Greg Dworkin helps kick off discussion of the 10th anniversary of the beginning of the Iraq war, giving us as good a reason as any to focus on the Republican history of being wrong and/or ineffective on pretty much everything, since forever. Wrong on foreign policy? See
Nixon's interference with Vietnam peace talks, Reagan's interference with
Iranian hostage negotiations and Iran-Contra, and the disaster of Iraq. Wrong on the economy, taxes and the social safety net? See their
dire warnings of tyranny and socialism from 1935, 1965, 1993 and today. Wrong on their ability to reach out to minorities? See the history of their
failed attempts but repeated patting of their own backs for "trying." And of course,
wrong on guns and what to do about them, even when those in favor of working out some common sense reforms offer up those the NRA has offered up in the past. Hey, can't we have some kind of bipartisan compromise on a Grand Bargain with these people? Lucy promised she'd let Charlie Brown kick the football this time. So isn't it Charlie Brown's responsibility to lead now?