Both Sides Do It -- NOT!

Click here for an article in the National Journal by the estimable Norm Ornstein entitled Setting the Record Straight on a Polarizing Debate." According to Wikipedia, Ornstein is "a political scientist and resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), a [conservative] Washington D.C. think tank. He was the co-writer (along with Thomas E. Mann) of It's Even Worse Than It Looks: How the American Constitutional System Collided With the New Politics of Extremism." Here's a quote from that article in "Both Sides Are Not To Blame" at Taegan Goddard's Political Wire:

"Does it matter whether the polarization, and the deep dysfunction that follows from it, is equal or not, including to the average voter? The answer is a resounding yes. If bad behavior--using the nation's full faith and credit as a hostage to political demands, shutting down the government, attempting to undermine policies that have been lawfully enacted, blocking nominees not on the basis of their qualifications but to nullify the policies they would pursue, using filibusters as weapons of mass obstruction--is to be discouraged or abandoned, those who engage in it have to be held accountable.

"Saying both sides are equally responsible, insisting on equivalence as the mantra of mainstream journalism, leaves the average voter at sea, unable to identify and vote against those perpetrating the problem."

Here's neocon cheerleader Ron Fournier's take on the "both sides" situation:

“This is my fundamental disagreement with partisan journalists and political scientists who dedicate their careers to measuring increments of fault—the GOP’s share of blame is 20 percent or 60 percent or 80 percent. Who cares? Not the average voter who merely wants her leaders to work together and get results.”

Ornstein gives an illustrative citation from a Pew Research Center survey:

82 percent of consistent liberals say they believe in compromise, compared with 32 percent of consistent conservatives.