Perhaps the most hilarious example of party-line whiplash concerns the economic stimulus package that didn't pass this week. Specifically the question of whether a stimulus is really needed. In the negotiations, both sides tried to blame the other for failing to make a deal on this vital legislation, while at the same time trying to increase their own leverage by declaring their own willingness to walk away. The Journal has faithfully taken both positions. "The economy will be better off if President Bush calls the whole thing off," it argued in an editorial on the stimulus bill. In its Daschle editorial, the Journal mused, "All this adds to the suspicion that Mr. Daschle is only too happy to see no stimulus bill at all." In other words, the Journal's editors accuse Daschle of obstructing a bill that they themselves have urged Bush to obstruct.
It's not surprising, of course, that conservative journalists would tend to agree with the Republican Party on matters of policy, just as liberals tend to agree with the Democratic Party on matters of policy. The difference comes in the day-to-day squabbling between the parties over political procedure—the merits of recess appointments or the desirability of bipartisanship and so on. Some commentators take principled positions on such issues. The Washington Post editorial page, for instance, believes the federal judiciary has too many vacancies. Last year it condemned Senate Republicans for delaying President Clinton's nominees, and this year it condemned Senate Democrats for condemning President Bush's nominees. The parties, on the other hand, treat these questions as matters of pure expediency. Last year, Democrats complained that the judiciary was strapped for judges, while Republicans claimed it was well-stocked. This year, they've switched sides.
When party flaks peddle their line of the day, nobody expects of them anything but intellectual hypocrisy. Indeed, judging by the smirks on their faces, the flaks themselves often don't take their own lines very seriously. |
