Friday, February 26, 2010

'Send in the clowns'

I'm struck by one aspect of the health care debate: the idea that the negotiations must take place in full view, on television even. As an abstract theory it's fine, but in practice there's a big problem, especially where our representatives are concerned.

Once they've stated their side of an issue in detail - and in public - it's difficult if not impossible for them to yield on any of those details. If they do, their constituents will jump on them like coyotes on a prairie dog.

If no one can ever "give" it's impossible to have the "give-and-take" essential to the democratic process. That's why events like yesterday's health care summit are so frustrating.

Which brings me to the question: If a conference involving the citizenry is called a town hall meeting, what do you call it when the participants are all politicians? A clown hall meeting?

4 comments:

John Ettorre said...

The entire process has been a comedy of errors. Meanwhile, tens of millions of Americans suffer without any coverage. What a crime.

Mike Q said...

I keep hoping that the political process just seems worse to us, but that it really isn't any worse than in previous eras. But the need for each side to appeal to its "base" makes the idea of any meaningful compromise extremely unlikely.

John Ettorre said...

No, I think it really has gotten worse in some objective fashion, and the idiot culture (especially TV) is to blame, for dumbing down the debate into cartoon versions of politics. Thankfully, Obama seems to have grown the beginnings of a spine, and looks like he'll push his party to just pass the damn thing, ignoring all the bullshit spouted by the R's about how unfair it would be. Screw those clowns, I say.

Mike Q said...

Actually, in the much-talked-about bi-partisan spirit, the "clowns" I'm talking about in this case are both Rs and Ds.

The point I was making was made to me by a labor negotiator. He explained that if he spelled out what he was bargaining for, it would be harder to pull back even if he wanted to, even if that would be the best thing for his constituents. "So don't ask me how it's going (negotiations), because I'm not going to tell you.