What does it mean to “look beyond ideology”?
This is a common tactic of statist-Republicans. Accuse the opposition of committing the great sin of “ideology” so you don’t have to actually reveal your own government worshipping ideas on the topic. Let’s look at this statement. What is an ideology? The relevant Webster’s dictionary definition is, “the integrated assertions, theories and aims that constitute a sociopolitical program.”
So Senator Buttrey has no “sociopolitical program”. He has no cohesive view of government, humanity, morality—his agenda as a politician is just floating in space, random and ungrounded. So how does he decide which bills to vote for? Which ones to introduce? Which ones to carry for the governor?
“I think the voters here are pretty middle-of-the-road, and they’re interested in people who are interested in finding solutions, rather than being hard-core partisans,” said Rep. Steve Fitzpatrick, R-Great Falls. “I think we’re just reflective of the community.”
More fully dipping their hand, the statist Republicans have revealed that reelection is their ideology. In other words their ideology is to stay in political power, not to defend the Constitution or the Republic. Power is their purpose, meagre and petty as it is.
“We are not from an area that gets the big growth or gets the big (economic) boom,” added Buttrey. “So we are always looking for solutions. … We’re from a traditionally more moderate area.”
They want to do whatever it takes to stay in political power, the Republic be damned. They want to “stimulate” their districts with federal dollars and programs. These all sound like “progressive” ideas, so why not run in the “Progressive” party then? I think we have one of those in Montana.
No person is without ideology and it is just more often than not an unstated and uninvestigated collage of principles. Senator Buttrey and his ilk are more than just what is wrong with the MTGOP; they are what is wrong with this state, our civil society, and the United States. They are more concerned with interest than principle. They concerned with power not the Republic.
We can do this better. We can have a debate about Medicaid expansion that includes our actual principles but that means being honest about what we believe in. As long as we continue to divide ourselves by our interest rather than debating the actualization of our common principles, this age of petty political fights will continue and the average Montanan will continue to be left holding the bill.