Adio, Olympia. Goodbye, Civility.




Washington politics became fighting to the death.



7 thoughts on “Adio, Olympia. Goodbye, Civility.”

  1. I think political polarity began with Gingrich in the early 80s. He figured out the principle: use polemic to divide the population into two 48%, doctrinaire, rigid communities (red-blue, liberal-conservative), then, knowing how that 96% will vote, work feverishly on the 4% remaining during the last days of the election to push whatever buttons will move them into your camp on voting day.

    It works. To do this, you have to keep your 96% polarized. You keep them polarized by continual polemic and invective, name calling, fear mongering, racism, religion, and 7 word bumper stickers, to make sure that they continue to define themselves by either of the two 48% blocks. That way, you only need to move the 4% at the end of the election cycle to win.

  2. I grew up in a part of the country that was dominated by “liberal Republicans” — Javitz, Keating, Rockefeller, Conable. These were the people my Dad voted for. One by one they have been disappearing from public life.

    As a Democrat I sometimes laugh at the delusions, hysteria and anger at the heart of the GOP message these days. (Even Mitt seems to suffer from them now, if only to get nominated.) But it’s not funny. It’s a symptom of something very sad and dark.

    Sorry to see Ms. Snow go.

  3. I certainly agree with the regret. Of course the noble thing for Snow to have done is stay on. It will be harder to appreciate or reach for her level when she is gone. I can understand people leaving the pursuit of their vison for personal reasons but “sick and tired” doesn’t cut it with me. If she were to remain, leading, if quietly, those who aspired and those who might someday, we would be much better off and she more satisfied – assuming her reasons for being there in the first place were actually hers and appeared realistic.

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