How Obama and the GOP are forcing our brains

It is no exaggeration is say that God only knows what the answer is, but at least exaggerated talk of President Obama's unprecedented powers of political manipulation as well as talk of the vastly exaggerated power of the bully pulpit are being laid to rest.

Perhaps we are, finally, recentering our brains to the cold reality of largely immovable forces--forces endowed by neither particular virtue nor intrinsic evil. It's all just politics--politics neither post-partisan nor post-racial nor post-anything.

Just the plain, old-school politics of conflict, jockeying and horsetrading. 

And in that, at least there's some clarity.

Comments

[Peter G]

Okay. I'm cool with that. This is usually where I start on a problem. Draw the free body diagram and indicate the forces on it. Evil pragmatist that I am, I will be satisfied if it produces a deal that mitigates the damage that pure stupidity generated. Wise policies are mostly for dreamers and while I too dream I mostly try to compartmentalize that when thinking about the problem in front of me.

[Chris Andersen]

It eventually comes down to the voters. But activists usually focus their attention on the politicians (because it is so much easier to talk to one person than to thousands).