In a game of chess, a poor player can adopt a last-ditch strategy to prevent a loss. By allowing all of their pieces except the king to be captured, they can maneuver their final piece into a corner with no escape, preventing further moves and effectively ending the game in a draw. Stalemate.
A stalemate won't earn you any regard from your peers, but it does create a situation in which the poorer player's lack of skill technically goes unpunished. It's a push. And in the eyes of a gambler, a push is a win.
At this point in American history, the Democratic party has finally achieved the majorities that are absolutely necessary to push major progressive legislation forwards against institutional and corporate interests. We hold nearly 2-1 majorities in both the House and the Senate. Unfortunately, our Republican opponents, who's pieces we've systematically hunted and captured over the last two decades, have resorted to a last ditch effort. Unfortunately for us, a stalemate for a conservative is more than a push. It's an accomplishment. More after the jump....
From Miriam Webster:
Conservative: tending or disposed to maintain existing views, conditions, or institutions : traditional
There are a number of other ways that this word is interpreted by the definition magnates, but, suffice to say, this is the only definition which details any inkling of political perspective.
I think this is important to understand, given our general fervor for reconciliation, compromise and bipartisanship. We've spent a great deal of time thinking quite intently as to exactly what our own views may be, but have failed to consider the inclinations of our opponents, save for the occasional critique or rib. Conservatism is, at it's core, a wholesale embrace of the status quo. Conservative goals are not reform, reworking and re-imagining. The only reason that they have to exist is to oppose progressive reforms, and to promote the agendas of their corporate and government backers.
When your goal is to promote what already exists, the easiest option is to do no nothing. For decades, through their sheer numbers, conservatives have been able to implement every possible strategic and procedural delay in accomplishing meaningful reforms in our government and economy. However, we have slowly been winning the electoral battle, and now hold the majorities necessary to block most attempts to stop legislation.
Unfortunately, the Republicans are excruciatingly aware of this situation. And silently, as one, they have adopted a unifying strategy: complete deadlock. By refusing to cooperate on even routine nominations and Senate business, they've effectively paralyzed the policy implementation of President Obama. This is exactly their goal. By preventing any meaningful change from occurring, they are completely accomplishing the philosophical duties to prevent change as conservatives, all the while scoring political points by framing their opponents as ineffective and incapable.
We are currently faced with a President who ran on a message of change, opposed by people who are opposed not to his policies, but to change itself! In an additional twist of irony, the very individuals who have prevented the implementation of every single initiative of change are currently criticizing Obama for failing to implement meaningful change.
So far, the right has been extremely effective in its portrayal of the "Inept Democrats" narrative. By systematically opposing everything, they can expose cracks in the base of the majority by requiring absolute democratic solidarity on every single issue, however mundane. The democrat's willingness to negotiate on every issue, however mundane has further eroded the effectiveness of the majority, without creating any Republican allies. We're negotiating our asses off, and they are still screaming "NO!".
Toddlers that scream "NO!" are not to be reasoned with. They are to be dealt with. As Ms. Maddow so deftly demonstrated earlier, the Republican intransigence and outrage has taken on a new structure that is without form, reason, or process. This madness must be exposed and countered, not with reason, but with action, as one would discipline an unruly child.
There is no longer room for negotiation with Republicans. It is time we began punishing them, on every front. We must make their intransigence a nationwide embarrassment. We must strip their funding. We must deny them negotiations. We must deny them access.
We have wasted a year negotiating with toddlers with massive investments in the status quo. It's time we put them in time out and got to work.