It's Getting So That You Cannot Tell The Politcial Parties Without A Score Card

I have been really confused lately and it conjured up an old baseball saying: "You can't tell the players without a score card." Up until recently, each of the major political parties had done a good job of telling us why they were the good, blessed, anointed party of the people and the other party was nothing short of satanic. Think about it. The Democrats have told us for decades that the Republicans were anti-gay, anti-feminist, anti-immigration, anti-minority, and cared only about being friendly and kind to big business. The Republicans have told us for decades that the Democrats were anti-business, anti-rich, anti-strong national defense, and anti-small government.

But consider my confusion with this neat, easy-to-understand political description of the world relative to some recent news events:

- Recently, a Federal judge found the U.S. military policy of "don't ask, don't tell" to be unconstitutional and ordered the Pentagon and the Obama administration to dismantle the program and treat gay soldiers and enlistees as they would straight soldiers and enlistees. According to traditional dogma, this would count as a great victory for the Democrats. But wait! The main plaintiff in this case was a national, major Republican organization, the Log Cabin Republicans. In fact, the Democratic administration Barack Obama and its Justice Department has had to defend this anti-gay law in Federal court (Source: The Week magazine, November 12, 2010). Very confusing, Republicans might not be as anti-gay as the Democrats would have you believe.

- In the overheated debate about the new anti-illegal immigration law that was passed by the state of Arizona, it was pretty clear that most Democrats wanted more favorable treatment of illegal aliens while the Republicans wanted harsher treatment of illegal aliens. But wait! In September, Rupert Murdoch, owner of Fox News and the Democrats' favorite media political bad guy and demon, actually testified in front of a House of Representatives Judiciary subcommittee to bring "an end to the arbitrary immigration and visa quotas" as it related to illegal immigrants (Source: Businessweek, October 25, 2010). Very confusing, maybe the Republicans and their favorite media supporter might not be as anti-immigration as the Democrats would have you believe.

- Over the years the Democrats have painted themselves as the bigger supporters of women's rights from supporting abortions to having a larger number of female politicians in their party vs. the Republicans (but still not nearly enough, relative to the male/female split in the general population.) But wait! As the midterm election results came in, it became clear that the Democrats no longer were the sole purveyor of female politicians in the nation as Republican women ran and won many, many elections:

• While nine Democratic women ran for Senate seats with four of them winning (44%), a respectable five Republicans also ran with two of them winning (40%), a comparable winning percentage.
• Eight Republican women won seats in the House of Representatives.
• Republican women became Governors in three states (Oklahoma, New Mexico, and South Carolina).
• A former Republican female governor, Sarah Palin, became a national force, for better or worse, in the election cycle.

Very confusing, looks like the Republicans might not be as anti-feminist as the Democrats would have you believe.

- The Democrats have traditionally painted themselves as the bigger supports of minorities vs. the Republicans. But wait! The midterm election results have turned that assumption upside down:

• Susanna Martinez became not only a female Republican governor in New Mexico but the first Latina governor anywhere in our nation's history.
• Nikki Haley became not only the female governor of South Carolina, the first one ever, but she is also the first Indian-American woman to serve as a state's chief executive.
• Michael Steele, an African American, is the chairman of the Republican National Committee.
• Marco Rubio, a first generation American born of Cuban parents, came out of nowhere to win a Florida Senate seat.
• Two African American Republicans won their elections for the House of Representatives and one of them, Tim Scott, was a Tea Party favorite.

Very confusing, I guess that the Republicans were not quite so anti-minority as the Democrats would have you believe.

Note: do I think either party has an adequate representation of women and minorities in their ranks? Not by a long shot. In fact, Step 45 from "Love My Country, Loathe My Government" would make sure that both parties abided by the same laws, regulations, penalties, fines, and principles as the rest of America when it comes to race/sex quotas and discrimination. However, the point to be made is that the Republicans are not the vicious anti-feminist and anti-minority type that the Democrats would have us believe.

But wait! There is confusion on the other side as well:

- The Republicans would have us believe that Democrats are anti-business and the Democrats' policies restrict business and thus, restrict the growth of the economy. But wait! According to a recent Washington Post article that was summarized in the November 12, 2010 issue of The Week magazine, corporate political action committees directed 53% of their donations to Democrats in the recent midterm elections, up from only 35% in the last midterm election. Very confusing, looks like the Democrats might not be as anti-business as the Republicans would make them out to be.

- Continuing along that same theme, according to an article from http://www.politico.com/, which was summarized in the November 12, 2010 issue of The Week magazine, from January, 2009 through June, 2010, U.S. corporate profits increased 62%, the strongest 18-month rise since the 1920s. Very confusing, more proof that the Democrats might not be as anti-business as the Republicans would make them out to be. Unfortunately, as the Democrats were helping businesses to attain record high growth, ordinary citizens in America were saddled with very high unemployment, underemployment, and high demands for productivity gains.

- Republicans have long portrayed Democrats as weak on national defense and terrorism issues. But wait! The Obama administration has followed the same Iraqi U.S. troop deployment plans of his Republican predecessor, has actually increased U.S. troop strength in Afghanistan, has renewed the oppressive Patriot Act that was put into effect by his Republican predecessor, has not reduced unnecessary international U.S. troop deployment anywhere in the world, has not closed the terrorist jail facility at Guantanamo, and much like his Republican predecessor, Obama will not put some terror prisoners on trial at all, keeping them locked up forever without a day in court. Very confusing, a Democratic President is acting just like a Republican President on national defense and terrorism issues (unfortunately).

- The Republicans have traditionally portrayed the Democrats as anti-small government. Unfortunately, you do not need a score card for this one, the Democrats actually live up to (or down to) their stereotypical portrayal here. Since the Democrats have taken over Washington in 2006, the national debt has skyrocketed to never before seen heights, Federal government employment has increased by hundreds of thousands of new government employees, and the Democrats have pushed the Federal government into more and more aspects of individual Americans lives.

Why am I so confused about the score cards of the political parties? It is because the politicians in this country want to keep you confused, that is how they keep control of the government and our lives. The Democrats want to "energize their base" of gay communities, women, and minorities even though it is Republicans that are breaking down the military's anti-gay stance, it is the Republicans that are putting women into powerful political positions, and it is the Republicans that are opening up to minority candidates.

Conversely, the Republicans want to "energize their base" of corporate types, strong defense advocates, and those favoring small government even though U.S. business has done very well under democrat Obama, the Obama administration policies on defense and terror are basically the same as the ones under Bush, and small government...well, the Republicans are probably right on that stereotype.

With so much confusion, voters fall back into the old stereotypes that the politicians want us to believe in order to maintain their grip on their elected office and to protect their re-election campaign donation streams. As a result of not having a good score card to track the actual actions of each party, we continue to fight each other over issues and stances that are not as concise or as clear as our raving politicians make them out to be.

As a result, we waste a lot of energy placing fellow Americans into rival "tribes," as defined by the political class, while the same politicians with the same tired ideas use their tribes to continually get re-elected and no major issues facing American is ever seriously addressed, never mind solved. Once organized in these "tribes," we tend to not have serious, constructive discussion with other tribes despite strong common interests and concerns.

Hopefully, we saw a glimmer or two of light in early November as some strong incumbents were not asked back to Washington by the voters. Maybe voters are finally looking at the score cards and taking notice that the current members of the political class are making a lot of errors and not hitting a lot of home runs. Maybe it is time to break down the tribal barriers, have a national discussion on how to solve our problems, and finally put some runs on the score board and score card, regardless of what party or tribe gets the RBI.