Hyper-partisanship and the Road to Irrelevance

Mark Daniels made the following comment in response to my post on the Democratic Meltdown earlier this week:

Unfortunately, there are some in the Democratic Party who belong to what might be called the "Oliver Stone-like, don't-confuse-me-with-the-facts Brigade." For them, it is simply an article of faith that there was voter fraud in the last election and nothing can convince them otherwise, not even the nominee of their party in the 2004 election.

Republicans have similarly misguided persons. They so automatically assume the worst about Democrats that they simply cannot discern whether sometimes, to their astonishment, they can also sometimes make sense.

Hyper-partisanship inhibits the capacity of our political process to work and, as Senator Boxer and others demonstrated, sometimes makes its most devoted practitioners look silly.

Mark has hit on exactly what's wrong with our political process today. Both parties spend so much time trying to use their opponents' mistakes for political gain that they end up looking ridiculous. What passes for political debate these days is no more than a glorified shouting match where the only winners are the cable news networks who get big ratings from televising these battles.

A wise pastor once told me to choose carefully the hill you wish to die on. In other words, carefully select your battles. Both Republicans and Democrats would be well served to heed that advice.