出る釘は打たれる (The Nail that Sticks Out Gets Hammered)

The election of Scott Brown initially had my head spinning - what the heck was MA thinking? I mean, they made Teddy Kennedy a life time Senator - and his life time wish was to have comprehensive healthcare reform... how could they do this to his legacy?

He was not able to live long enough to see his wish carried out or buried, and perhaps that was for the best - it got pretty messy towards the end of the Senate round of initial voting with Dems selling their mothers to ensure they could get the 60 requisite votes in the Senate (and why did they need 60 votes when a simple majority wins?)

But still, here it is that his home state - the one he did so much for during his tenure as their senator - is the one that has now apparently set back the whole healthcare reform movement that was so close to being passed.

No matter your politically affiliations - right minded people will recognize there are many good things in that bill. Is it perfect no, but it is a start. No doubt, much work still needs to be done on both sides once this first step is hopefully taken.

Could it have included more Republican ideals, I think certainly yes. Tort reform for one is badly needed and has clearly been shown to increase costs for doctors which is passed on to patients.

But the dems, in order to appease their radical-left associates, could not consider such measures because they had to pull the universal coverage they wanted (which radical-right republicans falsely called Gov't takeover of the healthcare industry...). If the Dems could not have what they wanted, they didn't want the republicans to have what they wanted either.

Tit for tat - and so it goes in Washington.

But there are moderate republican senators like Olympia Snowe of Maine who could and should be leaders in the Congress. If Scott Brown follows in her footsteps as a serious Senator who wants to work with both sides to get a comprehensive bill passed - then I think we will all be better off for it. Especially if it starts to pull the suicidal drive of the Republican Party leadership away from the radical right and more toward the center.

If we let both far wings of each side of our Gov't control the process, we will be lost. It is up the the centrists, the moderates, to wrestle control from the radicals.

Which brings me to the title of todays entry - "The Nail That Sticks Out Gets Hammered Down."

Today, the voice of reason has so little 'bite' compared to the radical intonations of the media savvy far right or left. Especially in this era of cable news and online media organizations who can't wait to get their paws on a juicy controversy of any kind.

It'd be nice if the rabble rousing radicals on both sides would get hammered down in favor of centrist views in Congress. They often do get hammered through scandals, etc., but not for their radical views which get way more 'exposure' than deserved in today's 24 hour media frenzy. And always a new radical pops up to take the ousted radicals place in the spotlight - where's the 'voice-of-reason' hammer? Shouldn't that be the media? It's not.

This is a huge advantage for the radicals over the moderate center and a dilemma for our society that we either must resolve, or go the way of other failed democracies.