If there is one word that has lost most of its meaning over the last couple of decades, it is the word “responsibility.” Bill Kristol digs deep into his bad of tricks and comes up with a boilerplate lecture about Republicans as the party of responsible government and Democrats as the feckless opposition. There was a time when this not only seemed true, but was an accurate assessment of the two parties. There is something very odd about this, since it was the Democrats, except for their drought of presidential wins, that were the natural party of government for almost six unbroken decades. This generally allowed the GOP the luxury of channeling most of its energies into electing executives and focusing on foreign policy for much of the Cold War. It is this area of governing that concerns Kristol, since the fiscal recklessness and domestic policy failures of the current administration would tend to undermine claims of responsibility, and then you realise that it is in foreign policy, the area where the GOP had cultivated a deserved reputation for being responsible and sober-minded, that Republicans have proven themselves to be the most undeserving of wielding power.
After the last seven years, if I were a Democrat I would be amazed at the gall of the first part of Kristol’s claim. Recklessly irresponsible would be a good way to describe the current administration’s style of governing, and when it was in the majority the Congressional GOP hardly distinguished itself for making hard choices and setting priorities. The second part–the part about the feckless opposition–is more defensible, but just as misleading for all that. It is counted as a failure of Democratic leadership that it cannot override presidential vetoes with their slim House majority and basically non-existent Senate majority, but on the Republican side the leadership, both in the White House and the Congress, has been marked by the complete refusal to make choices and the persistent unwillingness to take responsibility for the choices they have made. None of this is to defend the Democrats, but to drive home the point that rehashed lines about responsible Republican government no longer persuade, because the people advancing them have no credibility as judges of what constitutes responsible or good government and because the party no longer deserves a reputation for probity and weighing the consequences of hard decisions.
Of course, in the world of Kristol, “responsibility” is defined by the policy goals you pursue and not whether you pursue them prudently, carefully or, well, responsibly. For example, viewed rationally, invading Iraq without good cause or proper planning for the aftermath is the height of irresponsibility. Viewed from Kristol’s perspective, invading Iraq is the epitome of responsibility and decisive leadership, while leaving Iraq is inherently irresponsible regardless of whether remaining there makes any sense. In this view, misrule is responsible government, which is the only thing that explains how someone could have the temerity to suggest that the Republicans were still the party of responsible government.
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