JONATHAN COHN OCTOBER 24, 2011
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The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president.
-Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, quoted in National Journal, November 4, 2010
Their story line is that there must be some villain out there who’s keeping this administration from succeeding.
-McConnell, appearing on CNN's "State of the Union," October 23, 2011
I wasn't that shocked by McConnell's original statement. Heck, I even appreciated the candor. But if you're going to make the president's failure your top goal -- and if you're going to brag about it -- you really can't get upset when the president blames you for it.
12 comments
Is it candor or a world-view that sees but one side, his side. The McConnell candor (or whatever it is) that has shocked me is his statement, repeated many times, that if it were up to him the amount "borrowed" from the social security trust fund (about $2.6 trillion) would not be repaid with income tax receipts. How it would be reapid he doesn't say. The only logical answer is that it wouldn't be repaid (or it would be repaid with an increase in regressive payroll taxes, which is equivalent to not being repaid). One might think that such a statement would be political suicide, but the statement about the social security trust fund, like the statement about Obama, only strengthens his position in the Republican Party.
- rayward
October 24, 2011 at 7:44am
I even appreciated the candor. Don't you mean admission?
- Nusholtz
October 24, 2011 at 8:08am
Instead of Occupying Wall Street we should have had an Occupy Mitch.
- DP1024
October 24, 2011 at 9:36am
Yes. The banality of evil is to ignore reality in favor of attempting to redefine it in favor of your own position. Then when called on this behavior, to deny there's any disconnect between one's redefinition and REAL reality. Or even better, to attack the motives of those people pointing out the disconnect as being immoral -- selfish, jealous, or pursuing some other destructive goal. Mitch McConnell's continuing hypocrisy in this regard, and continuing efforts to prevent Obama's policies from being pursued, and continuing efforts to blame the current economy on Obama even though it's McConnell blocking those policies, make him the Villain. It's also quite consistent with evil that the Villain's world-view prevents him from realizing he's the villain, or admitting it if it should be pointed out.
- AllanL5
October 24, 2011 at 9:57am
Allan, I would say that McConnell FULLY (sorry lib) realizes what he's done. IMO, he's been the most effective opposition leader in recent memory.
- NR409654
October 24, 2011 at 11:19am
If your definition of "effective opposition" is literal.
- NR409654
October 24, 2011 at 11:20am
@Nusholtz: The proper term is "gaffe," as defined by Michael Kinsley: "A gaffe is when a politician tells the truth."
- Dausuul
October 24, 2011 at 12:05pm
How much do you want to bet that, in the first nine months of the Romney administration, Senate Majority Leader McConnell will approve a plan that provides direct Federal assistance to states and municipalities struggling with depressed sales and property tax receipts? My line is that there is a 75% chance that the Romney Administration will decide this is part of a necessary fiscal stimulus package as the country struggles with a double-dip recession and 11% unemployment, and a 100% chance that a McConnell-led Senate will approve it.
- wildboy
October 24, 2011 at 12:15pm
McConnell and all the other rabid right-wing vermin in Congress know full well that their obstructive actions and the policies they favor are destructive to the general welfare of the nation. But they don't care, for two main reasons that I see: (1) They don't give a rat's ass about the general welfare of the nation, only about the welfare of the rich or (2) in their conflation of politics with religion, they have convinced themselves that they are engaged in a divine mission to save the nation from socialists, liberal-elite atheists, and various other enemies of a virtuous republic. With regard to the second reason, when you're doing God's work, any tactics that are effective in destroying these pernicious forces are not only permissible but mandatory. Thus, you can lie, connive, and obstruct to your heart's content and feel good about it. McConnell, I think, falls into the first camp. From what I can tell, he doesn't make too many noises about God. He simply relishes being a crowbar in the gears of Congress. He seems truly proud of his effectiveness in preventing anything from getting done that might in any way benefit Obama or the Democrats. And tough luck for the people that are suffering, who he calculates can be made to blame Obama for their economic plight. The people of Kentucky should hang their heads in shame for reelecting this icky old creep to the Senate.
- DAVIDDREIER@EARTHLINK.NET-old
October 24, 2011 at 12:36pm
@Dausuul I think its Chutzpah. McConell's saying, "We are here for no other purpose than maintaining our own power."
- Nusholtz
October 24, 2011 at 2:13pm
DaveyD, the only problem that I see is that Kentucky is a state that falls into your second category, so everything you've said is actually a positive. As long as he's on their side, and doing it to the other guys, it's ok.
- GSpinks
October 24, 2011 at 5:12pm
GSpinks: Yeah, you're right about the state McConnell comes from. It's home to the Cretin Museum, for one thing. Oops, sorry, make that the Creation Museum.
- DAVIDDREIER@EARTHLINK.NET-old
October 24, 2011 at 7:19pm