The lost art of the possible

WASHINGTON -- The fight over raising the federal debt limit recalls the tale of two men arguing on a street corner over whether the world is round or flat. A passer-by, asked to settle the argument, responds that between men of good will, the truth surely can be found somewhere in the middle.

Perhaps except to members of the Flat Earth Society, it's been clear for a long time that the crisis is real and must be resolved by political compromise rather than ideological rigidity. If the country is forced into default because House Republicans rule out any tax increases as a matter of conservative faith, it will be an exercise in political self-immolation for everybody.

Yet President Obama is stymied trying to do business with the naysayers locked into a no-new-taxes pledge, in spite of his agreement to cut spending even in entitlement programs that are the heart of the liberal faith. Compromise as the art of the possible is flirting with becoming a lost art.

Along with the hardening of ideological thinking driven by the new tea party influence in GOP congressional ranks is the hardening of incivility in the debate, despite efforts of Obama on one side and House Speaker John Boehner on the other to engage in serious negotiation.

Short tempers flared in the recent confrontation between the president and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor over who walked out of a White House meeting. More serious and ugly was the email fired to Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz by her Florida Republican colleague Rep. Allen B. West in the debt-limit fight.

Schultz, who is also the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, took to the House floor the other day to chastise West for voting for the Republican "cut, cap an balance" proposal. It would reduce and put a lid on federal spending, and then require Congress to pass a constitutional balanced-budget amendment before the debt ceiling could be raised.

She noted that West, "who represents thousands of Medicare beneficiaries" in Florida, as she does, "is supportive of this plan that would increase costs for Medicare beneficiaries -- unbelievable for a member from South Florida." By today's standards, her rebuke of her colleague from the Sunshine State was only mildly personal. West, a freshman congressman who is already making a name for himself as a combative partisan, emailed Schultz with copies to two of his own party leaders and to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. He challenged her, writing if "you want a personal fight, I am happy to oblige. You are the most vile, unprofessional and despicable member of the House of Representatives."

On the floor of the House, there are rules and certainly the tradition of couching criticisms in polite or at least veiled personal terms, but West was unstrained in his email. He continued: "If you have something to say to me, stop being a coward and say it to my face, otherwise, shut the heck up. Focus on your own congressional district!" He concluded: "You have proven repeatedly that you are not a Lady, therefore, shall not be afforded due respect from me!"

A group of Democratic congresswomen immediately demanded an apology from West and called on his House leaders to repudiate them. At the same time, both sides dispatched fund-raising mail including the remarks, a commentary on how politics on Capitol Hill works these days. The Congressional Black Caucus also criticized West, an African-American with strong support from members of the tea party.

More than lapses into incivility, however, the resistance of freshman and other tea party advocates to the old art of the possible could hurt the Republican quest for the White House next year. The latest Washington Post-ABC News Poll says 42 percent of voters surveyed think the Republicans would take most of the blame for failure to achieve a deal on raising the debt limit, to 36 percent saying Obama would bear the brunt.

The difference, however, is not substantial, suggesting the American jury is still out on the issue that could well decide whether compromise can survive as the art of the possible in today's rigidly resistant climate.

Tribune Media Services columnist Jules Witcover's email address is juleswitcover@comcast.net.