The other day, we strolled down Hennepin Avenue and ducked into the city’s oldest bar. In a paneled backroom where we might have expected a billiard table, a small group of mystery writers had assembled to tipple and talk shop. Writers are normally solo artists, not given to fraternizing with the enemy. But mystery writers are different. They root for each other, they swap ideas, they reveal their tricks. It reminded us of Penn Jillette’s recent article in the Los Angeles Times. After prompting from political friends, Jillette genially tried to explain how magicians tell a little lie to hide a bigger lie—that’s what misdirection and sleight-of-hand are all about, though he said the ability to apply the lesson to certain current political realities was beyond him.
We only wish there were more magic abroad. Our present impasse lacks deftness in handling. Our public servants have stopped trying to create the illusion of compromise and cooperation. We’re not sure why the National Hubris Reserve has skyrocketed in the years since the Republicans had their revenge on Bill Clinton. But we have noticed that the problem with go-it-alone conservatism is that it’s inherently anti-social. And it seems to be catching. From Washington to Austin, Texas, from Bill O’Reilly to Al Franken, we’re witnessing a breakdown in civility. It’s as if road rage had escaped from the outer-ring suburbs and infiltrated the office, the school, the neighborhood park. Those who excuse these rude times by saying politics is a contact sport can be counted on to despise sympathy, and to debase the proprieties. It’s a shame, because even when our representatives are fighting for just causes in complex times, we’re inclined to pick sides and plug our ears, as if it were a wrestling match or a bodybuilding contest.
The other day, Sen. Norman Coleman indicated that he will vote to allow drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge if it means more jobs in Northern Minnesota. A coal gasification plant is on the verge of being legislated into existence up on the Range. This is not really a feint to distract us from cronyism, nor from Senator Coleman’s previous opposition to same, though it may be an unpleasant brand of gladhanding. (It does two things that irritate us: It panders to outstate voters, among whom the DFL has long been in decline. And it polishes to a high shine the illusion that Washington is allied with the suburbs and the exurbs against the wicked inner city. )
Senator Coleman is hopeful that ANWR will never come up for a vote, and it probably won’t. It’s much too contentious. But then Alaskans have wanted access to ANWR for decades, to further pad their own wallets. And if padding theirs means padding ours, then why not reconsider?
We remain opposed, on the sneaking suspicion that plundering our national legacy for immediate local gain is not entirely responsible. But we’re even more adamant that what’s needed is a thorough airing of priorities. If this is pocketbook politics, let it be known by its correct name. We’re most opposed to simplemindedness. Republicans have so turned off Democrats that lefties may fight tooth and nail against even the best kinds of legislation, and look for the meanest reason by which to impugn them. Congress might limit the damage the executive branch is doing by maximizing corporate profits under bright-sounding prevarications like the “Clean Energy Act.” If we must be tricked into such mischief, then at least bring back the illusion of consensus. In the meantime, they should permanently concede ANWR to the treehuggers (why, after all, is it called a “refuge”?), and find some other way to send money where it’s needed.
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