To the Editor:
Re “Up
Next! On Live TV! Battle Over . . . Health?” (news article, Feb. 21):
Bipartisanship is a misunderstood concept. It’s a utopian idea. At
best utopian ideas are empty, and at worst they lead to a sacrifice of
common sense, and sometimes more dangerous sacrifice.
Democracy is about majority rule and minority rights, not minority
right to rule. Why bother having elections if everyone has to agree?
Partisanship is how our democracy works. Ideas are presented and
debated, programs are presented, candidates represent a position, and we
vote.
Of course there’s nothing wrong with compromise to move things ahead,
and partisanship does not include breaking the rules to get things
done. But it’s a mistake for the Democrats to insist on being bipartisan
in the current atmosphere.
The public pays lip service to bipartisanship, but not as an end in
itself. It wants things done. And the public won’t remember how many
Republicans voted yes if the program put in place is a good one.
Democrats who think that they have to soften toward the middle are
playing into the hands of the right. Now is the time to be tough, to be
partisan.
Roy Tedoff
Hortonville, N.Y., Feb. 21, 2010
Note from KBJ: Do you suppose the letter writer would say the same thing if the parties were switched?
Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D. 