Evil clown stories

I'm sure you recall the gut-wrenching Battle of ObamaCare, that seemingly interminable collision between liberal forces that advanced a conservative proposal and one-time Republican individual mandate against conservative-Republican forces which, after repeatedly sneaking across enemy lines to sabotage any smarter provisions, tried to blow any healthcare progress to smithereens.

I'm also sure you recall the stimulus battle, that wretched struggle between post-Great Depression thinking and Gilded Age done-thunk-about-it, and all the latter's machinations to weaken, alter, dilute and, in general, suffocate any recovery bill's effectiveness.

Doubtless you recall both, and you recall them with chilling clarity. And, there was this. After W. frightened the bejesus out of the 2004 electorate and won his first presidential election by the narrowest of margins, he instantly declared a presidential mandate, which congressional Republicans said only made sense, since any victory, no matter how small, is indeed a mandate. After Obama exhilarated the 2008 electorate and won election by a sizable popular-vote margin and an even heftier electoral-college margin, he reaffirmed his commitment to bipartisan cooperation and congressional compromise, which Republicans said only made sense, since even staggering victories don't always reveal a clear mandate.

So, our memory banks are refreshed, our recent history recalled, our capacity to engage reality reenergized. Yes, that's the way it was, we remember it all quite vividly; after all, it wasn't that long ago.

But wait. What's this? What is this wild revisionism--and after such a short span, no less--from Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, who's enabling the discovered victimhood of Republican Sen. John McCain and his whining that "There was never any outreach from President Obama or anyone in his administration to me":

Instead of reaching out to Sen. McCain to try to find a compromise between his $450 billion [stimulus] package and Nancy Pelosi’s $782 billion [says Graham], they jammed it through and ObamaCare was jammed through and the rest is history.

Well, there is history. And then there's Graham's story, and McCain's story, and the at-large Republican story--all of which fall into the category not of history, but of folklore or mysticism or bubbling-troubling-cauldron-stirring conjuration or Soviet airbrushing or Big Lie propaganda techniques of an unspeakable variety. And these--let's just say it--evil clowns never tire of telling their tedious stories.

Comments

[AnneJ]

I didn't realize it took two years to "jam through" legislation. If that was jamming through then what would you call Bush the Lesser's first term policies? It didn't seem to tak two years for his shit sandwiches to get served up to the American people.

[tamiasmin]

Shit sandwiches are extra tasty when drenched in blood.

[majii]

Some high profile republicans met on January 20, 2009 to strategize on how to prevent the president from enacting his agenda, and Mitch McConnell didn't hold back when he said the republicans' main goal was to make PBO a one term president. I say tough titty to McCain and the whiners. McCain could have used his influence to persuade the members of his party to support policies they had supported in the past, like the insurance mandate, but he chose to remain silent, and eventually, to join in on their rightward lurch to madness. PBO didn't, and doesn't, owe him anything. Had McCain won, you'd better believe he wouldn't have sought the advice of BO. I hope Graham, McCain, and the other RW whiners have well-cushioned fainting couches because PBO isn't buying their BullStank revisionism and neither are millions of Americans who've watched the "fiscally responsible" republicans in Congress get paid for doing nothing to help their fellow Americans.