After my last diary, The Obtuse Chris Matthews, there was a comment on the show to the effect that, well, bloggers don’t have to govern. The implication was that if you weren’t in Congress then you are free to argue any solution because you don’t have to get your colleagues to go along.
This would carry a lot more weight if Congress were actually solving problems and moving the country along. On a host of important issues from climate change to managing the economy virtually every solution offered on the Internet beats what Congress has actually done. Perhaps bloggers don’t need to get forty-one members of the Tea Bag Party in Congress to sign up for their legislation, but that’s doesn’t help the country progress. It’s time for those in Congress to open up to the solutions that the bloggers (and many others outside of their club) have to offer.
Today, Matthews followed up his comments with a segment promoting centrism, pulling in two former (centrist) Senators (John Breaux and William Cohen) as guests. This led to an excellent discussion based on a faulty premise.