Fool me once, shame on you... fool me twice... won't get fooled again. How many times do Democrats have to get burned by mendacious liars like McConnell before they start anticipating this stuff?Talking Points Memo reports that Democrats are largely unprepared for the possibility that Republicans will filibuster financial reform.
Is this really possible? I’m afraid it is. My own conversations with administration officials over the past few weeks have given me the sense that they were quite sure that FinReg wouldn’t be like health care — and that they didn’t seem to take seriously those (including me) who thought they were taking too much for granted.
I have a theory about the problem here. My understanding is that Obama officials have looked at the polls, which show that the public overwhelmingly favors cracking down on Wall Street; so they assumed that the GOP wouldn’t dare stand in the way. But they seem not to have learned, even now, that the right has an awesome ability to create its own reality: that Mitch McConnell et al would stand in the way of reform while claiming to be taking a stand against Wall Street.
Cynicism sucks, no one wants to be thought of as a craven cynic. But when you're engaged in politics on this level you should at least understand who you are dealing with - in this case pathologically dishonest and cynical people. I'm sure Obama believes that he doesn't need to stoop to the level of Republicans to win these policy fights. And he's right - he doesn't, as he's proven time and time again. But there is no excuse for getting caught flat-footed and without a Plan B. This is what Republicans do, know that and be prepared.
No comments:
Post a Comment