Switching Sides of the Same Fence

Trey Smith

Over the last months, Democrats and Republicans have been engaged in an intense fight over the suitability of UN Ambassador Susan Rice to replace Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State. Democratic Party institutions and pundits have steadfastly devoted themselves to defending her from GOP criticisms.

Virtually all of this debate has concerned Rice's statements on a series of Sunday news shows in September, during which she claimed that the Benghazi attack was primarily motivated by spontaneous anger over an anti-Islam film rather than an coordinated attack by a terrorist group. Everyone now acknowledges that (consistent with the standard pattern of this administration's behavior) Rice's statements were inaccurate, but in a majestic display of intellectual dexterity, progressive pundits claim with a straight face that public officials should be excused when they make false statements based on what the CIA tells them to say, while conservatives claim with a straight face that relying on flawed and manipulated intelligence reports is no excuse.

All of that is standard, principle-free partisan jockeying. It goes without saying that if this were Condoleezza rather than Susan Rice, the two sides would have exactly opposite positions on whether these inaccurate statements should be held against her.
~ from The Revealingly Substance-Free Fight Over Susan Rice by Glenn Greenwald ~

The thing that Greenwald highlights above is WHY I am so sick of mainstream politics. Neither of the corporate parties stands on principle any longer (if either ever did). All political positions today are predicated on a) which party holds the White House and b) which positions will fan the emotions of the party's base which, of course, equates into bigger campaign contributions.

It used to be that Democrats and Republicans each had bridges they refused to cross. No more. They so readily switch sides on the issues these days that you would think their legs are made of pogo sticks! One minute they are here and, before you can blink an eye, they are way over there. Don't be surprised if a moment later they are right back where they started.