Making Things Worse
The official GOP strategy
I was not aware that the primary, if not sole, objective of legislative efforts by a certain faction of elected right-wing officials was a punitive one. Who knew?
Perhaps it’s just me, but assuming our individual and collective future still matters to at least half the population (there’s admittedly some doubt about this), that motivation doesn’t seem to be an especially brilliant one. I’m being kind: it’s actually destructive, dangerous, idiotic … and feel free to insert your own characterization.
Several weeks ago, Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank set out one of many examples of how the Republican Party is slowly — by that I mean quickly — making clear that enacting legislation and governing in general for the benefit of at least its own constituents, if not other Americans as well, is not on their Priority List. Here in the real world, where voters expect their representatives to … you know … represent their interests (what a concept!) and not those of said reps’ wealthy owners, that obligation is no longer an obligation or even a suggestion.
Citing just one example among so many others, Milbank spotlighted a first-term House Republican who correctly noted that proposed GOP hostage negotiation demands (sorry, what I meant to say was … no, no, that’s correct) to prevent default of…
