Equivalency Formula Works Wonders
I don't think it can ever be emphasized enough: for at least the last 20 years, there have been only two kinds narrative in American political journalism:
(1) "It's the Democrats' fault"
(2) "Both sides do it, why can't we just Reach Across The Aisle(tm)?"
In using rather extreme language (I suppose an evil childs wish list for Santa is kind of extreme) for Boehners debt limit bill, I somehow failed to account for the magic Equivalency Formula whereby all GOP demands are by definition no less unreasonable than Democratic demands. Heres Ron Fourniers tweet about the latest debt limit developments:
Insane: R/D partisans playing to debt limit brink. No talks. No leadership. All positioning.
This tweet comes with a link to a Greg Sargent piece this morning calling Boehners debt limit strategy insane and requesting that journalists point that out. Indeed, Greg could have been pointing a finger at Fournier himself:
[S]tory after story portrays this as a battle in which both sides are asking the other to make concessions, and in which it remains to be seen whether a compromise will be reached. But the real compromise position here is one in which Republicans and Dems cooperate to avert economic catastrophe for the country. It is not a compromise if Dems unilaterally give up concessions in exchange for Republican cooperation in making it possible to pay debts already incurred and thus averting economic disaster for all of us. In this scenario, Republicans arent giving up anything. Only Dems are.
So unsurprisingly, Sargent responded to Fourniers tweet by saying: Sigh. I lose.
At the risk of getting maudlin about it all, Id say we all lose when respected journalists look at something like Boehners debt limit bill and see it as no worse than the President saying we ought to pay our bills and keep that separate from our differences over spending and taxing.
The Equivalency Formula makes it impossible to see clown clothes, and thus encourages clowns to cut capers even more.
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal-a/2013_09/equivalency_formula_works_wond047058.php#