Robert Parry: "Beware the Lessons of '93"

This is really important, I think, and anyone who was a strong Obama supporter should keep this in mind. The President-elect tends to look for compromise and to "reach across the aisle." He--and we-- should not forget the lessons from the early Clinton years of what the other side always will do to the reach across the aisle: they will spurn it.


This is excellent historical reporting from Robert Parry:

Can the Republicans Change? Amid the global euphoria surrounding Barack Obama’s victory – and the hopeful talk about a new bipartisanship in Washington – the Democrats are forgetting a powerful truth: modern Republicans are tied inextricably to slash-and-burn politics. Even if some Republicans did want to shift toward a more bipartisan approach – after more than three decades of successfully using "wedge" tactics and armed with a right-wing media infrastructure built to destroy opponents – such a change might be impossible. The idea of transforming modern Republicanism into some less partisan form might be like trying to train a boa constrictor which fork to use at the dinner table. (continued at http://www.consortiumnews.com/2008/111108.html)