The end of this week brings us a quote from Capitol Hill that seems at once obvious and also perplexing after seven full months of totally inane Republican rule. The New York Times writes:
“Things are starting to feel incoherent,” said Senator Bob Corker, Republican of Tennessee, reflecting on the health care efforts, which have turned many Republican senators against one another as efforts to negotiate the future of the Medicaid program have caused large rifts.
With no small measure of understatement, Mr. Corker conceded, “There’s just not a lot of progress happening.”
Yep. And also: "starting"?
Perhaps “better late than never” is what we should grasp on to here. But the observation does provide some real insight into the thickness of the blinders Congressional Republicans have bound their heads in as they barreled hapless and headlong toward achieving their completely nefarious political promises without any reflection on actual policy.
Who even had time to notice three ever-expansive and all-consuming investigations into a president who's already had more scandalous Russian links exposed than most politicians have secrets in their entire careers?
The spectacle of total GOP control and virtually no legislative accomplishments to show for it other than a couple of black eyes has even tied the tongue of a perpetual bloviator like Newt Gingrich.
Even former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who was seen gliding through the Capitol on Thursday, normally loquacious on all matters of party strategy, politics and the possibilities of moon colonization, had nothing to say. He stared straight ahead when asked about Republican woes.
No quote follows that graph, just to be clear. In other words, Newt said nothing—which could perhaps be considered a GOP accomplishment at this stage.
And yet, even with the news of Sen. John McCain's brain cancer diagnosis, there's no sign yet that Republican leadership is facing up to the fact that they likely won't be able to pass any major legislation without the help of Democrats.