The ‘R’s lose. The ‘D’s lose. The ‘A’s win!

So, I’m sitting on the train this morning, from Westport CT to New York City, reading the paper. Today’s New York Times had three articles addressing the tug-of-war going on over the fiscal cliff (no pun intended), between the Democrats and the Republicans. The capstone article was David Brooks editorial The Truly Grand Bargain.

When I was finished with the article, I had this epiphany: Party victory isn’t the solution to our fiscal ills; party defeat is! At least, if you want to serve the American people (see ‘A’ above.) The only constructive, viable, America-saving outcome, is if BOTH parties feel like they’ve lost. The Dems on entitlements and the GOP on taxes. For, in the crucible of that dual defeat is a nation poised for renewal, with real, if gut-wrenching, prospects for righting our fiscal ship.

There is, to this proposal, a visceral sobriety – a quiet consciousness – that neither party so far has reached. But must. I’ve come to view our politicians as juveniles, protecting their egos, like kids in middle school do, when they refuse to take any responsibility for