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Saturday, October 30, 2010

Partisan Politics

Let's see ... exactly what are we talking about?

Politicking: The act of engaging in politics, or in political campaigning.

Hmm. So ...

Politics: Dealing with the structure or affairs of government.

Hmph! Okay, so "politicking" is "engaging in politics" and "politics" is "the structure or affairs of government".

And then I get this: "We've spent the last 20 months governing, they have spent the last 20 months politicking." Or, substituting the definitions, "We've spent the last 20 months governing, they have spent the last 20 months involved in the affairs of government."

That has been the complaint of the President over the last several months regarding the Republicans in Washington. They're not serious. They're ... politicking. What's wrong with this picture?

I can't tell you how many times I've heard this complaint. If the opponent disagrees with my side, they are "engaging in politics". Apparently that means that they are engaging in partisan arguments rather than ... what ... principled arguments? If they disagree with our side, they disagree because it's our side and not their side. It is not even remotely possible that any thinking person could disagree with our side because they think it's wrong. Of course not! And even if they did, they're not offering anything better. They're just disagreeing! You know ... like we do about them and their views.

Sadly, it wouldn't really matter if I was talking about Republicans or Democrats ...

1 comment:

Danny Wright said...

"Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals...Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves."