Throwdown at Madison Square Garden

Who knows; maybe it is the political version of Ali's "Thrilla in Manilla" or the "Rumble in the Jungle". Whatever you want to call it, the debate scheduled for February 25th of next year between former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush will be nothing if not interesting. If there are any more two polarizing personalities in mainstream politics today I still haven't seen them. Though he has been out of office for over eight years now, Bill Clinton continues to garner praise and support for his efforts around the world while George W. Bush threw out the first pitch at the World Series. The Japanese World Series that is. But seriously, Bush has laid low since leaving office ten months ago. Perhaps he's taking a break from being in the 'political' shooting gallery or perhaps he's biding his time under the assumption that people will come to realize just what a great President he was during his eight years.

Well whatever his reasons, this is undoubtedly going to be one of the most public way to return to the spotlight for the previous President. Now the debate is being touted as one of the most important in the sense that the two Presidents represent top members of the two leading political parties in our country and have been fairly successful in creating a schism in the political landscape that endures to this day and will continue to endure. What do I mean by schism? Well neither the Democrats nor the Republicans enjoy losing control of the White House and so they do their darnedest to make sure that life in the White House for the opposing party isn't all State Dinners and Christmas Tree lightings. That being said the landscape has been divided due to the fact that an 'us versus them' mentality has been formed over the last ten years and it has continued to affect the way many politicians and pundits think.

What is of the most interest to me however is not so much the mudslinging (which I feel will likely be minimized during this debate) but the hope that this debate will delve into the real issues of what's wrong with the political landscape of our country today. Why should their be an us versus them attitude. After hearing about the debate this morning in the news I heard that Congress (which includes both parties) all agreed that the extension of Unemployment Insurance to Americans should be extended; but rather than ending the debate in agreement and passing the bill, it is sitting idle due to the fact that many politicians are throwing in last minute additions that end up adding 'pork' which ultimately kills the bill. Republicans will state that they are for the bill (despite adding the pork to it) and will accuse the Democrats of not supporting it (without stating why they don't support the bill with the pork rather than the extension of Insurance). It's a game both parties play but then that's what's most troublesome.

Rather than serving the people as they are elected to do, they play these childish Kindergarten type of power plays that ultimately don't help anyone. And why? Simply because doing the right thing would perhaps make it seem like politicians are crossing party lines? Is that so terrible a thing when the outcome can mean the difference between reviving our economy and saving face with your respective party? I don't think so. I'm sure many people are hoping that the debate between Clinton and Bush will finally establish how bad a President Bush was. I'm sure a debate would be held on the particular strengths and weaknesses of both but to what purpose? Personal jibes or insults against what each President did in the past isn't going to change it. It's done.

As much as I'd enjoy seeing a very politically heated debate between Bush and Clinton (a debate I think Clinton would easily win since he's such a great ex tempore speaker) I don't think it would do much good. But that doesn't mean I don't think we should hash out some of these issues in this manner and in this type of forum. I would like to hear both their views on the current state of the country and what they feel is wrong (or right) with the current approaches being taken by Obama and the rest of the government. But what else should be debated and decided upon is how to move forward together. If this debate is nothing more than a reason for Clinton and Bush to hash out old and existing differences between Democrats and Republicans then it won't serve any purpose other than to further divide us. Bush called himself 'the Unite-er' at one point during his eight years in office. Now would be the time to prove it.