Hurst: Current politcal climate rewards parroting over finding solutions.

By Sam Hurst | Monday, July 17, 2006

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The cardinal sin of American politics is to criticize the voter. Leaders of every generation back to the Founding Fathers have worried that the public might not be up to the task of setting aside naked self-interest for the public interest. But as our democracy expanded, the cult of public infallibility expanded. Voters, like Gods, are always right. The quickest path to electoral defeat - as moderate Republicans learned in last month's primary - is to tell the voters, "I think you are wrong."

Two crusty old ranchers can sit over coffee and argue passionately about the war in Iraq, or the need for tax reform to fund education, and never question each other's integrity. But a politician who disagrees with the voters is a scoundrel who cannot be trusted.

We tell the politicians what to believe, and they mouth it back to us with so many pledges of faithfulness. They are such cynical liars. Once elected, they betray us. We are helpless victims. We resolve to never let it happen again. Throw the bums out. And then the dance begins anew.

Is it possible that we have been looking at the problem upside down? Is it possible that we have created a political culture in which we require politicians to lie to us? Is it possible that we have replaced the difficult responsibilities of citizenship with a self-indulgent vanity that requires politicians-against all common sense-to parrot back to us our most absurd biases?

South Dakota is a welfare state, supported by hard working, unappreciated taxpayers from New York, California and other big city blue states. We refuse to take responsibility for our own fiscal health, which, to my mind, is the lowest form of citizenship. Numerous bipartisan commissions have begged us to re-organize our outdated, unfair, tax system. And yet, there is not a single politician in South Dakota - Democrat or Republican - who can talk about raising taxes to support education reforms or improved health care. We require our politicians to lie to us. "All our problems can be solved by lower taxes." They tell us. We pat them on the head like obedient puppies; "Now, there's a politician we can trust."

Here's another example. Save the family farm. Family farms (and the small farm and ranch towns that supported them a century ago) have not been viable in South Dakota for at least 30 years. But name a single politician who can go before the Farmer's Union and say, "You know what ... maybe we should look beyond the myth of the family farm."

On and on it goes. We feed the politicians our biases, and they reflect them back at us. Low wages are a necessary evil. Teachers have a sweet deal; they only have to work nine months. Environmentalists want to destroy our property rights. The history of the Lakota is tragic, but it doesn't have anything to do with us. The crown jewel of our vanity is the biggest lie of all. "I'm independent. I vote the man, not the party." No we don't. We vote Republican. Give 'em credit. Republicans know how to lie to us and feign sincerity at the same time.

Republican politicians have learned over the years that's it's not the policy that matters. What counts is the rhetoric of affirmation. John Thune has one of the worst voting records in the Senate when it comes to supporting veterans, but on the campaign trail he is the first to wrap himself in the flag and "support our troops." Every Republican in the state legislature can give a Fourth of July speech about keeping big government out of our lives and then vote in lockstep to shove the police right smack into the middle of our most private doctor-patient decisions.

Last weekend, I went to the Billion for Governor picnic. For the first time in decades, the Democrats have a smart, dedicated, hard-charging candidate for governor in Jack Billion, and a half dozen legitimate candidates for the state legislature. Billion's choice for Lt. Governor, Eric Abrahamson, is the sharpest intellect in state politics since the young Bill Janklow. Together, they have the ability to offer us truly innovative policies in education, health insurance and economic development. But the Republicans already have them trapped. Tucked away amidst the buttons and t-shirts and bumper stickers at the picnic was the first effort at a campaign policy statement. And in bold italics, the pledge to over-haul public education ... without raising taxes!

If all "solutions" to the state's problems must be argued in the context of not raising taxes, then we will be presented with no real choices at all, not even choices which might improve the lives of our citizens and save us money in the long run. If Billion argues that a real solution to education funding or the health insurance crisis might require higher taxes, he is dead in the water.

Oh, how I would love it if we were willing to say; "Health insurance is so important, and the current system is so broken, we might just be willing to raise our taxes for a real solution."

Oh, how I wish we would take the straight jacket of conservative correctness off the campaign and let both sides really debate the issues ... as if the future of the state depended on it.

Silly me. We'd rather be lied to.

Sam Hurst is a Rapid City filmmaker. Write to SamHurst@aol.com