There's a big "new" story out there in the Liberal Media. Apparently we liberals should be outraged that the Republicans are so hypocritical that they won't even vote for their own ideas!
Really? This is the argument we want to make? That Republicans are acting like Republicans? I'd argue that the bigger story is Democrats trying to pass Republican Agenda items, and expecting Republicans to help them with that.
more after the squiggle
Keith had Chuck Schumer on last night making the point that the Republicans might want to crash the economy again so that they can blame Democrats, and thus win all the elections next year. Kos agreed, Keith agreed. Rachel also made the same point with the old Charlie Brown football/ Lucy analogy. They make a very good point, that Republicans are so intent on defeating Democrats next year that they will do anything, including destroying our economy, lying about it and blaming Democrats for the destruction, all so they can win votes from the rubes. This is not actually a new story, what's NEW is that Schumer is the first Dem leader to come right out and say so on TV. WE'VE all been saying this for awhile now. Here's the problem: you can't legitimately support your argument that the other guys are monumental douchebag hypocrites, by presenting arguments proving that you are at least as much of a hypocrite.
There are two points here
1) Republicans are hypocrites because they won't vote for their own bills
and
2) Dem Leadership is angry that the Republicans won't even help the Dems pass Republican agenda items. Why aren't Dems angry at the Republicans for not helping pass a DEMOCRATIC AGENDA??
I loved Rachel's Charlie Brown analogy last night. But I think we all miss an important point if we don't look a little closer at it.
Here we've got Charlie Brown (Schumer/Obama) complaining that Lucy (Republicans) yanks the football away from him every dang time he goes to kick it. Lucy has done it time and time again. In fact you'd almost have to come to suspect that Lucy really doesn't want Charlie to kick that ball. Bad Lucy! But honestly, at a certain point don't you also have to consider that Charlie is the one making a fool of himself by continuing to let Lucy hold the ball? Ya know, normally it's a good idea to give your ball to a member of your OWN team, to hold while you attempt a field goal. Why does Charlie keep giving the ball to Lucy, when it's clear that Lucy is not on his team, and never will be?? Should we be more annoyed at Lucy for acting predictably, or should we be more annoyed at Charlie Brown for continuing to hand the ball to her?
It's pretty clear that the Dem leadership isn't even trying to pass a liberal agenda. All of these items that the leadership is so bent about are Republican items.
Maybe the Dems aren't so much angry at the Republicans for being hypocrites in not voting for Republican ideas, as they are angry at Republicans for not voting for Republican agenda items in order to give Dems the cover of being able to say at the next election "Hey, we couldn't get everything done, and it wasn't perfect, but it's better than nothing!" You can see how this lack of cover would be a problem in a campaign based on "We're not as batshit crazy as the other guys, plus we got some stuff done!"
The problem is not that Republicans won't help pass a Republican agenda, the problem is that DEMS are trying to pass a Republican agenda.
The Republicans are playing hardball here, fellas! And you're not going to win the next election by giving the ball to Lucy.