John Boehner Will Not Compromise, But You Must Compromise:
Here's the entire strange, ominous, and enraging place we find ourselves in our politics right now, boiled down to a simple conversation, a playlet, if you will:
Sane Person: We need food. Can I use your car to go to the store?
Crazy Person: We do need food. However, you can use my car only if you punch yourself in the balls until you vomit.
Sane Person: That's ridiculous. One thing has nothing to do with the other. How would that accomplish anything?
Crazy Person: It's what I want.
Sane Person: Well, I guess we'll just starve.
Crazy Person: Yes, but remember that if we starve, it will be your fault because you didn't punch yourself in the balls until you vomit.
Aaand...scene.
Yesterday, House Speaker John Boehner said of the coming battle over raising the debt ceiling, "Now the president says, 'I'm not going to negotiate.' Well, I'm sorry, but it just doesn't work that way." The House Republicans had just released a conservative wet dream about the stuff that Obama needs to agree to or the debt ceiling won't be raised. It's an odd strategy, considering that not hiking the debt ceiling will fuck up things for everyone, not just Democrats.
That list of shit what'll pleasure teabaggers? If you thought the GOP was filled with motherfuckers before, now it's just a bunch of motherfelchers. They want it all: like approving the Keystone XL pipeline, tax "reform" a la Paul Ryan, gutting every regulation on everything, delay that Affordable Care Act, stripping the president of the power to make rules on...you know what? It's the whole thing. In other words, it's calling on Obama to surrender his presidency to the Tea Party (pretty close to the kind of ante-upping that a certain blog-based pundit predicted a mere week ago).
So Obama has proclaimed he will not negotiate on any debt ceiling deal. He said, "This is not a time for compromise, and I can tell you that we will not compromise on our principles."
Oh, wait. That quote wasn't from President Obama. No, that was from House Speaker John Boehner, vowing to never negotiate on repealing Obamacare back in October 2010. Apparently, it does work that way when Boehner says so.
Barack Obama has compromised and compromised on every piece of legislation, on every appointment, on everything. And all it has gotten him is to a point where his opponents think he will fold again. At some point, he's gotta look in the mirror and say, "I don't have to win any reelections. Time to let Republicans hang themselves and laugh while they twist in the wind."
