Bismarck is known for the expression “ Politics is the art of [ achieving] the possible .” It seems now that a cohort, a minority splinter group, of Republicans in the House, has taken the view that politics is the art of benefiting from the impossible, creating obstacles in order to leverage their limited numbers. In effect, they seek to turn the majority of the Republicans in the House into political hostages and to extend that hostage logic to include the Senate and block any change in US border policy. Tyranny, or at least cynicism, of the minority has run amok.
I would add this later excerpt from David Brooks's Feb. 8 NYT essay on Trump's takeover of GOP souls:
"Showmanship has eclipsed even simple governance. Republican senators just ditched a compromise that could have passed, and they are already heroically parading behind ideas that have no shot at getting 60 votes. As Mitt Romney put it: “Politics used to be the art of the possible. Now it’s the art of the impossible. Meaning, let’s put forward proposals that can’t possibly pass so we can say to our respective bases — look how I’m fighting for you.” "
More so than Democrats, who seem more sensitive to the fragility of their majority in national races, the loudest Republicans in Washington have molded a truly baseline party: their rhetoric and issue stances are often base and follow a line that is direct at first but then cross it into a foul territory devoid of moral or political depth.
Bismarck is known for the expression “ Politics is the art of [ achieving] the possible .” It seems now that a cohort, a minority splinter group, of Republicans in the House, has taken the view that politics is the art of benefiting from the impossible, creating obstacles in order to leverage their limited numbers. In effect, they seek to turn the majority of the Republicans in the House into political hostages and to extend that hostage logic to include the Senate and block any change in US border policy. Tyranny, or at least cynicism, of the minority has run amok.
I would add this later excerpt from David Brooks's Feb. 8 NYT essay on Trump's takeover of GOP souls:
"Showmanship has eclipsed even simple governance. Republican senators just ditched a compromise that could have passed, and they are already heroically parading behind ideas that have no shot at getting 60 votes. As Mitt Romney put it: “Politics used to be the art of the possible. Now it’s the art of the impossible. Meaning, let’s put forward proposals that can’t possibly pass so we can say to our respective bases — look how I’m fighting for you.” "
More so than Democrats, who seem more sensitive to the fragility of their majority in national races, the loudest Republicans in Washington have molded a truly baseline party: their rhetoric and issue stances are often base and follow a line that is direct at first but then cross it into a foul territory devoid of moral or political depth.