We Do Not Want the Something that They Will Have to Offer

From Andrew Sullivan:

I find the current GOP about as repellent as anyone. I can also believe, as I do, that the stimulus of the last two years was a sadly necessary measure to prevent the bottom falling out in ways no one could have controlled, once started. Now I want a focus on long-term debt reduction. Do I trust the GOP on the debt? Is the Pope gay? Do I trust the Dems? No. Do I think Obama is suited to forging a sane compromise out of the debt commission? Yes. Do I think the GOP can rise to the occasion? Probably not.

But in a strange way, the more anti-debt and anti-spending their rhetoric becomes and the plainer it is that serious defense and entitlement cuts are necessary for the problem to be solved, the more I'd like to see the GOP be deprived of their obstructionist no-responsibility posturing of the last two years. I'd like to see their bluff called on spending to escape the current impasse and get to a real debate rather than a phony one. If they win back the House, as it seems inevitable they will, they will have to offer something at last instead of criticizing everything in comically tired tropes and waiting for 2012, as the president is stymied from enacting the reformist change we elected him for.

I remember talking to my brother-in-law's mother right before the 2004 election. She didn't want Bush re-elected but she said, "Well, if he wins, at least he'll have to clean up all of these messes he's made!"

And for one eensy, weensy second, I thought, "Yes, that is true!" But I knew better. The Republicans never, ever have to do anything they don't want to do. And four more years of Bush proved that.

So, if the GOP takes back the House, will they offer something at last instead of criticizing everything [Obama does] in comically tired tropes?

I'm calling it now: NO.

No probably nots about it.

They'll keep hammering Obama, while not doing a thing, except possibly, no -- most probably -- making everything even worse all the way to 2012, all the while blaming Obama for how horrible everything is. And people will buy it. And I'll end up reading whatever version of Distrusting Republicans, But Voting For Them Anyway is written then.

Took me less than an eensy, weensy second to get there.

Comments

[Larry Jones]

It's frustrating to see the electorate getting ready to vote Republican in the midterms because the Democrats haven't fixed everything yet. I believe Obama and the rest of his party are far more interested in making things good for the vast majority of Americans than the Republicans are, but they are trying to recover from systemic problems that go all the way back to the Reagan administration. They have a mess to mop up, and then they have to correct the political/economic environment that led to the current meltdown. This is easily an eight-year process, but Americans have grown lazy, entitled and thoughtless, and we don't want to wait.

On the plus side, Gallup generic polling ("Are you more likely to vote for a generic Republican or a generic Democrat?")showed Republicans leading 51% to 41% a week ago, and today the same poll is tied at 46%. There is a possibility that as the election gets closer and people start paying attention, they will come to their senses.

Probably not, though.

[ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®©]

Now I want a focus on long-term debt reduction.

How very serious of Andy. And fvcking stupid. All the Villagers want to be Herbert Hoover, Jr. because it's the hot new thing.

Dopes. The way to reduce the deficit is to get people back to work. Whinging about the deficit (after 8 years of not giving a damn while shrub doubled the national debt) now is just like joining the consensus that Iraq is a danger to the U.S. and must be invaded.
~

[Jennifer]

They'll keep hammering Obama, while not doing a thing

That's what I feel.

This morning I was telling Grizzled that I almost hoped enough wingnut teabaggers would be elected so the GOP would have to deal with the monster they've created...

I told him this after receiving an email asking me to pray for the GOP to win, win, win!!! So they could take back the country from these fools who were ruining it! It's like 2000-2008 never happened.

[Brando]

This morning I was telling Grizzled that I almost hoped enough wingnut teabaggers would be elected so the GOP would have to deal with the monster they've created...

I think that's what's likely to happen.

Larry's got a good point about the impatience of the electorate, but I blame the Democrats for letting the Baggers grab the mic. Conservatives will always act like conservatives, screaming against progress, liberalism, regulations, non-missionary-position intercourse, etc.

The problem is that this administration and Congress have done a piss-poor job of communicating what they're doing as well as taking the bold steps needed to fix the mess. In 1933, FDR made it clear he was breaking with the do-nothing policies of 1920s administrations. His policies had a lot of missteps, but a battered, beaten-down electorate felt like their president was trying to do something. That's how he kept people like Father James Coughlin and Huey Long from seizing the national mantle for change.

That boldness has been lacking the last two years, which has allowed the new Coughlin (Beck) and Huey-Long-in-Nipple-Zippers to control the debate. So here comes a big fat lesson akin to the 1994 off-year election.

The one potential positive side is that it may force the Baggers to overplay their hand before the putting the snowbilly on the ticket, giving Obama a chance to act more like the candidate he was instead of the president he's become.

[Blaiser]

I keep wondering if it would make any difference if all of us who were elated by Obama's election get out there, door to door even, and try to sway some minds before the midterm elections. I'd be up for it.

[Dennis Perrin]

To paraphrase Preston Sturges, HOPE isn't dead -- it's decomposed.

No matter how often and openly the Dems show their true face, some of you still don't get it. Well, eventually you will, along with the rest of us.

[Blaiser]

Dennis,

Bringing snotty arrogance to the table just decomposes the conversation...

[Dennis Perrin]

Blaiser, the arrogance comes not from me, but from the Dems. I'm not lying to you or trying to sell you something. Nor am I shredding poor people in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Somalia and spinning that as self-defense. That would be the current president. Not me.

[Brando]

If someone is arrogant about someone else's arrogance, is that a positive, like multiplying two negative numbers together? I admit math was not my strongest subject.

[blue girl]

I'll tell you what's arrogant. Someone expecting me to rip out all my landscaping!

[MB]

I don't know 'bout arrogance, but I'm pretty sure the Pope, of all people, is Gay. Hubris seems a more apropos tangent to the original post.

Though I suppose the Dems have definitely shown little of that. More venality than hubris or arrogance from them. It's just couched in confusion and aimed at everyone indiscriminately. At least they've got that going for 'em. Republicans' reactionary populism is about as sincere as Stalin's sense of Social Justice. {sigh}

[Brando]

I'll tell you what's arrogant. Someone expecting me to rip out all my landscaping!

LOL, agreed. Also, accusations that someone lost a cookie contest only because you cheated.

[Larry Jones]

So Dennis, are you just shitting in the daffodils for fun, or do you have a suggestion for a way forward? In case you haven't noticed, we only have two parties to work with here, and while it's easy to get all pouty about the Democratic "betrayal," their positions on practical matters that affect my life are better than those of the Republicans, and before you start with the "lesser of two evils" speech, get over it. That's life.

Now c'mon, give me a hug.

[Larry Jones]

Brando - Excellent comment, even if now all I can remember is "Huey-Long-in-Nipple-Zippers."

What's a nipple zipper, anyway?

[Dennis Perrin]

Larry, you seem to have life figured out. I wouldn't dream of offering alternatives, especially when the Dems help expand and refine the police state, expand wars, bail out corporations, further empower the insurance industry, and generally cater to those who own the country.

Happy that you've found a practical place amid all this. Congrats.

[blue girl]

I wouldn't dream of offering alternatives

Cop-out!

[Jennifer]

I'll tell you what's arrogant. Someone expecting me to rip out all my landscaping!

And take away the surprises of the first year of owning that landscaping?? That's kind of fun... seeing what pops up, what you want to keep, what you might want to change.

Although, I'm game for ripping out the political landscaping and starting over.

[Larry Jones]

Dennis: Your first comment was patronizing ("...some of you still don't get it."), insulting and demoralizing to anyone who hopes for a better future. Pardon me for responding to the tone more than the content, but since you present yourself as one with superior insight to "some of us," I thought it was fair to ask what your suggestions are. I'm guessing you're not going to mention any of them here, but I don't get the point of simply repeating your litany of grievances that some of us are too stupid to see.

And if my response was insulting, well, that's fair, too, don't you think?