Friday, January 17, 2014

A liberal's tribute to Sen. Tom Coburn

Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, Republican, is quitting the Senate after this Congressional session  two years short of his second term.  This will be a big loss because we need those in Washington who represent various viewpoints with sane, objective, fact based analyses, who express themselves without flame throwing clever phrases,  and speak not from someone else's prepared talking points. His annual reports on waste ought to be the basis of good government scrutiny; his viewpoints are expressed in clear, well thought out argumentation. I listen to him.  I, a professed liberal, often disagree with his positions, but I take him seriously, not because he is an effective  threat,   but because he elevates the debate.
  There are some things more important than being the majority in a legislative body (of course it makes it easier to get an agenda passed).  It is passing legislation that has been thoroughly examined for its impact on whom or its unintentional consequences and  what is in our national interest. That takes compromise and fair debate. This is what our country's founders thought they were establishing.
 Instead, what our country has become in this new century is entrenched in divisions.  Divisions of ideological differences were present in the late 1700's, but political parties had not yet become organizations that could bring discipline and uniform ideologically based political correctness in thought and expression to its members. Since then modern technology has become the enabler of stubborn and earlier unimagined divisive politics.
  Gerrymandered districts with boundaries drawn to give one side an easy win, make for few seriously contested general elections, throwing the important contests into primaries with only the most active party members  usually participating. Laws to keep this from happening are weak or nonexistent. Our cable TV and radio talkers have contributed mightily to the extreme divisiveness, sometimes shaping partisan positions and disseminating them to the already in tune choir. Views are often expressed in certain phrases, uniform and approved by whatever political power in the form of "think tanks" and politically operative special or single interest pressure groups dictate.  Debates about issues then become carefully choreographed dances designed to elicit the most applause from the audience, an audience makeup known in advance by focus groups and polls.
 Another enabler of divisiveness is our permissive campaign finance system. Contributions    fed into certain races by pressure groups outside or within the election district are now protected by court decisions.   Deep pocket corporations and unions are now called "people" covered by free speech. Social policy organizations who attempt to affect a specific election's outcome by running advertising under the pious guise of "education", can use faux facts and well-crafted scare mongering with impunity of legal action and often without an equal time rebuttal by less well funded opponents, given the cost of media exposure. Those “education” groups can operate without disclosure of their funders until late in the game or not at all so voters have no chance to look behind their curtains.  The insatiable need for campaign money means partisan, ideological or self-serving   issue groups can wield effective discipline to keep any wannabe maverick from going off message. Tom Coburn has represented the views of his state well, but he was above so many of these political practices,  that this is another reason why his leaving will be such a loss.
(Personal note:  I am a graduate of Muskogee Central High School ..1956; born and raised in Muskogee, Oklahoma, though living elsewhere since then.  Tom Coburn and I come from  the same home town)


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