Davison's Doodle

The Way Governing Was

Recently, I tweeted that I think it can be argued that a portion, a majority, of the Republicans in the House and Senate want to “reign” rather than “govern.”  Given what some Republican Governors have done and are allowing their Republican majority legislatures as well as the way so many have redrawn voting districts to maintain power, I think the case can be made that “reign” is the word that best fits their ideology.  It is important to note that I am not labeling my friends and neighbors that consider themselves Republicans.  Some of them no doubt have buyers remorse that they cannot voice for fear of what might happen to them.  Maybe that’s why I like The Newsroom so much because its main character dares to question what being Republican means and what reporting the news means in the 21st century.  It is a post-modern model no matter your political party or religious affiliation.

As we think about the overt language of “hostage taking” that Republican leadership have embraced as messaging and strategy in attempts to defund the Affordable Health Care law it is clear that “hijacking” exactly fits the description of what they are doing to our country’s credit rating. deficit, model of government, and the citizens.  Who among the Republican Representatives and Senators are going to stand up like Will McAvoy, the fictitious Republican news anchor from The Newsroom and join in governing on behalf of the nation’s citizens as a strategy for winning the next election.  Has the “win at all costs” culture damaged our democracy so that governing  really means “reign?”

This observation from Seth Godin about “When to Speak Up” does a good job of framing the issue about governing and what the Republican Party is doing right now. Visit http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog to read the entire post.

When to speak up