This week, as an homage to the tragedy in Scottsdale Arizona, Representative Mark Udall (D-CO) has proposed that Republicans and Democrats sit together during the State of the Union Address this year. My first reaction was to recall the famous Bill Murray quote from the movie Ghost Busters about the beginning of Armageddon with cats and dogs sitting together. What a dog and pony show! Then I began to ponder about it, in that annoying way that my mind works ... and ... low and behold ... I like the idea.
I started to wonder, why do our Representatives sit apart? Who came up with the idea of "opposite sides of the aisle? So, many google searches later, the nearest I could glean was the "tradition" of sitting on opposite sides of the aisle started around the time of Thomas Jefferson. He and John Adams may have been the first partisan warriors.
It would seem that a more natural divide would have our Representatives sitting with their state delegations ... much like in the presidential nominating conventions. Don't we send these people to Washington to represent us, the constituents? I don't think we send them there to represent the party.
Most Americans want our government to work to make OUR lives better ... and that is backed by the Constitution ... Pursuit of happiness and all that. How can we pursue our happiness when Washington keeps putting up road-blocks by catering to the special interests. A lot of rhetoric is put out there every election cycle about "the evil" special interests ... but as soon as the election is over, it's back to business as usual. The Democrats pander to the unions, environmentalists and the poor, while the Republicans pander to big business and the rich.
It's time our Representatives pander to US. Maybe that starts with bi-partisan seating ... maybe it IS just a dog and pony show ... but at least it won't add to the deficit.
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12 comments:
For what it's worth, I, too, favor the idea of not dividing Congress by political party during the State of the Union Message.
AOW ... it's worth a lot. It means that my meandering mind may not be going off the deep end.
At first I liked the idea, but then I heard Rush talk about it and I'm not so sure.
It could be a ploy to make the State of the Union look good for Obama.
It would not show the huge number of Republicans vs the small number of Democrats, nor would it show the opposition to many of his statements as folks stand up and applaud, or not.
All this talk of getting along sounds good, but we don't believe the way they do, and they sure don't believe the way we do.
Debbie
Right Truth
http://www.righttruth.typepad.com
I'm with Karen, It's more about making the event look better for Obama. It doesn't look so good when nearly 2/3rds of the House sits for Obama's talking points.
Great blog! I'll link this post tomorrow.
Oops, I meant to say that I agree with Debbie.
Hey Paul thanks for coming by my blog. Yours is very nice.
I agree; in fact, I really don't like the idea of political parties at all.
And neither did George Washington-- he warned us against them before leaving office, saying in essence that they are divisive and tend to serve the politicians instead of the people
Debbie ... I don't think that Rush is right in this. Many times during the last SOTU address, the cameras focused in on the Dem side of the aisle, making it look like there was almost unanimous solidarity behind the President. This was, everyone will be able to see that the majority is NOT behind the President.
Matt ... absolutely, It is very visible when only a third of the people stand and applaud. Thanks for coming by.
Karen ... George Washington was a wise man. His warning was Nostradamus-like. Thanks for coming by.
too much corruption Paul..its maddening!
This is only a ploy to make Obama look good for his reelection.
Angel ... politics and corruption have gone hand in hand since the beginning of time. Now that President Obama has brought "Chicago-Style" politics to Washington, I think the people have started to revolt against it ... at least I hope so.
Cube ... I don't think that the majority of Americans are stupid enough to fall for any tricks that this administration will play. Results speak for themselves ... and the President's failures are screaming right now.
I think America is smarter than a bunch of "conservative" pundits who gushed over BO's speech.
It's a valid point, they're supposed to represent us, not their parties. Would be nice if they read the constitution and actually believed in it too, seeing as how they swear with straight faces to uphold it.
"All this talk of getting along sounds good, but we don't believe the way they do, and they sure don't believe the way we do."
Good point Debbie, from experience we should know that leftists waffle about getting along and working together is insincere at best.
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