Washington politics is a culture of hate

To the Editor: 

“Who can blame Bayh for quitting” former Senator D’Amato asks in his recent opinion piece (“The rewards of being in the elite class,” Feb. 25-March 3). Well, to be honest, I can, and I would imagine most of the country’s unemployed can as well. I own a small company and we have dropped from 15 to nine employees over the past two years.

Unemployment and under-employment are at truly frightening levels and millions of households are in real distress. In this context it does not look particularly good to be quitting your job — especially a job that is supposed to be one of public service — because it has become “difficult,” or “unpleasant,” or any of the other reasons Sen. Evan Bayh stated. I can certainly respect that Bayh may want to do something else with his life — he may want to spend more time with his family, make more money in private practice, heck, he may even want to go fly fishing — but I cannot respect his stated reason for quitting. The atmosphere in Washington may have become bitterly partisan — even toxic — but the work of the people still has to be done.

I have been a Democrat my whole life — I cast my first vote in 1976 for Jimmy Carter and voted for him again in 1980. I can clearly remember disagreeing with many of former Senator D’Amato’s positions but I do not remember hating him. Today, the Tea Party people don’t just seem to disagree with the president’s positions — they seem to truly hate him. Similarly, liberals don’t just disagree with Sarah Palin or Dick Cheney — they loathe them with all their hearts and can’t understand why any thinking person would feel otherwise. I do not doubt that governing in this climate is tough, but does that mean that the appropriate response is to pick up your ball and go home? With the future of our nation in the balance, I don’t think so! 

Chuck Oliva

Valley Stream