Snowe on Schlesinger

I enjoyed Olympia Snowe's play on Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.'s words:

I see a vital need for the political center in order for our democracy to flourish and to find solutions that unite rather than divide us.

That is, Sen. Snowe sees a political need for a Vital Center in a healthy democracy, even if, I grant you, Schlesinger's theory pertained to foreign, not domestic, affairs. Still, quite clever.

One strains to locate other enjoyment in Snowe's announcement, however. Her pessimism -- "I do not realistically expect the partisanship of recent years in the Senate to change over the short term" -- is rather ghastly, nonetheless I suppose "up" is pretty much the only direction the Senate can go.

I find it ironically peculiar that my entrenched cynicism should pale in Snowe's dark shadow, yet a thorough drubbing of the GOP this year should -- should -- begin to reverse the hyperpartisanship she observes.

Comments

[Emile]

You seem confident the GOP will receive a drubbing. Let's hope you are right, but I fear they are going to take back the Senate in Nov.

[MinneapolisPipe]

Ahhh, the crocodile tears of Olympia Snow.

If you look at the last three years, she was very part of the problems that she is diagnosing.

Hope she enjoys her sure to be lucrative retirement as much as I'll enjoying not reading about her sorry Vital Center "leadership".

[Melsouza]

Agreed. The Raging multi-headed Hydra that is the Republican Party must be splintered into myriad parts. Some of those parts, the less putrid ones, or, to the optimist, the "saner" ones (of which Snowe was a member), will fly off and link up with some conservative Democratic heads, and finally the country can begin the process of putting together a credible, conservative opposition. Some of your commenters, together with myself, actually stated this on another one of your posts. We were prescient, for Snowe's de facto defection is the first tip-toe in the direction of forming a new party. If, as is probable, the Republicans suffer a Fukushima-style meltdown in November, look for that tip-toe to turn into a veritable dance.