tax movement launched in 1978 by California’s Proposition 13, the rise of conservative talk radio after a congressional pay raise in 1989, and the emergence of Fox News and right-wing blogs. But the real move to the bedrock right starts with two names: Newt Gingrich and Grover Norquist.

FULL ARTICLE: http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinio...UlT_story.html

[OldArmy]

West is a loose cannon who was a failure as a military leader. Having dodged a courts martial he has found refuge among the farthest of the far right. Anyone who supports him should always be prepared for him to have a Tourette's Syndrome moment at the worst possible time. The Republicans aren't the problem but some right wing radicals are.

[mspeasl]

Originally Posted by OldArmy

West is a loose cannon.......... The Republicans aren't the problem but some right wing radicals are.

I agree. And the same holds true for the Dems.

[Templar]

Originally Posted by djjasper

Let’s just say it: The Republicans are the problem.

This statement is very insightful.

I guess they assume all Muslims are terrorists too? African Americans are all gang-bangers?

Please...

[M_Six]

Indiana just voted in their own version of West. If this keeps up, there will only be far-left and far-right wingnuts in Congress.

[Team Plutonium]

Originally Posted by M_Six

Indiana just voted in their own version of West. If this keeps up, there will only be far-left and far-right wingnuts in Congress.