Quote Of The Day - Here and Now Edition

July 29th, 2011

"But making nebulous calls for centrism, like writing news reports that always place equal blame on both parties, is a big cop-out — a cop-out that only encourages more bad behavior. The problem with American politics right now is Republican extremism, and if you’re not willing to say that...

you’re helping make that problem worse."

-- Paul Krugman on the absurdity of calling for compromise with radicals

Ridiculous Spin

July 28th, 2011

Yes, Speaker of the House Boehner is twisting in the wind. Yes, it is because of the intransigence of the so-called Tea Party Freshmen. This is the result of two different and very distinct phenomena. First, Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) is very nearly and almost disastrously incompetent. Face it. He is bad at his job. He simply can't lead from his leadership position. Second, it the latest example of a radical minority, one whose views are utterly at odds with three quarters of the population on specific policy matters, preventing the government from functioning.

Enter the delusion that now constitutes the conservative echo chamber. The Drudge headline linking to the article also linked above is as follows.

Drudge Report screenshot taken at 8:45pm CST

In the eyes of the core of what I call the "saboteur right wing," this failure to govern is not only being regarded as a positive... it is affirming their fantasy that they run the show.