The anatomy of political gamesmanship, at the country's expense:
Republicans first opposed a one-year payroll tax-cut extension, even though tax cuts are the GOP's universal answer to all maladies great and small, from recessions to toothaches. Further, they insisted payroll tax cuts must be paid for, although tax cuts for the excessively affluent need never be paid for, since tax cuts pay for themselves -- until President Obama wanted one. So Obama and the congressional Democratic leadership pared the tax cut's duration to two months -- figuring something was better than nothing -- upon which Republicans instantly threw themselves into violent opposition because, they argued, the deal should extend to one year, which they had just got through opposing. They would fight, fight, fight for a one-year deal, or nothing.
Now they have their chance. And what do we hear? "It’s far from a done deal," says one House Republican, while another says the longer extension is merely "a gimmick to try to get [Obama] reelected." One Senate Republican calls the extension a "very slippery slope," while another says that for him, "it’ll be a hard sell."
The very essence of Republicanism is presently teetering betwixt a Marx Brothers movie and a Bram Stoker novel. It is yet to plunge all the way, that is, entirely one way or t'other, so for now it's suspended in a kind of comedic lugubriousness, or, if you prefer, a lugubrious comedy of errors.
Which leads to this: We used to hear, and from a few pluckily delusional souls we still hear, about the civil indispensability of respecting others' opinions; yet what these voices almost invariably neglect to stipulate is that others' opinions should first be respect-worthy -- those arising from political farces and bloodsucking villains don't count.
Mahatma Gandhi once observed (and this may be apocryphal, nevertheless it is fair) that he'd gladly become a Christian, just as soon as he met one. Well, I'd gladly respect an authentically conservative Republican, just as soon as I find one.
--Mahatma Phil