Michael Gerson has a curious column today on the status of the larger fiscal talks between President Obama and congressional Republicans, and Gerson's concerns that they're not going especially well. But in the process, the conservative columnist used one of the greatest phrases I've seen in a long while.
The debt ceiling is a form of leverage they can't responsibly use. A partial government shutdown or full implementation of the sequester are less toxic alternatives but of questionable utility. [...]
Given this weak Republican position, Obama must be tempted by a shiny political object: the destruction of the congressional GOP. He knows that Republicans are forced by the momentum of their ideology to take positions on spending that he can easily demagogue.
"Forced by the momentum of their ideology." I wish I'd come up with that one.
As Jon Chait joked, "They're forced by ideology. There's nothing they can do about it! The ideology has momentum. Republicans are merely along for the ride."
Quite right. Under Gerson's argument, Republicans have no choice but to adopt an extreme ideology, no choice but to follow this ideology's "momentum," and no choice but to take positions on spending that the American mainstream finds offensive and unacceptable.
And it's not very sporting of President Obama to respond to this set of circumstances by drawing attention to the fact that his radicalized rivals -- the folks who've spent four years trying to destroy him at all costs -- are pursuing a dangerous agenda that most voters would consider ridiculous.
After all, it's not the Republicans' fault -- they're simply forced by the momentum of their ideology to take unpopular positions.
Gerson added that this dynamic will prevent "serious action" on debt reduction -- that is, aside from the more than $2.5 trillion in debt reduction Obama has already adopted, which goes unmentioned in the column -- because Obama insists on a responsible, balanced approach that enjoys the overwhelming support of the American mainstream, including, incidentally, Gerson.
What a strange column.
Leave a Comment:
I listened to Rush Limbaugh while running an errand. He said go ahead and cleanly raise the debt ceiling, then fight till the death on the CR. Expect exactly that, and soon.
Damn, it's weird to hear Rush have a clue.
That is exactly what they should do. That is politics as usual.
Yep, the parks might close, a bunch of federal employees might find themselves laid off, and in the end Republicans will be blamed or Democrats will be forced to agree to some signficant cuts, but that isn't the same as burning down the world's economy.
Are you sure you were listening to Rush Limbaugh?
Austerity: the momentum of a meme that the media is incapable of resisting.
Nevermind about the real cause of our fiscal crisis- the national clamity of high levels of long term unemployment.
But no- we will talk within the frame of the GOP.
Brilliant.
Limbaugh has a personal financial interest in not crashing the economy. And that explains his comments.
If that analysis is correct, he would have to be out of the banking stocks that he loaded up on during the meltdown.
Higher interest rates resulting from a downgrade would benefit banks and others looking to rent the mountains of cash they are sitting on rather than investing in the jobs that will drive consumption.
Hmmm. The curse of low information voters. There will be no default on the national debt. We have the money and it is legally determined, interest gets paid first.
Nor do we have austerity. Austerity is actually spending less, not smaller amounts of more.
Hah! Lowered credit ratings has no impact on lending rates? Talk about low information.
Just when I thought the ideas coming out of the conservative media couldn't get any dumber, it got dumber.
Is there ever a day anymore where you don't just do a facepalm, shake your head, and ask yourself "How did we ever let these dumbf ucks take over the country?" But we certainly did.
It doesn't stop you from voting does it shooter, why you are so low informed you actually believe the wealthy are going to give you a golden handout.
Shooter is already getting a paycheck...
To restate Gerson: they choose to hold beliefs that get them into trouble by making them take extreme, unpopular positions, but the trouble isn't their fault - it's the fault of their beliefs!
And when the President points out the extremity of their positions, that's 'demagoguing'!
It's a rough time to be a Republican - getting hijacked by runaway beliefs, and getting blamed for it too!
People aren't forced to do things by ideology. People are forced to do things by dogma.
I knew there was no such thing as free will!
I'm sorry, but my karma just ran over your dogma...
David: I intend to steal your comment!
Please do... It was my tagline when I posted on another blog... I actually thought it up myself, unlike many humourous lines...
"After all, it's not the Republicans' fault -- they're simply forced by the momentum of their ideology to take unpopular positions."
In other words, not guilty by reason of insanity.
When you choose to be insane for political gain, I think that makes you guilty.
Why should Republicans hold themselves accountable for anything?
Their ignorant constituents vote for them no matter how ridiculous, unqualified, reckless (see self-induced Debt Ceiling Crisis of 2011) they are. No one holds them accountable so they continue to do reckless, damaging things to our economy and country.
Until they are punished, i.e. not re-elected, for their bad behavior, they will continue to do what they do and make excuses for themselves along the way. Until 'supporters' stop making excuses for them, they will continue down this road.
America deserves better.
Hmm...the first law of wingnut momentum
"An ideology in motion tends to stay in motion...."
It's like they're on a runaway train...right after they cut the breaks....and it's the breaks fault they can't stop themselves
Check your ideology at the door please..
The separation of church and state is only as wide as a choice.
A case study in cognitive dissonance.
It's not my fault. I'm forced by the momentum of my own willfull ignorance to vote for these sacks of $#*^.
How convenient.
It's not my fault that I ran the red light and ran into another car. I was forced by the momentum of my silly ideology to believe no one would get hurt.
It's not my fault that I shot my hand gun at some one and they got hurt. I was forced by the momentum of my silly ideology to believe no one would get hurt.
I could go all day using this silly excuse....
Why not? They've been going for 20 years with it.
The real question everything,
It's like the Quaker gentleman said when confronted by an intruder, "My friend, I would wish thee no harm for the world, but thee standeth where I am about to shoot."
India...
Nice try, but thy second use of 'thee' should be a 'thou'... Subjective, not objective...
;-Þ
LOL.
I'm no Quaker!
"Republicans are forced by the momentum of their ideology to take positions... "
Hmm...the party of personal responsibility strikes again.
Forced by the momentum of their ideology, huh?
What a way to encapsulate the passive/aggressive condition of the Republican party - by using the passive voice in expressing what is indeed aggressive and radical political posturing and obstruction by our friends in House Republican suits!
A more direct route to get to any relevant takeaway from Gerson's article is to simply state the Republican leadership, and its party faithful have decided to wreck our democracy in order to force the rest of us into accepting the supremacy of austerity!
Now who really wants to play that Republican game? -Kevo
"ideologies" act on their own, but guns don't kill people.
Conservatives are really quite strange.
I think that it is more than just "momentum of ideology". The Republicans want to punish Americans for voting Obama into office. A little gov't shutdown, and maybe a little financial meltdown is what you need to see the error of your ways. They hate Obama, and all Obama lovers. If only they were to love America more than they hate Obama.
sad to say, I think you're exactly right.
xpst #13,
I believe you have just nailed their ideology: They hate Obama and will do anything to destroy him.
(And since their constituents feel the same "ideology", they are only doing their job.)
See any clues here?
- Mitt Romney bases his election campaign on straight up provable lies
- Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan refuse to be interviewed by anyone other than right wing sycophants
- The Republicans base their entire four years of Obama's first term on obstruction
- The Republicans squat at the feet of Grover "government so small it can be drowned in a bathtub" Norquist
- a year ago, the Republicans force a Debt Ceiling battle that leads to both the sequester and also a downgrade of our triple A rating
- This year they fail to persuade the President to back off of taxing the richest 2%
- now they want to break the dollar???
Fascists who hate America, don't believe in government and simply cannot govern should not be allowed to serve.
The Republican Party serves no legitimate purpose.
It serves as a warning to others about the dangers of extremism, like the Nazi party.
They don't believe in the government of the United States of America. Voted for secession and joined the Confederacy.
For all their 911 patriotic smack talk and support for the 2nd Amendment, conservatives really don't feel anything good about the Union and it's strong federalist Constitution. Most of states sending Tea Party members to Congress were forced to return to the fold but have always held themselves apart since then.
If you can understand that, you can beat them at the polls. Ask Claire McCaskill.
People are not forced, typically, to do anything. They choose to do this or to do that. People tend to be happier with themselves and their lives, in the long run, when they make good, positive choices. If they choose to do the wrong thing, they know it -- and they tend to suggest they are forced into it in some way. It's a cop out. It's what criminals say -- and usually it's no defense at all.
Better to make the smart, rational choice from the start. No excuses needed.
But first, you have to be rational.
They aren't.
It's obvious that their momentum is hurling them out of control. So Rush wants to cede today to fight again another day? Perhaps because this ploy isn't looking like its going to work and they will end up looking worse than when they staged their last hostage attempt?
But don't these conservative Republicans realize that their momentum will just continue to hurl them out of control? The Silent Majority has seen enough of this ridiculous posing and posturing by the GOP. It's gotten in the way of the real business of Congress to fix problems and anticipate others.
Republicans will not take anything seriously. It's insane behavior. A growing majority of Americans are coming to the conclusion that they cannot entrust their future to those who can't control themselves.
They can't blame their ideology for forcing them to act in this dysfunctional way unless you will admit that it's the ideology that is broken. And there in lies their real problem.
They just can't let go. Just like they can't let go of their bigotry and patriarchal attitudes. If they cannot bend, they will twist and turn till they break for good.
I heard that during the fiscal cliff business, Limbaugh was insisting that Obama was motivated by trying to fracture the GOP, not, say, getting tax increases and extended unemployment benefits. No surprise that Gerson is on the same talking-points mailing list.
You would think they might have learned from the election that uncritically accepting the arguments that are circulating in the bubble isn't a path to success, but I guess it's a hard lesson to accept.
I am "forcibly" reminded of the following line from John Milton's Paradise Lost, in which Lucifer, on explaining to his minions who are struggling out of the lake of fire in which they have been cast down by an angry God, why this has happened:
"Pride and worse ambition threw me down."
Um...yeah...right. Same mindset, same twisted, pretzel-y logic.
Guys? Your ideology is up to YOU. it has no MOMENTUM save that momentum you yourselves GIVE IT? Got it?
How about inhabiting the real world for a change...
I am reminded of the insistence of Alcoholics Anonymous that alcohol is "cunning, baffling, powerful!" (from "How it Works" in the "Big Book", Alcoholics Anonymous) In other words, Alcoholics Anonymous treats an inanimate object as though it had self-awareness and will.
Gerson is absolutely ridiculous and this is an argument that is floating around. 'We wouldn't be such DICKHEADS if the President didn't FORCE us to!' Every single one of them should lose their jobs.
Well, after all these are the same people who, defending rapists, say that they poor guys were powerless to resist the urges aroused by sight of a woman wearing a snug sweater.
It was her fault!
I totally missed your comment when I made the same assertion way down towards the end of the thread. I like the way you think :)
This "momentum of their ideology" must be where all that "Romentum" went after the vice presidential debate. If only those 'unskewed' people had known at the time...
It's ok to lie, both sides do it.
.
Two classic lies in one sentence...
I am at a loss for how to respond to this...
That would be the Inertia of Your ideology...
Mobs are typically lead by cowards with big mouths. This becomes a haven for those with no principles to feel important. Let your opinion be stated in public without looking for the cover and anonymity of a crowd.
The temptation that Obama may be having is more serious. If the republicans cannot help themselves and cannot raise the debt ceiling cleanly, then Obama can orchestrate the destruction of the GOP by letting the economy collapse and just making sure everyone knows who to blame. If he can be that ruthless, he may get a democratic congress in 2014. Can he be that ruthless? Do we want him to be?
I think Obama has a perfect right to revenge after 4 years of persecution by the Republicans.