The beauty of rotation of power - Krauthammer

[MaggieMae]

From the 03/26/10 edition of THE WEEK, Charles Krauthammer is quoted from The Washington Post:

Barack Obama sold himself as an anti-war candidate, yet he has followed the Bush endgame to a T in Iraq and doubled down in Afghanistan. Is he a hypocrite? No, it'sjust the natural result of the rotation of power--one of the true marvels of our political system. The opposition party opposes, because that's its job.

But once [a new administratio] assumes power, it must govern, so out of sheer pragmatism, it adopts some of the policies it denounced. That strips sensible initiatives of partisan taint, and a new national consensus is born.

Republicans denounced FDR's New Deal as socialism for two decades, but when Dwight Eisenhower was elected, he wisely left the new social safety net intact.

Bill Clinton adopted Ronald Reagan's philosophy on balancing budgets, welfare reform, and free trade, and thus "consolidated" Reaganism.

The Obama administration has adopted many of George Bush's anti-terrorism policies, such as warrantless wiretaps and detention without trial, because Democrats are now responsible for protecting us from the bad guys.

The rotation of power can be messy, but it ultimately helps create a near miraculous social stability.

I always liked Krauthammer. He's a lot like William F. Buckley, Jr., because in spite of political vitriol, he can always remember what's good about the American Way.

 

[skookerasbil]

Krauthammer............brilliant beyond words!!!