Grover Norquist gave voice last night to a sentiment that’s been surprisingly common over the last several weeks. It is, to be sure, a transparently dumb sentiment, but the idea keeps popping up anyway. Hmm. In the mind of this influential uber-lobbyist, Republicans had a great election cycle, so President Obama should just “get over it.” In context, this is presumably in reference to the ongoing fiscal talks, in which Norquist apparently thinks the GOP should get its way since John Boehner was “elected Speaker.”
There’s the refusal to accept reality. There’s denial. And then there’s whatever it is Republicans are doing these days, which seems to revolve around ignoring the fact that Mitt Romney lost the election and Democrats gained a million more votes in Congressional elections. The modus operandi appears to involve pretending that- math be damned- the election actually presented Republicans with a mandate to pursue their agenda, and that Democrats would be well advised to get the Hell out of the way and let the adults (Republicans) do the heavy lifting.
There’s just one little problem with that strategy, though: Mitt Romney lost and Democrats did in fact receive a million more votes in Congressional elections than Republicans. I may have been a History major, but I seem to recall that the definition of “victory”, as it pertains to elections, was “receiving more votes than your adversary.” To Republicans in Washington, “victory” seems to be about acting as if you won regardless of actual results- and then expecting Democrats to cave to your obvious and unassailable moral superiority- BECAUSE IT’S WHAT THE AMERICAN PEOPLE WANT. In their defense, this argument is true…if you only happen to poll people whose primary source of information is Fox Noise Channel.
If you listen to the Congressional Republican leadership (something I recommend only for those with a strong stomach and a high tolerance for unvarnished B.S.), you’d think it was the President’s responsibility to come to their way of thinking. It’s the “Here’s the Romney plan; accept it whole or we’ll tell the American people that you’re an obstructionist who refuses to negotiate in good faith.”
Hmm…project much?
Hmm. In the mind of this influential uber-lobbyist, Republicans had a great election cycle, so President Obama should just “get over it.” In context, this is presumably in reference to the ongoing fiscal talks, in which Norquist apparently thinks the GOP should get its way since John Boehner was “elected Speaker.”
In case anyone is confused enough to take this argument seriously, let’s set the record straight.
Boehner, for example, wasn’t “elected Speaker” by the electorate. The Speaker is chosen by House members, and in this specific case, we don’t yet know with certainty that Boehner will prevail when the House votes next week.
Despite what Republicans may think, cats and reality are not fungible commodities. President Obama won re-election rather handily, winning 332 electoral votes and 51% of the popular vote to Mitt Romney’s 47% (47%? Ain’t irony sweet??). Grover Norquist can act however he wants, but the facts are what they are. Denial, being more than the large African river that it is, doesn’t change those facts simply because they’re inconvenient for Republicans.
In the Senate, Democrats expanded their majority, and in the House they added seats to their minority. The only real strategy left to Republicans is to obstruct, oppose, and then blame the gridlock on the President’s intransigence. By acting as if the President is the only one charged with the responsibility of leading, Republicans can sit back and do- well, nothing. Rather than work to make America a better place for Americans, Congressional Republicans are primarily concerned with ensuring that nothing happens. That way they can blame the President for “intransigence,” “failure to lead,” or “not bargaining in good faith”- which, if Republicans possessed any degree of self-awareness, would be things they should be admitting to.
For that matter, there’s overwhelming polling evidence that the American mainstream agrees with Democrats and supports a policy agenda in line with Democratic proposals. It’s why nearly all surveys say voters will blame the GOP is a fiscal agreement isn’t reached in time.
Republicans aren’t stupid. They know what the numbers are, and they understand their untenable position. Nonetheless, they’re determined to, if not win, then to at least gum things up for as long as they possibly can. That their strategy reveals them to be devoid of vision, compassion, and willingness to compromise seems lost on them. That the American people appear to recognize this seems not to matter…which is why today’s GOP is incapable of governing. The sooner they admit to this reality the better off America will be. When people like Grover Norquist, John Boehner, and Mitch McConnell are the ones leading the charge, it’s not difficult to understand why the GOP is a mess…and likely to remain so for the foreseeable future.
Memo to Republicans: It’s no fun realizing that Americans recognize that you have nothing, is it? Perhaps if you stopped being the party of the 1% and figured out how to create a better America for ALL Americans…but that’s not about to happen, is it?
