It sounds like the Republican leadership treated their retreat like a giant therapeutic session for the Republican caucus. It’s surprising that it seems to have gone so well considering that they were basically telling their rank and file that they had been acting so crazily that people would rather have the scabies than say anything nice about them.
People do not like hostage-takers, and they don’t like people who talk about rape all the time. They don’t like representatives that spend all their time doing pointless things like passing 33 bills to repeal ObamaCare that the Senate didn’t even deign to smell.
Can we dare to hope for a little more sanity this year?
The country will benefit from a sane, reasoned and informed GOP actually interested in governing and not just blowing up the government.
And the Democrats too because it will force stronger coalition building and discourage infighting
But when I wasn’t scared to death the GOP silliness and ineptitude sure has been fun to watch.
Sane, reasoned, and reformed? Don’t bet on it. More like resigned to gum up the works, make governing as difficult as possible, hope the voters blame Democrats — in other words, business as usual. The only difference is no more talk of a dual mandate. No more stomping, screaming and holding their breath until they turn blue. No more hostage taking right in plain sight for all to see.
If you go hang with the Redstate or Freeper crowd, you’ll see that heads are exploding because they really did want to shoot the hostage. But smarter Pugs, with a modicum of that old sense of self preservation, can see where that leads and they don’t want to go there.
Odds are in your favor, I agree. But any movement they make results in just a little more actual functioning government.
Democrats will never stop infighting. We are political cannibals–always have been.
I keep thinking this has to be rock bottom for the GOP but they keep surprising me with new lows.
What really interests me now is Organizing for Action. I remember back in 2009 there was a lot of discussion among those of us who were involved about the decision to stay in the DNC. Staying posed some challenges especially organizing around health care and financial reform in blue-dog districts. I was pretty sure that this time they would choose to be independent.
Lots of interesting things are going to happen and I think we will be in a better position to hold both parties accountable.
To quote Mr. Dooley , “The Dimmycratic Party ain’t on speaking terms with itself.”
Tolerating dissent and constructive conflict are one thing. Dysfunction and cannibalism are another.
I would like to see heathy discourse among factions within the Democratic party but laser focus on keeping a foot on the neck of the GOP.
A better GOP keeps the Dems in their A game
The country needs a sane, responsible, and reasoned conservative voice (though, I would hope, not a dominant one), but the GOP will no more fill that role than a dog will conceive canaries. It’s officially the party of the psychos and the sociopaths. This is the organization that tried to promote hysteria over a change in standards for incandescent light bulbs. That had to wait for the polls for some of them to denounce the belief that women contain rape shut-off valves.
If American democracy survives long enough, I think the scenario will be the further gradual descent of the GOP into madness and destruction and the rise of a real libertarian (not Libertarian) movement, accompanied by a middle-seeking regrouping of excluded Reps and “center”-seeking Dems and a Dem move back the the New Dealish left.
So Republicans finally resolve to do what they do best — stand on the sidelines and throw stones.
Odd though it is to say: What a relief!
The country will benefit from a sane, reasoned and informed GOP actually interested in governing and not just blowing up the government.
And the Democrats too because it will force stronger coalition building and discourage infighting
But when I wasn’t scared to death the GOP silliness and ineptitude sure has been fun to watch.
“Can we dare to hope for a little more sanity this year?”
No. Goopers act like whackaloons because they either are whackaloons or their base demands they act like whackaloons. I don’t know a single gooper nut that has ever paused to reflect, ‘geeze, I think I may be a little insane, maybe I should tone it down a bit.’
Not.a.single.one.
They didn’t seem to address it much. You know, all that contraceptive stuff the Dems were talking about? It’s made up in everyone’s pretty little heads. Oh yes, that will definitely attract women; tell them they’re hysterical and are imagining these phoney attacks on BC.
A few weeks ago I was with my wife at a major hospital where my wife had a uterine ultrasound. Because of prolapse, they had to use the vaginal ultrasound probe. My wife was telling me in the waiting room how horrible it was and I told her that Virginia and other states made it mandatory before having an abortion just to annoy women. That segued into her mentioning “that idiot that called rape a gift from God”. At this point a lady about ten feet away suddenly joined our private conversation expressing her own rage at those crazy Republican politicians, “Gift from God indeed!”. This was a well-dressed elderly (appeared older than our late sixties) white lady in the heart of solid red DuPage County Illinois. I mean this lady looked like she just walked out of a DAR meeting. Her clothes were conservative but very expensive looking. The Republicans really screwed the pooch with Mourdock.
Here’s a great piece of sanity. MSNBC this morning had a Governor on who broke the news that the Gov’s Assoc had a breakthrough discussion yesterday.
They realized that State and Local govt’s are a huge market for gun & ammo manufacturers…much more so than NRA. So they are going to look into the idea of scoring the various manuf with how well they abide by the Obama proposals for gun safety!
Manufacurers will go absolutely bonkers over this one but it’s grand sanity!
It was the democratic mayors Joe Biden talked with earlier this week.
http://www.politico.com/story/2013/01/dem-mayors-to-grade-gun-makers-on-safety-goals-86437.html
Thanks for getting that. I don’t think I’m overreacting by thinking this will be a huge revelation to the local govts and eventually a point of leverage. And then there’s the Feds..
Off topic but Shooting at gun show on gun appreciation day
http://www.wral.com/two-people-injured-in-shooting-at-raleigh-gun-show/12000843/
The radical wing of the GOP can not possibly be made sane. But perhaps we can get them to shut up and let others speak for them. That in itself would be an improvement.