I don't know if I've made it to that certain
magical age or what, but I'm officially
sick and tired of
partisan politics. Not
politics itself (though who needs too much of that anyway), but the politics of "
my party is always right,
your party is always wrong".
I see nothing wrong with people deciding that one party fits their personal ideologies better than another, but in the past few days, I've been forced to
wallow in far too much
partisanship. I've read columns by
Molly Ivins and
Don Feder, I've listened to
Rush Limbaugh, I've read nodes by
Saige and DMan, I've read
enraged letters to the editor, I've watched
politicians posture on various
news programs. The only thing they have in common is
knee-jerk loyalty to their chosen
political party and
knee-jerk hatred of those who do not belong to their chosen party. It's like watching a particularly
inept puppet show--
Party X raises one string, and
Don,
Rush,
D,
Bob Barr, and
Elderly Reactionary X dance a jig;
Party Z pulls another string, and
Molly,
Saige,
Gloria Steinem, and
Aging Hippie Z jerk around like
robots.
Pitiful? Hell, yeah.
Can anyone
believe that these people
really think that their way is the
only way? Can they really believe that
all Democrats are good and
all Republicans are evil (or that
all Republicans are good and
all Democrats are evil)? Do any of them really believe that partisan
politicking is in any way different from frothing
nationalism or
auto enthusiasts who fight about whether
Ford or
Chevy make better trucks? Many of these
opinion writers appear to have checked with one of the political parties'
headquarters to get their columns or letters approved--does anyone really think that
mindless,
abject toadyism is the key to improving circumstances around the
nation? Can't these
rabid partisans in both parties just get together somewhere,
kill each other, and let the rest of us get on with our
business?