The shutdown clarified the great question before us now, which I would state as follows: Did it just so happen that the stars aligned in a certain way -- that a particular set of issues, leading personalities, intraparty disputes and relative factional strengths just happened to come together to produce a temporary but containable constitutional crisis? Or, did we just witness the inevitable results of either a continuing breakdown of governing norms, or a fatal flaw in the design of the system -- or both -- that will inevitably lead to more and probably bigger such crises in coming years?
I found it interesting that Fox News and a strong conservative presence on the Internet made no difference from 1995--polls ultimately showed the voters blaming the GOP by at least the same margin that they did then.
That the Dem policy agenda is destined to remain murky, abortive, defensive and ultimately irrelevant to the broader discourse no matter how lopsided their most recent 'win'. At this point I blame the party lots more than the villagers. Jobs now.
1) Too few Republicans acknowledge the risk of a default. 2) McConnell has more spine than I thought. 3) Paul Ryan will be running for Prez in '16, so he felt that he had to vote against the deal. 4) Rubio shows again that he doesn't have core beliefs, but makes decisions based on how they can benefit his political future.
Maybe McConnell is more scared of the Dem challenger than the TP challenger, but that bucks the trend among Republicans. I think that he made the choice for reasons other than fear. Maybe he wanted to stand on this particular ground, plus he sweetened it with a nice $2 billion earmark.
That if you are Paul Ryan even being pro-default will not stop you from being "fiscally responsible" in the eyes of the "liberal mainstream media". Just where is that short circuit Paul Krugman was talking about.
This is OT, but it might be of interest to some. The conservatives in the House will be attacking funds for windmill construction in the up-coming budget battle.
I have a sibling who goes to a megachurch in a red state, and they do this thing where they send around emails talking about the "horrors" of some element of federal spending about two weeks before the conservative echo chamber begins attacking it. So she was telling me all about how windmills kill hawks. Seriously. So they're terrible for the environment. Hadn't I heard? Everyone was talking about it.
I shifted the conservation to acid rain, but I thought the information might be useful to some.
That BHO, all previous evidence not withstanding, has something resembling vertebrae.
ReplyDeleteAlso, the unholy alliance that is the republican party may be rendering itself asunder.
The shutdown clarified the great question before us now, which I would state as follows: Did it just so happen that the stars aligned in a certain way -- that a particular set of issues, leading personalities, intraparty disputes and relative factional strengths just happened to come together to produce a temporary but containable constitutional crisis? Or, did we just witness the inevitable results of either a continuing breakdown of governing norms, or a fatal flaw in the design of the system -- or both -- that will inevitably lead to more and probably bigger such crises in coming years?
ReplyDeleteI found it interesting that Fox News and a strong conservative presence on the Internet made no difference from 1995--polls ultimately showed the voters blaming the GOP by at least the same margin that they did then.
ReplyDeleteGood point.
DeleteThat the Dem policy agenda is destined to remain murky, abortive, defensive and ultimately irrelevant to the broader discourse no matter how lopsided their most recent 'win'. At this point I blame the party lots more than the villagers. Jobs now.
ReplyDeleteThat Obama can learn from experience and can actually stand firm when circumstances require it
ReplyDeleteThat Ted Cruz is either a surreal performance artist or a Democratic plant.
ReplyDelete1) Too few Republicans acknowledge the risk of a default. 2) McConnell has more spine than I thought. 3) Paul Ryan will be running for Prez in '16, so he felt that he had to vote against the deal. 4) Rubio shows again that he doesn't have core beliefs, but makes decisions based on how they can benefit his political future.
ReplyDelete"McConnell has more spine than I thought." I'd put it differently: McConnell is more afraid of the general election than of the primary.
DeleteWhich means, basically, we owe the last-minute rescue of the world economy to Alison Lundgren Grimes.
DeleteMaybe McConnell is more scared of the Dem challenger than the TP challenger, but that bucks the trend among Republicans. I think that he made the choice for reasons other than fear. Maybe he wanted to stand on this particular ground, plus he sweetened it with a nice $2 billion earmark.
DeleteThat if you are Paul Ryan even being pro-default will not stop you from being "fiscally responsible" in the eyes of the "liberal mainstream media". Just where is that short circuit Paul Krugman was talking about.
ReplyDeleteWhat we all learned from the shutdown showdown will be apparent...in the future, when it becomes conventional wisdom.
ReplyDeleteIf you try to be Ted Cruz, a large number of Republicans on Capitol Hill will be very unhappy with you.
ReplyDeleteIt is very important that Democrats be united.
ReplyDeleteThis is OT, but it might be of interest to some. The conservatives in the House will be attacking funds for windmill construction in the up-coming budget battle.
ReplyDeleteI have a sibling who goes to a megachurch in a red state, and they do this thing where they send around emails talking about the "horrors" of some element of federal spending about two weeks before the conservative echo chamber begins attacking it. So she was telling me all about how windmills kill hawks. Seriously. So they're terrible for the environment. Hadn't I heard? Everyone was talking about it.
I shifted the conservation to acid rain, but I thought the information might be useful to some.
Yes, that's interesting. Can you keep us informed and ahead of the curve?
Delete