It has been a long time since I have posted anything on this blog. In the mean time I have been intentionally "subjecting" myself to something I strongly dislike as a bit of a "research project."



I have intentionally elected to be on mailing lists for both conservative and liberal organizations, editoral posts and "news and opinion outlets." I also spent time reading the string of comments that are posted for on-line articles and editorials.



This was a voyage into the world of "hyper-partisanship." What I saw was not encouraging for someone who believes that the political process in America has an important role to play in solving our major issues. Frankly, I believe that the pervasive "hyper-partisanship" of our political system is the greatest single threat to our future as a nation.



I don't say that lightly. We are subject to many significant economic, environmental, ideological and moral threats that I do not want to minimize, but if our democratic, political process is paralyzed by partisanship, we have no real hope of dealing with these other critical issues. If you look at how well we are doing with solutions to our long-term problems (health care costs, social security solvency, immigration rationalization...) or our newer problems (energy costs and dependency, wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, Russian and Chinese ascendency, nuclear proliferation, climate change...) there is little to be encouraged about. Our overly-partisan political culture treats these issues mainly as means to discredit the opposition, and the difficult compromises or nuanced positions needed never emerge.



This disease of our system is full-blown in both the right and left wing. It also infects many single-issue groups that do not neatly fit into the two dimensional political spectrum model such as libertarians, anti-immigration activists and radical anti-technology groups.



Without attempting to channel Machiavelli for the 21st century, I have read enough to derive basic principles displayed in the partisan "press," "blogosphere," "mailing-list-osphere", and "comment-osphere" (the most scary of all) to formulate the principles on which they seem to operate. Based on this period of intensive reading I think I could write a decent version of the (I hope) unwritten “Hyper-Partisan Handbook” that applies all across the political spectrum. Here is my perception of the core principles of this political culture:



1. Fear is always the most effective way to motivate voters. No matter what the issue is, there is a way to frighten someone about it for political gain



2. Never admit that your opposition is right about anything



3. Always describe issues in black and white terms – do not acknowledge any grey areas because that is a sign of weakness. People want to hear simple answers, not complexities



4. No matter what the question, make it into an issue of personality – ad homonym attacks are extremely effective



5. Always treat the name of the political philosophy you oppose as a swear word or insult. At the very least always say it with a sneer



6. Never hesitate to make associations between your opponent(s) and someone else who has strong public negatives - there need be no actual connection to do so



7. Stick with the insult skills you learned in grade school – it never gets any better than that

• Find a demeaning nickname and use it instead of a real name because it is more de-humanizing


• Find a catchy, negative phrase (e.g. “tax and spend liberal,” or “Bush’s failed policies”) and use it as frequently as possible


• Find “adult” ways to deliver the message, “neener, neener, neener” whenever the other side has a set-back

8. As much as possible, put your opponent(s) in the position or proving a negative about what they actually believe

9. Don’t believe it when people say the public wants civility from their politicians – you get much more attention with a fight

10. Answer any bias from the “other side” in the press with an equally biased presentation of your side and declare that this represents “balance” and “objectivity”

11. If there is a moral failing (particularly sexual) by one of your opponents, make sure you “cast the first stone” and then quite a few more at them and all their associates

12. Don’t allow your opposition to accomplish something that will be to their credit, even if it is a “good” thing. “Good” is defined by when your side prevails

13. Do not admit mistakes, don’t even entertain the idea that they are possible for you

14. If there are difficult messages that need to be delivered to the population about the need for sacrifice or patience, don’t ask the people to step-up to the challenge, always find some way to hang that difficulty on the opposition

15. Encourage your partisans to be as narrow as possible in their sources of news and information. Whenever possible, denigrate alternative sources as biased and even sinister

It is sad, but these un-written principles have been used with some great effect. The only potential antidote for the American political system is the engagement of a large number of people who see through these tactics and remain independent in information, thought and votes.