The Death of Compromise in Federal Politics?

The August 7th op/ed in the Washington Examiner seems to be only the latest example of how partisan posturing is inhibiting any positive change for America. Both sides of the health care reform argument—in this case the SEIU/HHS departments and the tea party conservatives—make grandiose claims about the dangerous aspirations of the other side while making scripted appeals to a perceived moderate majority of Americans, whom they see as their partners in reason. In reality, however, the average American is only growing more weary of hearing buzzwords “terrorist,” “socialist,” “army” and “thwarted” being thrown about so flippantly and repeatedly. In the rush to either enact or prohibit sweeping change, both parties seem to have completely forgotten the subtleties of making small and gradual compromises, in health care reform or elsewhere, for real and concrete results.