No Labels, No Point

Michael Bloomberg and a posse of self-styled centrists have proclaimed a new movement that will save America from the tyranny of partisan gridlock: No Labels. Maybe I've been radicalized by reading blogs for too long, but this is one of the dumbest ideas of all time. It doesn't even have novelty to recommend it; an organization like this pops up every few years. (Remember Unity08?) Sure, putting aside our differences and working together for the common good sounds like a lofty goal. Fine. But how is it actually supposed to work? Efforts like this are based on a fundamental unfixable mistake: the idea that what matters about politics is process, not issues. The idea that it doesn't really matter what we do, only that we do it in a civil and constructive matter. The idea, in other words, that substance doesn't really matter. Here is an early post from the ...