Getting to Crazy-By PAUL KRUGMAN: GOP Can't Accept Legitimacy Of A Dem Presidency-ANY-Dem Presidency

[kpete]

Getting to Crazy
By PAUL KRUGMAN

...........................

President Obama has made it clear that he’s willing to sign on to a deficit-reduction deal that consists overwhelmingly of spending cuts, and includes draconian cuts in key social programs, up to and including a rise in the age of Medicare eligibility. These are extraordinary concessions. As The Times’s Nate Silver points out, the president has offered deals that are far to the right of what the average American voter prefers — in fact, if anything, they’re a bit to the right of what the average Republican voter prefers!

Yet Republicans are saying no. Indeed, they’re threatening to force a U.S. default, and create an economic crisis, unless they get a completely one-sided deal. And this was entirely predictable.

First of all, the modern G.O.P. fundamentally does not accept the legitimacy of a Democratic presidency — any Democratic presidency. We saw that under Bill Clinton, and we saw it again as soon as Mr. Obama took office.

As a result, Republicans are automatically against anything the president wants, even if they have supported similar proposals in the past. Mitt Romney’s health care plan became a tyrannical assault on American freedom when put in place by that man in the White House. And the same logic applies to the proposed debt deals.

THE REST:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/15/opinion/15krugman.html?_r=1

[myrna minx]

1. K&R n/t

[MichiganVote]

2. Essentially they just don't support the concept of any government

[kenny blankenship]

3. "Anyone surprised by the extremism and irresponsibility now on display..."

"...either hasn’t been paying attention, or has been deliberately turning a blind eye. "

"And may I say to those suddenly agonizing over the mental health of one of our two major parties: People like you bear some responsibility for that party’s current state."

(snip snip snip)
Here’s the point: those within the G.O.P. who had misgivings about the embrace of tax-cut fanaticism might have made a stronger stand if there had been any indication that such fanaticism came with a price, if outsiders had been willing to condemn those who took irresponsible positions.
(snip)

"So there has been no pressure on the G.O.P. to show any kind of responsibility, or even rationality — and sure enough, it has gone off the deep end. If you’re surprised, that means that you were part of the problem. "
-=-=-=-


Yes, and Amen. Now line that up, if you can, with the attitude of a few people, like the President, which holds that the Republicans are good folks with solid American values who simply disagree with us on how to achieve the same, wholesome American ends. They maintain that the GOP is a good faith negotiating partner and that compromise with them is just as desirable as it is necessary; and that condemning and attacking the GOP over their insane & reckless attitudes towards govt. is a "tired & stale ideological quarrel" that must be avoided for the sake of progress. We shall compromise our way towards amicable coexistence with the GOP, they say. They call themselves Pragmatists, and they are and have been an INTEGRAL part of that "crazy" problem Krugman is talking about. You can't "get things done" by compromising with crazy people. What you end up doing instead is offering the enemy 3 things he wants for 1 thing you want - and it still isn't good enough for him. And why would it be? The pattern you've established is to continually cave in to their crazy demands. So naturally they just get crazier and crazier.

[Maccagirl]

4. I have been paying attention and we at DU have been making

the same point, over and over, since DU's inception. I've come to the conclusion that the American people (a majority) treat the presidency as some sort of celebrity ("It's just part of the game") or just don't give a crap.