Governing Party Quotes
Many of the Founding Fathers had a deep suspicion of political parties or “factions” as Madison referred to them. However, after Washington’s two non partisan administrations, political parties became dominant in American politics when John Adams and Thomas Jefferson presented two very different views of government and the nation was divided.
While the George W. Bush administration polarized the civil service by appointing ideological zealots without regard to competence and qualifications, Conservative Australian Prime Minister John Howard, had actually done the same thing before him.
This is especially true in the Senate, where there not only is the filibuster available to the minority but there are “holds” where a single senator can anonymously stop certain processes such as conformations of appointments and a number of other arcane techniques allowed by Senate rules.
This apparently is an operational principle in most representative democracies. Attacking the opposition is always easier and more effective than defending your own party’s position. Doing anything else, especially providing a non partisan, rasoned analysis, is the thing most to be avoided.
