It is a peculiar, but unmistakable, phenomenon: As Barack Obama’s presidency heads into its twilight, the rage of the Republican establishment toward him is growing louder, angrier and more destructive.
Republican lawmakers in Washington and around the country have been focused on blocking Mr. Obama’s agenda and denigrating him personally since the day he took office in 2009. But even against that backdrop, and even by the dismal standards of political discourse today, the tone of the current attacks is disturbing. So is their evident intent — to undermine not just Mr. Obama’s policies, but his very legitimacy as president. [snip]
If this insurrection is driven by something other than a blend of ideological extremism and personal animosity, it is not clear what that might be. But it is ugly, it deepens mistrust of government and it harms the office of the president, not just Mr. Obama.There's a lot in the editorial between the "snip," so have a look.
All the key words are there: "destructive," "rage," "denigrating," "insurrection," "animosity," "ugly," "mistrust," "ideological extremism," etc. That we are even in this discussion, we believe, is a direct result of left and moderate voters not going to the polls in the 2010 and 2014 off-year elections, at the Federal, State and local levels. It's what has saddled this country with a claque of ultra-reactionary office-holders who flaunt the popular will and Democratic governance, and who are determined to hold onto power at all costs.
BONUS: Reinforcement of the above, via human/ reptile hybrid Dick "Dick" Cheney, from Jay Bookman at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
