Hope, Hate and Frustration
Jesse Jackson

American politics isn't beanbag. It is rough, bare-knuckled and often dirty. In today's 24/7 media environment, attack ads are remembered, and the truth has a hard time catching up with a lie. We now have entire TV networks that are essentially ideological propaganda outlets. With Republicans consolidated as the party of white sanctuary, anchored in the South, and Democrats championing diversity and inclusion, the politics of race is accentuated.

But given all that, have we ever witnessed anything like the unrelenting assault on Barack Obama? "Birther" nonsense is believed by some 40 percent of Republicans. Staggering numbers think he's a Muslim. National Republican leaders denounce his "socialist" agenda. When the first lady takes a vacation with her daughters, it's a scandal. Senior Senators embarrass themselves by endorsing the big lie of "death panels" in the health care bill. Republicans openly decided that they would obstruct virtually everything the president tried to do. Zero votes for financial reform in the House. Zero votes for the recovery act. Zero votes for health care reform. Judicial and governmental nominees blocked for months by senatorial "holds" grounded on nothing but wanting to obstruct the operation of the government. Now every major vote is met with a filibuster, in numbers we've never seen before, rendering the Senate virtually dysfunctional.

This comes as the country faces its worst economic downturn since the Great Depression (begun under Obama's predecessor), two wars (started by Obama's predecessor) and the calamitous malfunctioning of key industries -- finance, housing, health care, energy and more. Yet, instead of an effort to come together to meet what are national crises, the right-wing echo chamber talks only about bringing the president down, and the Republican leaders embrace and parrot the extreme anger of the right. The so-called moderates duck and cover, abandoning previous bipartisan positions to placate challenges to their right. No more mavericks allowed.

Yet, while there are differences between the two parties, they are not nearly as great as the debate suggests. Crisis drives action more than ideology. George Bush did the first stimulus plan as the economy turned down. Bush pushed through the bailout of the banks, the controversial $750 billion TARP program. Obama's program was but a continuation. Obama's stimulus included the top-end tax cuts that Republican Senators called for. Obama would continue all of the Bush tax cuts, except those applying to the top 2 percent. Bush provided the first money to rescue the auto industry. Bush started the two wars that Obama now wages. If anything, Obama's strategy in Afghanistan reflected the conservative criticisms of President Bush's policy. The trade policies, alas, are indistinguishable.

But the venom ignores the areas of agreement by simply peddling lies. Obama is assailed for running up deficits, but the great bulk of the deficits -- as any honest analyst knows -- were inherited, the results of the recession, and the funded wars and tax cuts of the Bush years. And in fact, the single act that has done most to reduce projected long-term deficits -- by more than $1.3 trillion over the next 20 years -- is health care reform. Ironically, Republicans are moving to repeal exactly those parts of the bill that would most hold down costs.

People have the right to say what they wish, particularly in political speech. But having the right does not make it right. Opposition to the president's policies should be combined with respect for his office. Political tactics ought to be informed by the reality that we all want this country to succeed. Democratic House leader Tip O'Neill and Ronald Reagan were diametrically opposed, but managed to find ways to work -- and to share a drink -- together. Dr. King always taught us to appeal to the better angels of our opponents, even those unleashing dogs and armed with billy clubs. It is a lesson we should not forget.

Available at Amazon.com:

The Feminine Mystique

The Disappearing Center: Engaged Citizens, Polarization, and American Democracy

The Virtues of Mendacity: On Lying in Politics

Bush on the Home Front: Domestic Policy Triumphs and Setbacks

The Political Fix: Changing the Game of American Democracy, from the Grassroots to the White House

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