Poisoning the well

I was talking to my dad yesterday about whether or not politics are any worse today than they ever were. I used to wholeheartedly say "yes." But now I don't know; after all, I didn't live through the early years of the republic or through the Civil War.

On the other hand, it's hard to imagine that America got this far by having a political process that rendered effective government as difficult as it is these days.

Case in point: the New York Times reports on the neutering by lobbyists of the healthcare reform bills in Congress, and Ezra Klein analyzes a new poll on healthcare which shows that support for the reform ideas of both parties has dropped. In other words, our arguments haven't moved the needle particularly in either the Democrats or Republicans favor. Reform has simply become less popular.

It's as if I poisoned my well to keep you from drinking from it. Sigh.