My take on Charles Krauthammer’s latest. His column was published in the Washington Post.

Summary: Once parties rotate from opposition to governing, their sense of responsibility changes. They must face realities.

Quote:

In this case, the antiwar party has followed the Bush endgame to a T in Iraq and has doubled down in Afghanistan. And there is no general restiveness (at least over this).

My Views: Macaulay in his History of England talks about this. When a party gains power, its perspective changes. Realities that it had previously dismissed, now have to be faced. Assumptions that some things could be dealt with in some kind of dismissive manner, now have to be faced realistically. For example, they cannot just make a speech about making nice and expect adversaries to reciprocate. When the adversaries do not (think Iran), the guys new to power must face facts.

Then there’s the stigma of failure. Failure not to just pass bills but failure for one’s own policies to achieve the expected results. In short, the party that previously opposed now must face the areas where they were wrong.

This was true for Jefferson when he ousted the Federalists; it is true for Obama today. Tomorrow, it will be true for the Republicans, too.

He wrote a book which is pictured at the right. I am drawn by the substance and the thinking than any particular writing flair.