DO WE NEED U.N. PEACEKEEPERS ?

With the newly convened Congress in Washington my recent interview with Political Science Academic and author Thomas Schaller about his book THE STRONGHOLD;HOW THE REPUBLICANS CAPTURED CONGRESS BUT SURRENDERED THE WHITE HOUSE felt particularly timely. The title,THE STRONGHOLD, suggests a fortress mentality to me. Going into the Election it was reported that Americans were deeply annoyed with the legislative gridlock in Congress. The last Congress has been called the least productive in history. The Democrats proposing and the Republicans always seeming to vote NO. This had the potential to change with the Election. With the Election we went from a divided Congress to one under total Republican control. This can only cause further legislative “war” between Congress in their “Stronghold” and the fortress White House. Shaller suggests that the Public wants both a productive government but also distrusts it. They seem to believe in the checks and balances concept of the Founding Fathers that the current situation of a President from one Political Party and a Congress controlled by another allows. Then the question which is currently unanswered is how do the two sides find common ground? A truce must be achieved if anything is to be accomplished. Citizens cannot have both legislative progress with a divided Congress. It just will not work.

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