The Cold War Model of Washington Politics

Remember the cold war? How nice and easy it was? Very simple, a Us v. Them mentality of Good v. Evil, Right v. Wrong? Of course, it turned out to be much more complicated than it was represented, and most of the information that supported it turned out to be false ... but ... wait, was that the point?

Having a dualistic society is quite nice. You have the moral authority, the unabridged authority to do whatever is necessary to accomplish your goals.

Yes, I've been making the "War on Terror" comparison to the Cold War for a long time ... fighting a shadowy ideological enemy that may or may not actually pose a future threat to one's self. But how does this relate to the dualistic nature of the two party system?

The Democrats are just spinless whiners. (Yes, there are exceptions, Obama, Salazar, hmm, I'm sure there is another). The Republicans are thugs (Again, exceptions, McCain, Snow, Collins). But for the most part they power themselves by attacking their opponents. Few would support Republican policies, for the policy themselves, but rather they support them as the means to weaken their Democratic enemy. The same is MORE true for the Democratic "policies" because the only reason the Democratic party exists is because it gives people a voice AGAINST the Republicans. No one (and I'm not on a limb here) would actually support the "mainstream" policies of the Democratic party. What are they? Do they have a "Platform?"

So the Cold War rages on in Washington. And just like in the real cold war, its not going to stop until someone declares victory. I don't think the Dems are in any situation to do so. So, the Republicans declare victory, and then the second superpower breaks down ... and then power is shared across a wide swath of society.

Ok thats what I want, but its not likely to happen. The Republicans have a vested interest in seeing the Democrats struggle along. They will support the spineless, platformless entrenched Democrat interests (Think Barbara Boxer or Dianne Feinstein or Teddy Kennedy) just enough to keep them in power ... to supply their own power source.

I've seen a couple of rants on this topic today.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-sirota/dc-strategists-panic-_b_14427.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/trey-ellis/our-only-choices-are-surr_b_14470.html

Dear god, look at that. "They" have pushed me from the ivy and glass halls of the Cato Institute pulbications to reading Arianna's paper. Come one guys, someone, anyone grow some balls.