Civics Blogging: A Healthy Debate
President Barack Obama today addressed and took questions from House Republican party members attending a retreat in Baltimore. For students of government and political junkies everywhere, the entire event, seemingly unprecedented in the modern political era, was fascinating. If YouTube and CSPAN can disabuse citizens of the notion that government can be reduced to 30-second sound bites, that would be a positive development.
Citizens must try to find, and watch, these more honest exchanges, which shed a little light on the hard realities of governing in the 21st century. Legislating is just messy; it’s complicated for the press and somewhat disgusting to the citizenry.
But letting polarization take hold will only lead to legislative lethargy, which in turn will only lead to stagnation in the country and hurt average Americans with everyday problems. It simply cannot continue. Today was one small step to break the impasse; many more steps will no doubt be needed. It’s a start. Kudos to all who participated.