I’ve made this point in the recent past, but it bears mentioning again and again, since the media keeps wanting to discuss “bipartisanship” as it applies to Barack Obama’s record.
“Centrism” is the limp-dicked insistence that the middle of the road on any issue is automatically the right course to take. As Mr. Miaggi famously said, “Left side, OK. Right side, OK. Middle of road, Qeeuich! Squashed like grape.” It can occasionally be true that finding a middle ground is a more amenable solution and softens the blow of extreme positions on either side, but that does not mean that Centrism and Bipartisanship are necessarily the same thing.
Bipartisanship is the act of bringing together a coalition around accomplishing a single goal. Notice that there is no mention of that goal necessarily being right, left or center. It’s possible that a Bipartisan concensus can be formed around a Centrist solution, but it is equally true that a solution largely regarded as being from one wing or the other can also gain and hold Bipartisan support if the right politicians get together.
Therefore, to look at a politician’s record, declare it “Leftist” and therefore conclude that he’s not capable of Bipartisanship is simply wrong. Not that veracity means much to the media, but maybe it means something to the rest of us.
