The Guardian's Ewen MacAskill gives us a nugget on Rethuglican obstructionism from Robert Draper's new book (if more proof is needed, see also this and this):
"During a lengthy discussion, the senior GOP members worked out a plan to repeatedly block Obama over the coming four years to try to ensure he
not be re-elected.
"The disclosures – described as 'appalling and sad' by Obama's chief strategist David Axelrod – undermine Republican claims that the president alone is to blame for the partisan deadlock in Washington.
"A detailed account of who was present at the dinner on that January 20 night and the plan they worked out to bring down Obama is provided by Robert Draper in 'Do Not Ask What Good We Do: Inside the US House of Representatives', published this week. [snip]
"Attending the dinner were House members Eric Cantor, Jeb Hensarling, Pete Hoekstra, Dan Lungren, Kevin McCarthy, Paul Ryan and Pete Sessions. From the Senate were Tom Coburn, Bob Corker, Jim DeMint, John Ensign and Jon Kyl. Others present were former House Speaker and future – and failed – presidential candidate Newt Gingrich and the Republican strategist Frank Luntz, who organised the dinner and sent out the invitations.
"The dinner table was set in a square at Luntz's request so everyone could see one another and talk freely. The session lasted four hours and by the end the sombre mood had lifted: they had conceived a plan. They would take back the House in November 2010, which they did, and use it as a spear to mortally wound Obama in 2011 and take back the Senate and White House in 2012, Draper writes.
"'If you act like you're the minority, you're going to stay in the minority," said Keven McCarthy, quoted by Draper. "We've gotta challenge them on every single bill and challenge them on every single campaign.'"
"The Republicans have done that, bringing Washington to a near standstill several times during Obama's first term over debt and other issues. [snip]
"Axelrod, who is based at Obama's re-election campaign headquarters in Chicago, condemned the revelation as 'sad, appalling but not terribly surprising.'"
Now we await the onslaught of a predictably mendacious campaign in which the Rethugs will try to attain their goals of taking back the Senate and White House by any means necessary. That's an outcome that should chill the soul of every sentient American.
