As Fatal Flaws Go, We've Got A Beaut.

       Do you know what a "fatal flaw" is? Charles Blow, in the New York Times this morning explained one when he suggested that Republicans in Congress seem to think the way things were two or three decades ago are so much better than any way they could be in the future. It seems that nothing can improve what we had 'back then' so let's get back to then, now.
       The problem is that things weren't all that great back then, but they could be much better now if only people would begin to try to work together. And let's not forget that Democrats are not without faults. While the Affordable Care Act is a good start, it isn't the panacea Democrats seem to think it is. And things certainly aren't all that much better than they were a few decades ago.
       Now I wouldn't expect the Republicans and Democrats in Congress and elsewhere to sit down around the old campfire and sing Kum be Yah. Nor do I expect that they will huddle around in a think-tank setting to come up with the kind of legislation we need for our country to succeed. Ya know, actually I do expect them to do just that. Not the Kum be Yah, but the think-tank and the kind of legislation we need. They won't, but that's what I expect of them. Conservatives and progressives have different ideas of the way things should be. Unfortunately neither way would work well on it's own, for everyone, but an amalgam of something between the two just might work out to be a great solution.
       So what are the chances of that happening? Well, that's the real fatal flaw in our world and in our country. Nobody trusts the other side enough to try it out. Everybody seems to hate the idea that the other side might have a better idea, and they hate it so much they aren't willing to try. I'll bet that if you put an ultra-conservative and an ultra-liberal in a room together, between the two of them they couldn't figure out how to get out of the room. Even if the door was left open. They'd be too busy accusing each other of getting themselves into this sorry fix.
       What if we had a law that stated that anyone elected to national office who could not agree to work together with the whole Congress to create fair and helpful laws within 30 days would be ushered out of office and not be allowed to run again for four years? But what Congressman would vote for such a law? I guess it would be fair to say Congress is a fatal flaw.