Why Washington Can't Get Along

Dear Mongoose,
I ain't never been much into politics, but I been trying to pay attention to it some over the last couple years. How come nobody gets along in Washington? No matter who the president is, there's always a bunch of senators and congressmen that want to do just the opposite of whatever the president wants to do. When Bush was in charge, all the rest of the government was against him, and now it's the same with Obama. Seems to me as long as it's that way, there won't nothing get done. Ain't all Americans supposed to be on the same side?

Dear United We Stand,
"A government of the people, by the people and for the people shall not perish from Earth".  A man with a tall hat and beard said that, ole Honest Abe. Go ahead and don the tinfoil hats folks, here it comes.  I have two theories why politicians can't get along. Let's go Reynolds Wrap 1st: Read the "Communist Manifesto" and "Rules for Radicals". Essentially both works advise those in power to create strife between political parties, ideologies, religions and race. In doing such, the "people" are pushed to embrace the hypothetical utopia that is communism. When you vote politicians into office that are not representative of the people, such as men and women who have never held a public job or have viewpoints that aren't shared by the majority, they are not "of the people".   Add in a little judicial activism sprinkled with executive orders, and you do away with "by the people" becoming instead "by the person". Go ahead and take your tin foil off, theory #2 is not as far out in left field--pun intended. Once a politician gets elected his/her #1 job becomes keeping that job. "Hey, you gotta keep me in here, look how bad the other side is", bye, bye "government for the people", hello job security. Either way it's become as far from Abe's quote as Washington DC is from Nome, Alaska. (3,784 miles as the crow flies).
We'll See Ya,
Mongoose