Column: Give up on bipartisanship »
It’s conventional wisdom in Washington that there is something inherently good about bipartisanship, but that conventional wisdom is wrong. When both political parties team up to enact a bit of legislation, aside from the naming of post offices, odds are they teaming up to do something deeply unpopular. Bipartisanship provides the cover. If everyone is to blame, then no one is, leaving no way for voters to register their objections at the ballot box. That politicians wish to avoid accountability is understandable, but to cheer it on shows a lack of respect for democracy and the importance of having the genuine consent of the governed.