The Double Standard

One thing that has always bothered me in politics, as a card-carrying liberal, is the double standard the DC political and media establishment applies on the issue of 'bipartisanship' and 'civility'... when Democrats are involved, its sacred; with Republicans, they are allowed (expected?) to run wild.

When Republicans were in control, they blocked Democrats from involvement in crafting legislation, accused them of undermining the nation's security and economy, pandered to the most radical elements of their base, and-- going back a bit-- impeached a President over blowjob perjury. As we saw during the Clinton years, and in the last six years too, 'bipartisanship' meant Democrats compromising to meet Republican demands. And, up until their final six months, calls for them to behave less partisan and more civil were few and far between. But, as soon as Democrats won back their majority in November, the Bipartisanship Police came out in full force, handing out preemptive warnings to Democrats that they ought to be on their best behavior.

Case in point: Last night's 'Anderson Cooper 360' on the new Congress was titled "Keeping Them Honest"... that's all well and good, but if only more people had been concerned about keeping the GOP congress honest, things wouldn't have been so out of control the past few years.

I don't necessarily suggest this is due to any partisan or ideological bias. To the contrary, one could argue that it's because everyone holds the Democrats to a higher standard and don't expect much from Republicans anyway (though I don't think that's entirely the case). Nor do I suggest that it's wrong to scrutinize the actions and behavior of our elected officials. I am merely pointing out the rank hypocrisy in how this scrutiny is applied.

Nowhere is this hypocrisy more annoying than from the White House. This takes chutzpah...

AP: "Bush calls on Democrats to work with him"

President Bush, facing a Democratic-controlled Congress for the first time, is urging lawmakers to work with his administration and warning that "political statements" in the form of legislation would result in a stalemate...

..."To do that, however, we can't play politics as usual," he said. "Democrats will control the House and Senate, and therefore we share the responsibility for what we achieve."...

Shouldn't that headline be the other way around? After all, this is the same President who said, just one week before the elections, that if the Democrats won, then the "terrorists win and America loses". This is the guy for whom Pelosi took impeachment off the table to play nice with. And now he has the nerve to lecture them on playing politics? As the Vice President would say, 'go fuck yourself'.

Think Progress has a reminder of how the President played politics during the GOP reign.

Luckily, some Democratic leaders are standing up for themselves. Says Senate Majority Leader Reid: "There is nothing political about finding a policy to end the war in Iraq, raising the minimum wage, achieving energy independence or helping kids afford college. In fact, politics has prevented progress on these issues for too many years."

Bingo.

Congressional Republicans were already ahead of the President here, complaining that they need protection from potential Democratic meanness. Three House Republicans are calling for a "Minority Bill of Rights" (guaranteeing bills would only come to the floor after open committee hearings, lawmakers would be able to offer amendments to bills, and members would have at least 24 hours to actually look at legislation before being asked to vote on it)... something first proposed by Nancy Pelosi two years ago when she was Minority Leader (and was then shot down by GOP leaders) and something Pelosi had already indicated she would grant to Republicans if her party gained power. Confronted with these inconvenient truths, Rep. McHenry, one of the aforementioned Republicans, said "Look, I'm a junior member, I'm not beholden to what former congresses did." Later, he told another reporter, "I'm not whining."

Of course, as Digby notes, it is instinct/habit for conservatives to play the victim (even when they were in the majority), so this is just reflex. Reality be damned. Now that the most partisan majority ever is in the minority, expect this to continue. They always find a way to make our parties as short-lived as possible.