Hyperbolic Politics

The Democratic Party spokesman on NPR this morning kept throwing out the word “radical” as a description of Judge Gorsuch. Analysis of the stand Gorsuch takes to which the Dems object shows that the label is being applied in a radically novel way. When I was a child, the idea of judicial activism was still new and considered radical. Judge Gorsuch stated that his belief is that the legislature is supposed to write the laws and the judiciary is to interpret them. The judicial activists see no problem with judges making new law.

Political language use is so hyperbolic and vitriolic that we can no longer take words on their face meanings, if they are spoken or written by a pol. The majority of Americans have checked their verbal vetting apparatus at the door of political discourse and accepted whatever their favorite politician spouts. So we have a never-ending feedback loop of exaggeration of expression that, on its face is patently false, but taken as political hyperbole will be easily checked with a reality moment.

Heck, anybody with a memory that goes back only one decade can see the falsehoods for what they are and make adjustments for the hyperbole. But the Baby Boomers grew up with a fifteen-minute attention span, and can’t remember anything outside of it. Later generations grew up with less. So the only way to fix the problem is a paradigm shift in thought patterns and attention spans.

Fact: the Democrats feel cheated in not getting their activist justice confirmed last year and won’t forgive the Republicans for stopping it. Just like the many state attorneys general who are going to sue the president whenever he tries to stop terrorists from entering the country because he spoke in hyperbolic terms of a Muslim ban, the two parties are not considering anything beyond their hate for each other.

Fact: the United States no longer has a functional government. Without the ability to compromise on important issues, Congress is unable to do the basics of legislation. The importance of the Legislative branch of the government is actually greater than one third of the government. The laws and budget begin in the Congress. While we often joke about the damage Congress does to the country, the reality is we need them. It is illegal, unconstitutional, for the president to rule by fiat, and Liberals won’t like it, but the courts are not the place to make laws.

Fact: our national legislature has become so dysfunctional that both of the other branches have been tempted to fill the gap on their own. When judges make laws, they don’t reflect the will of the people, just the parties to the suit in front of them. When presidents make laws they overstep the power of the office.

I am heartened by the chant of the protesters at the town meetings, “Do your job!”

if Congress doesn’t function, we need to hold our elected officials’ feet to the fire and make them realize their job is on the line. We hired them, we can fire them.