Quote of the Quote of the Day

Gettin' Meta.

Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman::

The American economy is on the edge of catastrophe, and much of the Republican Party is trying to push it over that edge.

Sums it up nicely. We've seen how far the Republican are willing to go to tear down the country around them in the service of the very people who put America into this mess. That the next step would be something just a bit more [i]drastic[/i] than Keynesian stimulus seems to elude them, focused as they are on protecting their ideology and what it apologizes for.

But there's a bit Tristero didn't quote:

So what should Mr. Obama do? Count me among those who think that the president made a big mistake in his initial approach, that his attempts to transcend partisanship ended up empowering politicians who take their marching orders from Rush Limbaugh. What matters now, however, is what he does next.

It’s time for Mr. Obama to go on the offensive. Above all, he must not shy away from pointing out that those who stand in the way of his plan, in the name of a discredited economic philosophy, are putting the nation’s future at risk. The American economy is on the edge of catastrophe, and much of the Republican Party is trying to push it over that edge.

Remember how I said "the nuclear option looms large here"? I meant it. The parliamentary points of privilege of a bunch of dishonest bastards are not worth a collapsing economy.

If the Republican continue to be obstinate, take their ball away. And if their newfound buddies in the WH press corps start yelling, tell them you were willing to entertain good ideas, not a repackage of the ideological drivel that put America in this position to begin with.

Let us be very clear. This was their fault. Their attitude of "wealth can do no wrong". Their worship of deregulation of all sectors, especially the financial sector, which led Gramm to create the bizarre, unholy credit default swap market that ruined the banking sector. Their simultaneous ineptitude at governance and cynical manipulation of politics. Their hatred of the workers who actually do things, as opposed to making increasingly complicated leveraged bets that even they don't fully understand. And their tendency to blame people whose dreams were cynically exploited by the people they really work for: the monied and powerful.

(The very people who are getting richer and richer as these other poor saps get more and more desperate.)

Hell, they couldn't even keep America safe.

No, they deserve no quarter and little tolerance. Certainly not tolerance for a kabuki-theatre "filibuster". If they won't act in good faith, to hell with 'em.