Senator Mitch McConnell and would-be Speaker of the House John Boehner are under some kind of delusion. After the mid-term elections they control the House (for now), but the Democrats still control the Senate and, of course, the Presidency. You would think the Republicans, considering they control only one house of Congress, would be thinking about working with the Democrats. But no! These guys are making it clear that they are not going to work with the Democrats now any more than they did when we controlled the House and the Senate and they sat and their hands and refused to legislate.
The bluster that has come out of these blow-hards has been astounding!! I've never heard so much hot air in all my life. They're going to start investigations, they're going to make sure the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy stay in place (of course), they're going to repeal Obama's health care legislation, they're going to run the world! Every time one of these guys opens their mouths I laugh my ass off, because I know they won't be able to do squat. That is, not unless Obama caves and does the one thing he should not do - let them have their way.
The Republicans are bullies, pure and simple, and the only way to handle bullies is to ignore them, and that is precisely what Obama should do. Unfortunately I think he's more in a conciliatory mood, when what he should do is take as hard a line as they have. You can't work with Republicans, that has become crystal clear. For them it's their way or the highway. The only thing the Democratic party can do is make sure they have more seats than the Republicans in order to advance any part of their agenda.
So, Mr. President, show your cajones and tell the Republicans to screw off. If you don't you are in danger of losing liberals like me as well as moderates. Because I know I, for one, will not have a problem casting a protest vote for, say, the Green Party in 2012 if you let them have their way. Turning the government over to the Republicans is not what we voted you in for!
