Partisanship

For years, people have used terms like partisanship and bi-partisanship; it has been both good and bad. It has been blamed for grid lock in Congress and it has been heralded as the best thing for the country. But where did it begin?

The vile side of partisanship became popular with the Daisy ad that Johnson ran against Goldwater. But it became the gut wrenching crap we have today during the Reagan years. Where it was boiled down to "us against them". One side was always right and the other was always wrong. Before Reagan the two sides pretty much respected each other and each others ideas and issues. But with Reagan the people got involved and it has degraded into the crappy system we have now. The insults and the hatred for their opponents has grown.

Just look at the present, the debates are seldom about "real" issues and digress quickly into platitudes and insults. The people learn nothing from this, but it makes for excellent press. There is NO true leadership of the people, just elected handlers. People lose, politicians win and the song goes on.