Mitch McConnell showed what a contrarian he is, with a self-filibuster in the Senate, making a proper fool of himself specifically, and Republicans generally as a GOP leader.
You can't really take Republicans seriously; they behave like overtired toddlers badly in need of a nap during the "terrible twos" period of child development, characterize by exploring the possibilities of the word NO by using it as often as possible, where it does not particularly indicate what they really want.
It underlines that toddlers don't necessarily KNOW what they really want, and are unable and unreliable in honestly asking for it... and so are Republicans. When you have to deal with someone, of any age, who is behaving emotionally rather than rationally, you recognize that a firm and authoritative response is required, until they can grow up and act like adults.
This is true of their negotiating style, this is true of their conspiracy theories and culture wars, this is true of Senate business and this is true of silly ideas like the notion there is a war on Christmas. That claim appears to be just one more excuse to behave in a contrary manner; nothing really makes them happy, so there is no real reason to try too hard to do so.
Republicans need a time out, of the two, four or six year variety.
But it is not just members of Congress or leading Republicans, it is also true of the contrarians over at the propaganda arm of the GOP, Faux News. One of the clearly most intellectually and factually challenged sock puppets is Flummoxed and Friends host Steve Doocy, who makes some of the stupidest observations made on the network -- which is a broad and deep category. Is it just me that sees this, or does anyone else think Doocy looks perpetually confused and a little surprised? Doocy doesn't know the first thing about the Constitution or anything else, but that suits Fox Non-news watchers just fine, because they don't know anything about it either.
As noted at Media Matters:
Fox News Falsely Accuses Obama Of Trying To Change The Constitution
››› ADAM SHAH
Fox News host Steve Doocy misrepresented President Obama's proposal to avoid the possibility of a federal government default on its financial obligations in order to claim that the president has proposed changing the Constitution.
Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner proposed that Congress should pass a law giving the president authority to avoid default by raising the ceiling on how much the federal government can borrow. Under the proposal, the president's authority would be subject to a vote of disapproval by Congress. Geithner's proposal was based on an idea originally put forward by Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell.read more here.
Geithner's proposal is urgent because the federal government is expected to reach the debt ceiling early in 2013, meaning that if Congress does not act, the federal government will begin defaulting on some of its obligations for the first time in history.
On the December 7 edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends, Doocy interviewed Republican Sen. John Thune (SD) and opined that it was "good news for the Republicans" that there would soon be a fight between Obama and congressional Republicans over the federal debt ceiling because Republicans would "obviously have the upper hand on that." Thune responded in part by saying that "what we're told is the president is even thinking about what he might be able to do to raise the debt ceiling without going through Congress, which would be a huge mistake and ought to be unconstitutional."
Doocy replied: "He just wants to change the Constitution." In fact, the Obama administration has not proposed any such change and has actually specifically rejected a novel interpretation of the Constitution that would allow the president to ignore the debt ceiling in order to avoid government default.
No surprise - the turtleman McConnell again; want to bet that if Obama advances an idea of McConnell that McConnell will suddenly reject it?
There are some people who don't really want you to do what they ask, all they really want is to disagree with you.
That is of a piece with this accusation by Faked News by Laura Ingraham, proving that they are purely venom-based hypocrites who issue the most preposterous nonsense with faked outrage. From the do as I say not as I do right wing hypocrites stooge-ing it up for the GOP, by way of Media-ite - that is Laura Ingraham sitting next to Dubya during an exclusive invitation to Fox News personalities to come talk policy, with Sean Hannity on the other side; EXACTLY like the invitation to MSNBC personalities:
Laura Ingraham Newsletter Blasts Obama/MSNBC Meeting, Despite Her 2006 Visit To Bush White House
by Meenal Vamburkar | 11:49 am, December 6th, 2012
“Can anyone even imagine how the press would have reacted if Fox News hosts and conservative personalities had stopped by the Bush White House to discuss policy?,” the newsletter reads. “They would have been rightly outraged. Given MSNBC’s history of blatantly promoting the DNC’s talking points and spewing left-wing talking points, maybe it’s time they just become Obama’s official mouthpiece.”
Liberal watchdog Media Matters for America noted a New York Times story from 2006, which reported on “an influential group of conservative radio hosts” meeting with Bush at the White House. That group included Ingraham and Fox News’ Sean Hannity, and was reportedly “part of an intensive Republican Party campaign to reclaim and re-energize a crucial army of supporters that is not as likely to walk in lockstep with the White House as it has in the past.”
The White House and the Republican National Committee are hammering home that point in interviews, talking-point bulletins and a healthy dollop of pomp that only a White House can provide.The staffer who wrote the newsletter responded to Media Matters:
The effort will peak on Oct. 24, when the administration will hold something of a talk-radio summit meeting, inviting dozens of hosts to set up booths on the White House grounds, where top cabinet officials are expected to sit for interviews.
[...]
But, several hosts said, the most telling development so far this year was the White House decision to invite some of the most popular hosts to the Oval Office for off-the-record time with the president.
“During Laura’s brief radio hiatus, the Daily Fix is written by staff. Although I didn’t know Laura had visited the Bush White House with other conservative radio hosts, the circumstances of her meeting the president were quite different. Laura did not go to the White House to advise the president, but was simply briefed on policy for perhaps an hour. More importantly, it wasn’t in the middle of a critical period when the President should be meeting with members of Congress to discuss resolving something as important as the fiscal cliff. The gist of the Daily Fix was that President Obama was neglecting crucial negotiations to meet with liberal members of the media, and that point still stands.”The 2006 meeting, according to the Times, lasted an hour-and-a-half and included discussion of Bush’s case for the war in Iraq as well as his immigration proposals.
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You see WHY it shouldn't matter what the Republicans, or their propaganda arm talking heads want?
Time to proceed without them, until they grow up and act reasonably and honestly.
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