The Revolution Should Be Televised

Now that we have had two televised meetings between Democrat(s) and Republicans, I'm starting to believe they should do this all the time.

When President Obama met with House Republicans on January 29th in Baltimore, no one knew what to expect. Hell, Republicans never even expected Obama to take them up on their invitation. Once the meeting began, it was clear that something unusual was afoot.

Given the opportunity to have a transparent, televised back and forth, both sides came off (mostly) as serious individuals. The Republicans were able to ask substantive questions, and the President was able to respond in kind. Of course, there were moments of the usual political nonsense. Such as Tom Price of Oklahoma suggesting he had a way to bring health care to everyone without spending one new dime. Or, when the President deftly side stepped a question from rising Republican star, Paul Ryan of Wisconsin. But for the most part, the give and take was respectful and stuck to the issues. There was no sign of "birthers," "deathers," or any discussion about the President being a Nazi or the Republicans being "Tea Baggers." In a word, refreshing.

There are a lot of bad things that can be said about television. The programming at Fox News, MTV, the Lifetime Network, and so on are just a few prime examples. However, what television can do that no other medium can, is put people on the record in a way that is both visual and permanent. It forces people to either reveal themselves in a fashion they may not like, or it puts them on their best behavior. And for the most part, on that day in Baltimore, both sides behaved like statesmen.

It really shouldn't be this difficult. Our country is facing big problems. A slow economy, two wars, a health care crisis, the threat of terrorism and so forth. However, in the age of 24 hour media coverage, when every word you say and seemingly everything in your past is pored over like it's the antidote to cancer, we have come to expect the least from our public officials. Too many times you find politicians from both sides bringing out the worst in themselves in an effort to provide a pithy sound bite that cuts down their opponent in ways that are terribly demonizing. Neither side has the right to call patriotism their own. While I am an unabashed liberal, I have many friends who have voted for or consider themselves to be Republicans. Just because we have different political beliefs does not mean we can't talk. However, it seems that in Washington it means exactly that.

Obviously, the 24 hour news cycle can expose the ugly in those being covered, and often in the ones doing the covering. So, that's the bad side of television. However, the good side is that it's awfully hard to call someone names when they are sitting in front of you and there's a camera recording the moment.

Which is again, what we had yesterday at the Health Care Summit. Yesterday, with many of the most significant members of both parties in the same room, sitting at the same table we were able to see who's serious about the issue of health care. And except for a few notable moments, both sides came off fairly well. Oh sure, there was some grandstanding by Dem's Pelosi, Reid, and Republican's Boehner and Cantor, and in the end there was very little movement on either side, but the meeting was instructive for the American people. A frank exchange by both sides on camera allowed us to see where both groups are coming from. Democrats believe that everyone needs to have access to affordable health care, and Republicans don't believe this plan is financially responsible. While I may not agree with the right side of the aisle on this issue, I did find that Paul Ryan and Tom Coburn of Oklahoma had useful ideas and legitimate concerns. Ideas and concerns that I genuinely hope are addressed in any forthcoming legislation.

These two meetings have been treated as unprecedented events. Which is both true and unfortunate. In Great Britain they do this sort of thing all the time. Over there, it's called "Question Time." And if you've never seen it in action, it's quite a sight. Often, the level of civility that we saw in yesterday's meeting is nowhere to be found during Great Britain's Question Time. They will shout each other down and let one another have it. It's really pretty amazing. And while I think we have too many raised voices in our country right now, I would welcome these types of meetings on say, a monthly basis. That way we could get people on the record, out in the open, and start figuring out which of our elected leaders are grown ups and which are just here for the "show."

Now I'm not naive enough to think that after this meeting that both sides aren't going to return to their respective corners and come back out slinging the "politics as usual" mud that gets tossed around so often in Washington. But I do think events like yesterday's make it harder for them to do so. Because as my mama once said, "if you can't say it to my face..."

Sumo-Pop
February 26, 2010