An essay by Joe Klein at page 29 of the August 15 issue of TIME Magazine pretty much says it all. Usually, Klein observes, a bipartisan deal signaled the end of an impasse. Now, he argues, the debt-deal signals the start of a dysfunctional year ahead. He contends that the political chasm which divides our leaders, and leaves both moderates and the middle class dropping down the chasm between them, began in the 1970s. Nixon, he says, used a racially charged "Southern strategy" to capture the White House.
He cites NIXONLAND in support of this proposition.
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He adds that the film NETWORK (1976) prefigured and predicted the "current TV news carnival," which encourages, feeds from, and exacerbates the divisions.
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Klein concludes, "As pathetic as it was, the debt-ceiling fight sent a powerful message: there are working majorities in favor of sanity in both the House and Senate. The President has shown an admirable willingness to compromise on some of his party's most cherished programs. The Senate's Gang of Six has done the same. It's time for Boehner to sequester the Tea Partyers in a rubebr-pafdded romper room, and let the adults pass the deal that both he and the vast majority of Americans want.
More by Joe Klein:
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