Principles and Pragmatism

We are being held hostage by a group of people new to their job (inexperienced) who see principle as the trump card in the deck. The fact that they took a solemn oath to serve the people of the United States and to always act in the best interests of the people seems to have been lost in the shadow of partisan principle.

They have taken to cutting off debate on every issue by redefining the issue in terms of their principle. In another context this would be called obstructionist, bullheaded, stubborn, and (in light of their oath of office) unprincipled.

In order to see just how foolish their principle is we have only to take it literally. If spending on the part of government is evil, let's take away the government's ability to spend. If taxes are evil, let's abolish taxation. Without the ability to spend, taxes are unnecessary anyway.

Imagine what the nation's economy would look like. It would cease to exist. But we don't want to abolish government spending, you say, we just want to reduce it. At this point principle is no longer involved. Deciding how to reduce is a matter of prioritization and negotiation rather than principle.

The irony of the situation is that their principle has so impaired their ability to see that they continue on, digging an ever deeper hole for themselves. Anyone who chooses to see is aware that the nation and its people are not being served by unprincipled adherence to principle. This group's blind service to their principles was the cause of the economic woes we find ourselves in today. All can see that, instead of improving the situation we are being forced in the other direction. When one of these people gets in front of a microphone and insists on deeper cuts, the world wraps it blanket tighter around itself and prepares for the worst.

If one person always had the best idea, we wouldn't need a Congress. I suppose Hitler and Mussolini had principles, too.