Not long ago, my young daughter’s soccer team was playing a team with one player who was a fair bit bigger, and significantly rougher, than anyone else on the field. Parents on the sidelines became agitated as more and more players were knocked to the ground. My wife said, “She needs to stop. Her coach should take that girl out of the game.”
I responded, “Why would she stop? There are officials on the field and they have not called a foul. Her rough play is helping her team, and there are no consequences for it. If anything, the rest of the girls on the field should start playing like her.”
Eight years of defiant obstructionism produced this: Republican control of virtually every lever of power. Nearly a decade of throwing sand in the gears of government has delivered to the GOP a level of power seldom seen in America. Why would they give up behavior that has produced such handsome rewards?
Should the opposing team continue playing the game as they were taught, or should they observe and emulate the conduct that is working for the opposition? Is it better for a loyal opposition to continue to serve our institutions and look for common ground, taking action where possible? Or to show the GOP and the nation that our government can be ground to a halt by the minority’s stubborn unwillingness to act in good faith, whether it be a Republican minority or Democrat?
At first blush the answer would seem to be that no good comes from a race to the bottom, and identifying common ground with adversaries still allows some governance to continue. And the GOP, having exploited the rules and norms of the Senate, seem fully willing to dispose of those rules and norms. For example, there is already a non-zero chance that the Republicans will eliminate the availability of a Senate filibuster of Supreme Court candidates. Why wouldn’t they?
But I’m very mindful that a system in which one party follows the Marquis de Queensbury rules while the other fights bare-knuckle will reward the guttersnipes. Should we be cowed by the norms of civil behavior, knowing that the norms were not respected when they did not benefit the Republicans? Is there any reason at all to think that, majority or minority, the GOP sees any benefit in governing from the center ever again?
It is easy to forget that the systems, norms, and rules of the federal government have evolved over many decades of shifting power and mercurial allegiances and alliances. The party in power used to remember that one day it will be the opposition, and its use of majoritarian power was constrained by reasonableness. With that out the window, it’s tough to see a return to constructive governance that doesn’t require us to first hit rock bottom.
