We now find ourselves mired in gridlock in the Congress, with vital issues unresolved and factions dug into their own positions, not budging an inch.
But are we talking about the U.S. Congress or the Iraqi National Congress? Sadly, the phrase applies well to both.
In Iraq, Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds cannot decide how to share power, from government posts to oil revenues. They're ineffective, and as they drag their feet, people die.
Back at home, we face much the same problem. The difference, though, is that in Washington, D.C., there are no assassinations, IEDs or snipers to impede the elected officials' work.
We expect the Iraqi parliament to function perfectly, but we've been doing this democracy thing for a lot longer, and we can't seem to get anything done at home. What a poor example we set.
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The U.S. Congress has fallen back into old patterns: fail to get any work done, but make sure you can plausibly blame the other party for such inaction. That's not good enough anymore.
We have big issues to solve: immigration reform, the solvency of Medicare and to a lesser extent Social Security, mounting budget deficits piling themselves onto a national debt we may never be able to pay off, a growing (and growing, and growing) divide between the rich and poor, skyrocketing energy costs, global warming, proper armor for our troops and skyrocketing health care costs, just to name a few.
Yet we have action on none of these issues.
We can hardly expect Iraq to solve its problems as death squads roam the streets and bombs explode in marketplaces when we can't get anything done here.
The Republicans had their chance. The Democrats seem intent on blowing their chance. Is there a third party that may actually see the merits of getting work done instead of bickering?
