Patrick McHenry (R-NC) recently stated that the present GOoPer strategy is to "Bring down the approval numbers for Dems." Knowing that they can’t win on issues, are bereft of compelling ideas, and are in the wake turbulence of eight years of the disastrous Bush Administration, the Rethugs want to get down in the dirt and play small-ball.
McHenry and his minions, recognizing the magnitude of our current economic crisis, know that even Saint Ronnie would have been incapable of talking and smiling his way through a quick fix. At the same time, they know that rank-and-file Americans have limited patience. Thus, they have begun to sow the seeds of discontent and have enlisted their loud-mouth, fact-challenged, media cohorts to do the heavy lifting.
They can point to the stock market slump since Obama’s inauguration. They can point to rising unemployment. They can also point to a financial system on life support. What they won’t mention is that each of these factors is the direct aftermath of the incompetence, malfeasance, and misguided policies of Obama’s predecessor. Unfortunately, the public may be unaware that there is a characteristic lag between policy decisions and their associated fallout. However, when the smoke clears, Henry Paulson, the architect of the banking collapse, will be nowhere to be found.
This won’t prevent the Boehners, Cantors, and McHenrys from re-assigning the blame to Obama and keeping up the drumbeat, week-after-week, claiming that his policies are not producing results. With characteristic cynicism, the GOoPers are likely to prey upon the fears of vulnerable Americans for purely political gain in a manner reminiscent of the "imminent" terrorist threat of the past eight years. Using the time-proven tactic of repetition, aided and abetted by the Right-Wing echo chamber, the message of impending doom may begin to stick. Under those circumstances, a fearful public cannot help but lose confidence, and Obama’s approval numbers will suffer somewhat, much to the glee of his detractors.
My challenge to those who put future party prospects above the future of the American economy, is to remember John McCain’s claim that he would keep troops in Iraq for 100 years if that is what it would take to produce results. If indeed, the continuing occupation of Iraq had been a righteous cause, then the forbearance of the American people might have justified. I didn’t agree with McCain, and thank my lucky stars that he is not in the White House. But sometimes, patience is a virtue. FDR knew that the pathway out of the Great Depression was long and tortuous, and that there were no shortcuts. History (not the revisionist version), vindicates FDR, who certainly had his share of enemies and naysayers of whom today’s GOP are clearly the proud progeny.