End of the "Split the Difference Scenario"

When even a left-wing outlet like POLITICO says as much, you know things have changed.  And to my mind, the change is all for the better.

The scenario they're describing is of course the old Washington way of getting to the deal by splitting the difference between either the branches of government or, more significantly, between the governing parties and the ideologies that describe them.  (You really can't say define them, or at least you can't in the GOP's case.)

For conservatives this difference splitting has always come at a much greater cost to them than it has to liberals and you had to be a fool not to know it.

When the Right stands on the principle of constitutionally limited government and the Left does not, for the Right to split the difference, or even to concede the smallest point, it is by definition a victory for the Left.  In such a transaction, the Left has violated no principle at all.  The Right, by contrast, has sold a little or a lot of its very soul.

Moreover, even if you leave principle aside, if history demonstrates anything it demonstrates that even the smallest concession to the growth of government invariably results in something bigger, usually something much bigger than was originally planned.  It's typically not only bigger, but altogether different as well.

Slowly (oh so very slowly), but steadily, the description of the Republican Party has changed from one with a ruling majority of accommodationists (difference splitters) to one with a ruling majority of much more principled conservatives.

The immediate consequence of that change is of course gridlock in DC.  But, as even the reporters at POLITICO have noticed, it also means that we're finally in for a real fight.

Let's Roll!