High Roads

Wow. How cool to get so many interesting comments. Thanks so much; lots to think about.

First of all, for the query about Cheney’s threat to Wellstone, I confess red-faced that I committed my own pet peeve: never make a claim you don’t back up. Fortunately, an astute reader submitted precisely my source on that assertion. Hope that is sufficient, and thanks for the great save!

Also, thanks for the reminder about McCain; sloppy – and partisan – of me. And, I have a vague memory of Kerry actually addressing that flip-flop vote issue, but the media was not in the habit of giving his rebuttals any air time. I’ll see if I can’t find that reference for you.

The biggest response, though, seemed to take issue with the idea of staying above the fray and taking the high road. Many good points were made, but – though I certainly empathize with the frustration in these comments – I hold to my position for a number of reasons.

As for the numerous sports analogies, I simply refuse to go there, Super Bowl Sunday notwithstanding. From where I sit, the biggest problems we suffer in politics exist precisely because too many political operatives think of it as a game. I’ll have more to say about this notion in a day or so. For now, suffice it to say that regardless of the need for meathead power linemen, everyone must still play by the rules, which is the point of the high road position. Plus, the stakes are so different. In a game, everyone walks away, in many respects as if nothing of consequence has really happened. However, in politics, the lives or at least livelihoods of everyone are at stake; what happens makes all the difference in the world. Literally. I’ll never forget overhearing during the post-2000 election fiasco someone (from southern football territory) express shock that Gore would not concede because, like, when the clock runs out, man, the score is the score. My apologies to sports fans, but that really opened my eyes to a dangerous perspective; like I said, I’ll share those thoughts soon.

For now, I’ll instead stick to the basic image from the Scottish ditty. Maintaining the high road is not a luxury for when you’re on top. It’s a commitment, to bend to the sports analogy, to the way you play the game. The biggest problem in politics – probably always but certainly now – is that those who are in power (certainly now) got there by abandoning the high road when their numbers were down. Then once in power, these compromised souls are loathe to give it up, so they’ll continue compromising to keep power. Plus, because they are so tainted from their compromised rise to power, they are bribable, which certainly compromises their effectiveness for anything but maintaining power. Power definitely corrupts, but that includes the desire for power. As far as I’m concerned, compromised integrity is ALWAYS – and I do mean ***ALWAYS*** – a big mistake. THE big mistake. Throughout this entire power-blinded process both principles and the point of one’s politics are abandoned in the grab for power.

Now, I’m not saying those in the minority should abandon cleverness or strength of wit (or even the brute strength of a strong “line”). Being down should always bring out our creative juices, though never our evil instincts. That’s one of the advantages of having rules in both games and politics; there’s really no challenge when you can pull out all the stops to win. And pulling out all the stops only works, however crudely, if the only point is to win. Those juices should be applied NOT toward how to regain power and prevail at all costs, but toward how to recover while playing by the rules. The fact that Dick’s “W” crew has resorted to all the sleazy and rule-dissing tactics does not mean either that their methods have necessarily been successful, or that they should be taken as prescriptive. On the former point, the jury is still out. I’m convinced that all the sleaze and corruption and fraud and extortion and bribery and outright lying and murder and torture, all these heinous acts will come back not just to haunt these thugs, but could very possibly destroy the Republican party forever. (Today’s Senate hearing on eavesdropping gave me hope that the former could happen, and that the latter might not have to; more on this later.) And the repug tactic of making Kerry look like a wimp also backfired, in my opinion (assuming as I do that Kerry won a majority of votes in ’04); the polls show that voters now see W and his party for the lying sleazebags they are. No, I don’t think that advising someone to break rules will EVER bring about the result you ultimately want. And Kerry did stand up for himself, but without letting himself get pulled down into the muck. Had he responded to the Swiftboaters with a defense, he would have only looked defensive. It takes a strong and special kind of individual to “keep your head when all about him are losing theirs and blaming it on you.” I do admit, though, that I was disappointed he didn’t file a libel suit, as John Dean suggested he had legal grounds to do.

There is a very distinct and important difference between addressing the low road and falling into it. One can – and definitely should – address the low road. If I gave the impression that low tactics should be ignored, then my bad; nothing could be further from the truth. But I don’t think Kinsley was terribly circumspect in what he was suggesting. He did not delineate the many ways in which the Republican tactics, as successful as they may appear to have been in terms of simply “winning,” have woefully diminished any semblance of a civilized political terrain we might have ever had.

I instead believe very strongly that, despite all the temptations, it is quite possible, and definitely preferable, to address the problems of the low road while still maintaining the principles of the high road. If we abandon those principles, we have become what we claim to abhor. And we will have lost the very things we strive – or claim to strive – to protect. Which, to my mind, is tantamount to losing everything.

What all this boils down to is the real issues and where the peoples’ sentiments actually lie. When you look at the numbers, the populace falls solidly within the policy territory of Democrats for almost every issue that really matters, and has for a long long time. When the Repugs saw that their policies were actually out of step with the public’s sentiments (as far back as Nixon, and certainly Reagan), that’s when they started using all the double-speak and ad blitzes and diversion tactics we’ve come to know and loathe. That has eventually morphed into stealing elections (showing just how desperate they’ve become), which now threatens to undermine the entire process, of course.

There is simply no real need to resort to any of these criminal measures. For cryin’ out loud, folks, the TRUTH is so abundantly on our side, it makes me wonder why anyone would suggest the low road at all! Of course, there is always the question of what we do with those truths. We unfortunately do not have the media on our side, and the Democratic Party has quite admittedly been a deer in the headlights, partly because so many of them compromised so much with the leanings of the DLC and other ways, and partly because it is the very nature of this party to NOT move in lockstep. This is something I normally champion, but now would like to see set aside, not for the sake of winning, but for the sake of recovering our democracy. BUT, regardless of the wrongheaded administration and the media and the Democratic Party, we DO have the blog, which has taken on the role of pamphleteering in the tradition of Tom Paine and Franklin. It’s a very powerful tool, and the stats suggest that this sphere is leaning in our direction, with more blog action for liberal sites, and ALL the bloggie nominees for best weblog this year weighing in as quite liberal. What we are doing is working.

But we must be patient; these criminals cannot get away with all their crimes forever. Each of us can only control our own actions, and anyone who compromises integrity and principles must deal with the consequences of those decisions, if only in guilt or latent karma. Think about it, folks; what we are so ticked about with this administration is that they refuse to play by the rules of our democracy, shredding all sense of decency and fair play, along with the Constitution, in their lust for power. We’re flirting with the same fate if we abandon the very principles we would hold them accountable to. I am firmly and unabashedly suggesting an adherence to something akin to Gandhi’s approach, which need not be limited to the question of resorting to violence. We must hold our leadership – Democratic AND Republican – to this high road, because we risk becoming the very hypocrites we despise unless we keep to the high road ourselves.

The Republican Party chose instead long ago to pull out all the stops and “win” at all costs. But all they’ve won is tainted power, so all their time is spent scrambling to stay on top and keep those who know the truth about them quiet, again at all costs. Sadly, many Democrats have gone along to get along, but that’s a slippery slope, and those can also be removed from power (hear that, Joker?). All compromises from the high road lead downhill to the low.

This is not the road I choose, nor is it the road I promote for any fellow citizen, or fellow human, or even for politician. It is and always will be the low road, and sadly not the road less traveled.

Peace.
dr. elsewhere