Great talk radio quote

I was listening to some local AM talk show this morning. A Democrat and a Republican were accusing each other of partisan politics.

Both the pot and the kettle paused to admire two shameless hypocrites share in one single case of bromism.

I love AM radio for the news. Political chatter usually makes me run for my CD collection. However, I was stopped in my tracks by a call from a Northern Arizona University political science professor who cut through the swagger for a rare moment of AM radio clarity. To paraphrase:

I don't mean to end the discussion, gentlemen, because polarized idiocy is a gridlock designed by the Framers to keep America from jumping into every political fad. It's hard to change the law, and it should be. However, we have probably passed on some of the best solutions to some of our most complicated problems because they didn't fit in a 10-second sound byte or a 2-inch pull quote. Meanwhile, our leaders are happy to exchange clichés and platitudes as long as it discourages fresh thought and new ideas from challenging their political power base.

Ouch.

Populism is a horrible political philosophy, but it's at its best when it challenges the right and the left to move to a more reasonable center.