Eric Cantor, the House Majority Leader in waiting, says the GOP will again shut down government. He promises to defund federal health care, which would effectively shut down government.
Fourteen years ago, Republicans pulled this stunt and were punished by the voters.
But public support for the Republicans now seems to have hit a new high water mark, and they are sure that shutting down government will be popular.
Dick Morris, the Republican strategist, is sure the move will be popular and looks forward to it.
With this new level of support, we can expect the same arrogance in governance we saw when the GOP last ran Congress. Look for vote counts that run three and a quarter hours.
There will again be conference committees on which there will not be a single Democrat.
The Rules Committee will again set the House agenda late at night and schedule votes for the next day, giving no one the opportunity to even skim legislation.
House Committees will again meet secretly, with Democrats not invited and lobbyists sitting in their places, helping to mark up legislatioon.
Democrats will again be refused places to meet, and if they meet somewhere where they should not, the Capitol Police will again arrest them.
How soon we forget. But, of course, most pundits did not bother to report on such high-handed behavior.
Even if they had reported honestly on these things, it is likely that the public would not have been outraged.
Ever since the collapse of the New Deal coalition, the Democrats have not offered a compelling political narrative. On the other hand, the Republican message machine has been extremely effective as its message has merged with that of Corporate America. They have created what many take to be the American conventional wisdom, which blends American exceptionalism with worship of unrestrained capitalism and an unhealthy dose of toxic Social Darwinism.
Now faced with multiple crises and the fear that America could go into decline, the great mass of Americans have gone into survivalist mode, clinging to the conventional wisdom and closing their eyes and minds to reality and other narratives.
In this environment, there is no reasoning with most voters. Above all they fear "others": immigrants, terrorists, liberals, Muslims, and African Americans. They are even demonizing retired public employees because they have earned decent retirements. When many Americans see their African American president, all they see is the threat of pluralism and a representative of "OTHERS" in the Oval Office. That is why Sarah Palin says American must take back their country in November.