MISSOURI WATCH: A FEW REVOLUTIONARY RESOLUTIONS

This is the season for New Year resolutions which, Thoreau once observed, have a way of disappearing "as fast as the last snowfall upon arrival of Spring's warm sunshine." In the foreseeable future, we're not going to enjoy Spring sunshine, so perhaps a few resolutions here and there will hang around, at least until we make it to Groundhog Day or Easter.

In recent weeks Americans have been enduring what the label-happy media have called the "Crisis in Washington" or the "Crisis of the Presidency" or the "Crisis in Impeachment." The labels may or may not have been accurate, but most of us have had our fill of Gotcha Government, whether from the Republican or Democratic viewpoint, while finding our desires for effective governance frequently positioned as the last item on the agendas of both parties.

It does little good at this point to assess blame and responsibility for the continuing uproar in Washington and its proliferation to state capitals around the country. There's sufficient blame to go around and both groups are culpable.

What is confusing about all this culpability is that the perpetrators are perfectly aware of what they are doing and their responsibility for its promulgation and practice. Witness the nearly bipartisan speech made the other day by the minority leader in the U.S. House of Representatives, Missouri's Dick Gephardt, who got a standing ovation from many members of both parties after castigating the "slash and burn" tactics practiced in Congress and, in far too many instances, in other public areas as well.

In pursuing gotcha government to its fullest, the participants have inserted political and personal gain ahead of the public domain to such an extent that citizens have swallowed the shallow argument that our society can only improve under the umbrella provided by either liberals or conservatives. Under the guise of offering to save the nation from the exaggerated dangers posed by the opposition, politicians from all corners have stepped forward to save society, transporting it to the nirvana so enticingly promised by both groups.

I am old enough to remember when Franklin Roosevelt promised to deliver America from the clutches of Herbert Roosevelt and Harry Truman guaranteed deliverance from a "do-nothing Congress." I also recall when Richard Nixon, with his secret plan to end the Vietnam War, promised to deliver us from Lyndon Johnson and Ronald Reagan was no less eager to free us from the sanctimonious Jimmy Carter, who had earlier promised to unlock the chains from Tricky Dick and Stumbling Jerry Ford. And who among us does not recall when another aptly described slick politician, this one from Arkansas, promised reforms that would end the shame and evasions of Iran-Contra?

Politicians, in their eagerness to attract citizen support, have throughout the history of our democracy resorted all too often to perceived negative points of their opponents and all too often failed to mention the realities of problems facing the American people. They have, in a word, substituted gotcha government for effective programs to cure national and state problems that have a way of sticking around much longer than campaigns or even terms in office.

The abiding, unalterable and sacred rule of those who seek to govern us, either in Washington or Jefferson City, is that to succeed, one must promote the negative to achieve the positive. No one argues the fallacy of this rule, for it has worked far more often than has the positive approach.

Which brings us to a second resolution that applies to all good Americans regardless of political persuasion. Namely the voters' confirmation that nothing less than mean-spirited, harsh rhetoric will command our attention. The reason we have such an abundance of gotcha government is that wise politicians recognize when their messages are being heard and when they are ignored. It's impossible to beat a politician's I.Q. when it comes to recognizing when he or she is being well received and when no one is listening.

And, whether we want to admit it or not, voters simply do not listen when candidates choose to spout public policy instead of punitive politics. Even voters who can't distinguish between a filibuster and a pocket veto instinctively know when a candidate is giving his opponent hell and when he is boring them with complex and arcane details about a health program, though the latter is much more critical to our everyday lives. Gotcha government is fun; serious discussions about governmental needs and responsibilities are boring.

Unfortunately this rule of success or failure permeates all levels of public and political life whether in city halls, county courthouses, Jefferson City or the District of Columbia. Voters declare themselves in favor of public good, which too often is intellectually intermingled with political popularity. Whatever one thinks of the President we still have at this moment, this much we should all agree on: he has concerned himself, not always effectively, with programs designed to enhance Americans' lives through more effective programs. His political enemies have already made us acutely aware of his personal foibles and sins, but the list of this or any other administration is longer than the gotcha lists, or items of impeachment, compiled by its enemies.

For a final resolution, it seems appropriate to mention the desirability for all of us to achieve a political maturity that distinguishes between myopic partisanship and public dedication. Until that time arrives, we will never be able to tell the difference between those capable of effective policy administration and those whose faults, while temporarily invisible, will soon enough become all too apparent.

Happy New Year resolutions, fellow citizens.

~Jack Stapleton of Kennett is the editor of Missouri News and Editorial Service.