Frank Watson: We Have Lost the Spirit of Compromise

What happened to the American spirit of compromise? Our political landscape has fragmented into bastions of ideology that refuse to give an inch. Is this rigidity new with the first Obama administration or is that just as far back as my memory goes? I’m not sure, but I do recall being somewhat surprised when President Obama refused to listen to the opposition. I remember thinking that his repeated, “I won and can do whatever I want,” would come back and bite him as well as become the new political normal.

The masterpiece that is our Constitution was born out of compromise.

Benjamin Franklin was able to pull extremes toward the middle because both extremes realized that they could never get the opposition to accept their full position.

Some of the compromises seem absurd when evaluated with today’s criteria.

The southern states wanted to count their slaves to determine the number of representatives in the House of Representatives.

The North did not.

They settled on 60 percent.

I’m not sure which 60 percent they counted.

It sounds silly, but it worked for seventy years until American slaves were emancipated.

Today’s politicians seem to consider the middle ground a failure.

Everyone talks about bipartisanship, but no one is willing to consider any position but their own.

Obamacare became law in 2010 with zero Republican votes.

Forty-six percent of American voters voted against President Obama and either were not allowed an input or chose not to compromise.

In a perfect mirror image, the current repeal of Obamacare was not expected to receive any Democratic votes.

The refusal to compromise is not just between parties. Raul Labrador and The House Freedom Caucus is at the far right within the Republican Party. They disagreed with Speaker Boehner’s willingness to move toward the center and were strong enough to force his resignation. They wanted the Obamacare repeal to be more hard line, so they stood against it and contributed to its failure. Instead of compromising and getting most of what they wanted, they got nothing. Shame on you Representative Labrador. You didn’t represent your voters very well.

I remember President Reagan describing an opponent was well meaning and generally a good guy, but they disagreed on philosophy.

That is a far cry from the two enemy camps we have today.

Many hard line Democrats jump on any opportunity to discredit President Trump.

Granted, he has provided them ample opportunities, but his nomination for the Supreme court is about as good a choice as possible.

Judge Gorsuch’s resume confirms his testimony before the Senate Selection Committee.

He believes in the law and will administer it without bias.

You can’t ask for more than that.

But Senator Patty Murray has helped organize a filibuster group because Judge Gorsuch will not actively oppose the President.

They oppose a Supreme Court nominee because he won’t be biased! Shame on you, Senator Murray.

You are posturing for radical voters instead of doing what is best for the country.

(Frank Watson is a retired Air Force Colonel and long time resident of eastern Washington.)