There’s an odd schizophrenia in the political press. The disorder begins with a desire to be “non-ideological” and “non-partisan.” But people have to “stand for something,” and so many journalists, seeking a way to “stand for something” but not “take sides,” pick a few issues that they consider “non-partisan” and “common sense.”
Sometimes it’s specific stuff like balanced budgets. Often, the media’s ideology boils down to two general themes: (1) Bipartisan solution-seeking; and (2) curbing the power of the special interests. The problem with these two planks: they’re often at odds.
First, the “common-sense moderates” in office are usually the most corporatist, and the most tied up with the revolving door, in my experience. Similarly, when the media calls in “bipartisan problem-solvers willing to reach across the aisle,” they end up bringing in lawmakers-turned-lobbyists.
It happened again this month.
On Monday, I returned to the office after my recent trip to Kentucky and found awaiting me the full-color, thick card stock report of the Esquire Commission to Fix Congress. How did Esquire choose its “commissioners”:
A day after opening this report, one of the “commissioners” ended up in a Washington Post headline: “Former senator Tom Daschle forms new lobbying group“:
Of course, Daschle has been de factor lobbyist since he lost reelection in 2004. His wife, Linda Hall Daschle, has been a lobbyist longer than that. The other commissioners include Trent Lott, one of the richest lobbyists in Washington, and fellow Gulf Coast Republican Bob Livingston who owns his own lobbying firm.
These are the guys you call on to “fix Congress”?
