Compromising with Killers

UPDATE: See CannonFire and Corrente

[Grover] Norquist favors dramatically reducing the size of the government. He has been noted for his widely quoted quip: “I don’t want to abolish government. I simply want to reduce it to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub.”

I’ve always wondered what the voters who put guys like Norquist in power thought would happen.  But, now that they’re playing their games (largely) out in the open we’re all going to find out.

As Blue Lyon noted (quoting Digby):

Watching out for the humans in the equation

Let’s not forget who created the  Catfood Commission in the first place. Digby notes:

I’m guessing that the president likes having Ryan out there as someone he can “work with” on a Grand Bargain with everyone’s “skin in the game” (especially the tissue thin skin of millions of sick and impoverished elderly people who can’t work, apparently.) If it works out as well as the current budget negotiations have up to now, Ryan will only get 65% of what he wants and liberals will be required to call that a big victorybecause, golly gosh, we fought back the Ryan juggernaut.

Oh, yes,  “It Could Be So Much Worse!” will be the mantra of the 2012 Obama campaign.

Obama’s sweating out the “compromise” issue – like it makes any sense to compromise with killers.

And please don’t accuse me of exaggeration.  What is left out of the very serious conversations about the budget (and this is just one example) is that cutbacks to government services will result in people dying unnecessarily.

As Marc Rubin at Tom In Paine says,

Republicans do what Obama and Democrats had no guts to do — refuse to compromise

Contrast that with the capitulating and spine caving sell out by Barrack Obama to the small Republican minority on the country’s most important legislation even though Obama had the biggest congressional majority of any president in 60 years. Contrast that with Obama’s scrounging for one Republican vote on the public option when the Democrats didn’t need Republican votes at all, and then, not getting it, throwing the policy under the bus along with hundreds of millions of Americans who wanted real healthcare reform. Contrast Boehner refusal to compromise on principles with Obama caving in to Republicans on extending the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest 5% of Americans, something Obama publicly stated since 2007 he would never do.

Republicans say they will not compromise or accept any options they don’t endorse as a matter of policy. Obama caved in on extending the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy then had the gall to accuse those Democrats who didn’t want to go along of being  “sanctimonious purists”. And this is who the Democrats are going to support for four more years?

(snip)

NOTE:  I just love when something happens that proves my point only hours after making it . On the floor of the U.S. senate at 6:32 p.m. in addressing the budget impasse Harry Reid said, ” On the budget cuts we agreed to meet the Republicans part of the way and they said no. Then we agreed to meet the Republicans half way and they said no. They we agreed to meet the Republicans more than half way and they said no. They we agreed to meet the Republicans all the way and they still said no.”

That’s giving ’em hell Harry.

It’s all a game to these guys.

Are Obama’s gaffes a “cry for help?”

Lately I find myself checking Marc Rubin’s blog frequently hoping for a new essay. Unfortunately he doesn’t post on a daily basis. I’m not even sure who he is, but he’s a terrific writer. His latest post, “Obama’s Seal of Disapproval,” is both funny and thought-provoking. Basically, Rubin suggests that Obama is so far over his head in running for President that he is unconsciously sabatoging himself with his frequent gaffes and flip-flops–that at some level he wants out. I’ve often wondered about this myself, especially when Obama complains about being bored or tired and when he constantly whines about people “attacking” him. It’s almost as if he thinks he’s doing us all a favor and we are just demanding too much.

It’s interesting how the mind works. On one level it always wants to tell the truth and sometimes it devises ways to do it on its own even when someone consciously is trying to hide it. That’s why people slip up.

Obama’s unveiling of his fake presidential seal seems like the perfect example. Its almost as if its both he and his advisors’ way of getting the truth out about Obama’s and his candidacy.The symbolism of a fake Presidential seal is hard to miss.