Now don't get me wrong. I really do think that the Democrats, led by Barack Obama, have been defeated in epic fashion by the GOP over (most recently) the entirely bogus, monumentally counterproductive, and blatantly unconstitutional debt ceiling debacle. And I agree with the recent dKos FP joke that Obama has just pulled a Bush by declaring victory in this mess, just as Bush did at the beginning of the Iraq debacle on the deck of that aircraft carrier, minus the flight suit and sock stuffed in a codpiece.
But this diary really made me laugh with the link it posted to highlight the perfectly reasonable front page attitude here, that Barack Obama has given his electoral base and the country at large (minus about 5% of it that will actually benefit from today's legislative outcome) a huge defeat at the hands of a coalition of whacked out conspiracy theorists and Randian greed-heads.
Go ahead, click on that link.
What that Front Page diary actually consists of, with minimal editorializing, is a couple of references to comments made by GOP leaders Mitch McConnell and Grover Norquist in which they crow jubilantly about today's GOP victory. Here are the relevant quotes:
MCCONNELL: It set the template for the future. In the future, Neil, no president—in the near future, maybe in the distant future—is going to be able to get the debt ceiling increased without a re-ignition of the same discussion of how do we cut spending and get America headed in the right direction. I expect the next president, whoever that is, is going to be asking us to raise the debt ceiling again in 2013, so we’ll be doing it all over.
and then Norquist, stealing Bill Maher's Real Time shtick in a tweet:
New Rule: The Boehner Rule: Never again will the debt ceiling be raised without a dollar for dollar cut in federal spending.
That's the guy whose life's work is to drown the government in a bathtub, folks. He's actually cheering this shit. Doesn't that give even the most die hard Obama supporter pause?
And that FP diary didn't even bother to mention this telling quote by Newt Gingrich earlier today:
One candidate supporting the deal is former U.S House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Monday on Fox News, he said he's not going to second-guess current Speaker John Boehner, adding that the Tea Party and all conservatives should claim victory.
"We just had an extraordinary moment, where a very left-wing president blinked," he said.
Of course, he got the "left wing" part wrong, but nut cases like him and Bachmann and the Pauls all think Barry Goldwater was a bleeding heart, for crissake. Now that I mention it, it's similar to the "I-love-this-guy-kind-of-Democrat" crowd, that thinks everyone who disparages Obama's pandering to the current John Birch version of the GOP is a racist Naderite, isn't it?
(On top of all that GOP crowing, there was another McConnell comment, again today, saying that the GOP got "95% of what they wanted." Haven't been able to find that link yet, but it's out there.)
EDIT: h/t to skeptical observer for finding the missing quote, from Boehner, not McConnell:
Boehner: When you look at this final agreement that we came to with the white House, I got 98 percent of what I wanted. I'm pretty happy.
Meanwhile, we have Democratic leaders saying, in essence,
"It's a terrible bill but at least the Great Depression-Cubed hasn't happened yet - and tomorrow's another day, Rhett."
Or words to that effect. I won't even bother to look up the links, they're so depressing.
Here's the bottom line, folks: Obama could have issued an executive order based on the very clear language of the 14th amendment, ordered Geithner to act accordingly proclaiming a US debt ceiling moot, meaningless, and unconstitutional, thereby pulling the fucking rug out from under this dipshit nightmare. It's what was called for in dealing with these reckless idiologues (no spelling error), and it's the kind of action that is required - not this endless molly-coddling.
But he didn't take them to the woodshed where they belong, and that alone is enough to call his motives and methods into serious question, as would be the case with anyone who negotiates and capitulates to hostage takers when there is a sniper on the roof that can cleanly end the situation with no harm to the captives.
He lost. We lost. We will continue to lose while he's in charge, unless he changes his stripes, which, let's face it, isn't going to happen.
Get used to it. Because it's going to get worse.