The Myths and Realities of Bipartisanship in D.C.

[Dover]

In a 1997 television interview with PBS, former House representative Lynn Martin was asked how important she considered bipartisanship to a government, and to the country.

"Sometimes very important, sometimes not important at all. It's obviously flavor of the month right now in Washington because it sounds so nice," responded the Republican from Illinois. Perhaps she should have said flavor of the decade.

As has been the case with many recent presidential elections, Barack Obama campaigned heartily last year on the promise of renewed bipartisanship in Washington. He would appoint Republicans to his cabinet, he said — and did, in the form of incumbent Secretary of Defense Robert Gates — and change party dynamics in Congress.

For all the election rhetoric, though, is today's government really so fractured?

"The current House and Senate are the most polarized since the Civil War," says Keith Poole, professor of political science at the University of California, San Diego.

Other pundits aren't so sure. The current Congress might even be — gasp — one of the most bipartisan in recent history, but only in a few categories such as foreign policy, some experts say.
..cont'd

http://www.livescience.com/history/090109-partisan-politics.html

[trumpet]

1. fractured government

Dover, yeah government is seriously fractured in my opinion,
and bi-partisan, oh yeah , who does that leave looking out for
the us.? Actually all three descriptions fit. Polarized,
fractured, and bi-partisan, I just call them Bi-polar..

[Dover]

2. rofl....."bipolar" indeed!. What we need is a POLE SHIFT in government.

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