It's Just a Delusion

[stewstewstewdio.livejournal.com]

For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring. - Carl Sagan

I came across an article in the Chicago Tribune about Tea Party Freshman Representative Joe Walsh from the 1^st district in Illinois. No, not the guy from the rock group The Eagles. A different guy. At TeaCon 2011 in Schaumburg, he actually told the crowd:

“No, I don’t think the American people are upset because Washington’s dysfunctional. I don’t buy that Washington’s dysfunctional,” the congressman from McHenry said. “But when Washington’s dysfunctional, that means they’re not able to do as much. I think that’s a good thing.”

It is no secret that the Tea Party freshmen in the house resisted raising the debt ceiling that almost caused the U.S. to default on its fiscal responsibilities for the first time in its history. This lack of cooperation has been blamed for the Standard & Poor’s credit downgrade from AAA to AA+. And it seems that the Tea Party freshmen would have no problem causing another downgrade again.

It appears the Tea Party freshmen enjoy playing political games with America’s future. The Tea Party freshmen believe they were sent to Washington to engage in a reckless game of chicken regardless of the consequences and to paralyze the political process. Walsh, as well as other Tea Party candidates, opposes the moderate legislators that have built this country.

“Walsh said Boehner “pats us on our heads, (and says), ‘Republicans, don’t make trouble. Don’t make waves. Let’s just be quiet, shhh, and we’ll get President Obama out of office in a year.’”

You know it has to be bad when the leader of your own party is telling you to STFU. If another country tried to bring this kind of instability to our country, they would be considered, at the very least, a dangerous radical. Maybe Washington has worked the way it has because it needs to operate that way to be effective. It may not be perfect, but what is?

If this is representative of the delusional belief system of the Tea Party over all, and I believe it is from what I have seen, our country is going to be in for a bumpy ride until we fully grasp the rash nature of the Tea Party.

Comments

[policraticus.livejournal.com]

You need to reread the Federalist Papers and reacquaint yourself with what constitutes "functioning" under Constitutional principles. Our government was designed so that "dysfunction" isn't a bug, it's a feature.

[stewstewstewdio.livejournal.com]

You need to reread the Federalist Papers

First off, using a sweeping reference to an entire set of documents or a book as a basis for your point is a point not worth taking. If you can't summarize your point in here, it must be too convoluted to be illustrated effectively. This is a political forum, not the Oprah book of the month club.

Secondly, you are missing the point of the Federalist papers. They are a basis for nothing. They are nothing more than a promotion campaign to encourage ratification of the Constitution. Judges quote from the Federalist papers to support and illustrate rulings, not to make them.

[policraticus.livejournal.com]

In order to promote the ratification, the Papers were written explicitly as an explanation of the philosophy and history that the Framers drew on when they conceived the entire thing. If you want to understand why our government so often seems like it is gridlocked and dysfunctional, you should read the Federalists. It is all right there.

[badlydrawnjeff.livejournal.com]

Except tha tthe Federalist Papers are the best piece we have in describing exactly what those who created the Constitution were thinking at the time. It's rare to have such an explicitly clear document that describes things.

But policratus is exactly right - the system is not dysfunctional when things go slowly - that's the point of the system.

[mrbogey.livejournal.com]

Reminds me of my younger days when making a simple program and I'd get a "Syntax error". Clearly the problem was the computer and not my syntax. It should do what I tell it to do, ya know.

[stewstewstewdio.livejournal.com]

Clearly the problem was the computer and not my syntax.

Good point.  The trick of any good system is to make the system look like it contains the magic, not the people behind it pushing the buttons.  Unfortunately, the "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain" (Wizard of Oz so I don't get busted for plagiarism) days are gone forever.

[xforge.livejournal.com]

Hey fill me in here - are the Federalist Papers actually a part of our government? Or are they just a bunch of stuff the guys who wrote the Constitution were writing about while they were writing the Constitution? 'Cuz it seems to me, if they'd wanted that stuff in the Constitution, they'd have fucking put it the hell in there. Or said in the Constitution "for any question on any of this, refer to the Federalist Papers," which I know they didn't do.

[policraticus.livejournal.com]

Did I claim they were part of the government?

[sandwichwarrior.livejournal.com]

G.K. Chesterton famously told a parable in The Thing...

In the matter of reforming things, as distinct from deforming them, there is one plain and simple principle; a principle which will probably be called a paradox. There exists in such a case a certain institution or law; let us say, for the sake of simplicity, a fence or gate erected across a road. The more modern type of reformer goes gaily up to it and says, "I don't see the use of this; let us clear it away." To which the more intelligent type of reformer will do well to answer: "If you don't see the use of it, I certainly won't let you clear it away. Go away and think. Then, when you can come back and tell me that you do see the use of it, I may allow you to destroy it."

The Constitution, or rather the flaws stewstewstewdio percieves in it, are the fence.

The federalist papers were written as a companion peice to ensure that would-be reformers would "see the use of it".

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

Indeed. Which is why the USA pissed away lives and money in a war to do what everyone else did peacefully. Mazel Tov, Founders. I don't see why a document written in an age of powerful slaveholders needs to be treated as the USA's Quran with the strict constructionalists as our Wahhabis. The Constitution is a political document, not a religious text.

[policraticus.livejournal.com]

Thank you, Capt. Straw Man.

[sandwichwarrior.livejournal.com]

and here I always thought you were a "rule of law" type vice the "rule of man".

[eracerhead.livejournal.com]

One of the biggest problems of any newbie, congressional, or even rank-and-file employee of the government is an underestimation of the scale of the US government and economy. It doesn't dawn on most until after a year or two.

The problem is that momentum is proportional to scale; you cannot make radical change and get an optimal output. All that will cause is the generation of unintended consequences.

Think of it this way: A speedboat can accelerate, decelerate and change direction quickly at the whim of the pilot. An aircraft carrier needs to plan its destination well in advance and even calculate the speed at which it must get there. If it were even possible to change direction quickly the ship would destroy itself as internal components crash into one another. (9/11 yields the patriot act, military spending, debt, useless security at airports, etc.)

Veteran congressmen understand this. Noobs have the expectation that they will change the world within a two year tenure, which is a fools errand. Unfortunately these fools can have devastating impact. The traditional (non-ideological) conservative position develops with experience. If you want to change the government into something smaller and less intrusive, you have to be in it for the long haul.

[devil-ad-vocate.livejournal.com]

What caused S&P's downgrade was not the fact that we came close to default. That's happened before, and at those previous times, there was hardly a murmer in Washington at doing what had to be done. What caused it is the PERCEPTION that even though we could - in fact - pay our bills, Congress for the first time indicated it was actually willing to default. That generates fear and lessens confidence.

Perception is everything.

[existentme.livejournal.com]

I don't care about the Tea Party, but with regard to this: "...because it needs to operate that way to be effective. It may not be perfect, but what is?," I will say, yes, effective, you bet, and operating just the way those for whom it is effective would like it to operate, no doubt.

I don't think anyone who can think is looking for a perfect operation. I do think, however, that there are many who are seeking to have it operate more effectively for more people than what it currently does. This doesn't make them crazy - this makes them equal to all the rest for whom it is already operating just fine at the moment.

Paralysis isn't the answer, of course, or at least I don't think so - but on the other hand, since its results cannot possibly be accurately predicted, I truly can't unequivocally say it is worse than the current arrangement. I can't.

What is rash and radical and what is not, and when is either justified or at least in order? I think the bailout was a fairly rash and radical action, for example. I think most of what has been done in the area of civil liberties and privacy since 9/11 have been rash actions. I think most people would be crazy to say the invasion of Iraq was not a rash action, but something measured and logical and sensible.

[sandwichwarrior.livejournal.com]

Paralysis isn't the answer, of course, or at least I don't think so - but on the other hand, since its results cannot possibly be accurately predicted, I truly can't unequivocally say it is worse than the current arrangement. I can't.

And there in lies the problem. What is obvious and just to one person may not seem so to another.

Who is to say that the Freshmen are in wrong? They got elected for on thier platform did they not? Don't they have an obligation to represent thier consituents?

Yes, Yes I read the bit about playing chicken with America's future but seriously, what's the worst that can happen? Nuclear War?

[stewstewstewdio.livejournal.com]

what's the worst that can happen? Nuclear War?

Ho, hum. Yes. Because we won't have the credit or defense department budge to buy really big bombs to blow shit up.

[nevermind6794.livejournal.com]

The worst could could happen in the context of the budget debate? Probably something like a U.S. default on debt that would result in massive currency devaluation that destroys not only the U.S. economy, but the other economies that rely on our relatively strong currency to buy their exports and creates global shortages of investment and goods including food and health care.

[sandwichwarrior.livejournal.com]

What specifically do you find so rash?

[stewstewstewdio.livejournal.com]

What specifically do you find so rash?

Their stubbornness and inability to compromise in the face of a government crisis.

[sandwichwarrior.livejournal.com]

And the nature of that crisis would be...

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

In this case the primary strength of the Tea Party is that it's a bunch of people who say what they're going to do and then go and do it. The major, epic, clusterfuckery of the Tea Party is that it's a bunch of people who say what they're going to do and go and do it as what they want is as nonsensical as reverting to the Gold Standard and abolishing the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and all subsequent examples of Federal tyranny the way Ron Paul and company want.

I've seen this movie before.

[sandwichwarrior.livejournal.com]

lord forbid there be people who mean what they say, this is madness, madness!

Frankly I think it's already made politics worth watching again. I'm just waiting for the Occupy types to try and Re-enact Red Dawn 1917.

You must admit that thier timing is impecable.

[kardashev.livejournal.com]

I'm cool with neither side having a clear lock on the government. I like government gridlock. I'm going to keep voting in such a way as to keep as many roadblocks to new legislation as possible.

When one party gets the mandate, they don't fulfill promises they make. Just take away a few freedoms here and there.

[stewstewstewdio.livejournal.com]

I like government gridlock.

So with the government paralyzed and the free market not having any interest in turning this situation around except to whine about how much they are defeated by regulation, you are prepared to have your children and your children's children inherit this economic mess?