Legal Commentary

People Disagree

By Big Tent Democrat

Great Krugman column:

[C]ommentators who pine for the days of civility and bipartisanship are, whether they realize it or not, pining for the days when the Republican Party accepted the legitimacy of the welfare state, and was even willing to contemplate expanding it. [. . .] But that was then. Today’s G.O.P. sees much of what the modern federal government does as illegitimate; today’s Democratic Party does not. When people talk about partisan differences, they often seem to be implying that these differences are petty, matters that could be resolved with a bit of good will. But what we’re talking about here is a fundamental disagreement about the proper role of government.

Politics and democracy is the vehicle for a society to decide on the policies that will be employed. Essential to that process is debating these differences. Does it matter that people be "civil" when debating these differences? Not to me, but I am not opposed to it. But it is important to understand that no matter how nice folks are to each other in the political arena, the important thing is to understand what people are advocating for in terms of policy.

Speaking for me only

Full post as published by TalkLeft on January 14, 2011 (boomark / email).