Taking their ball ...

MANIFESTO

It's hard to believe that anyone would approve of the childish Republican strategy of impeding any kind of government progress only so they can say they told us so, but more than one in three Americans are willing to do just that.

I think Steve Benen sums up the current situation best:

It's possible that my memory is off, but I can't recall ever hearing so many prominent political figures hoping for American leaders' failure like this, especially not in the midst of a crisis.

That it's coming from ideologues who believe they have the edge on "patriotism" -- and insist that Bush's liberal critics were guilty of "treason" -- just makes this all the more bizarre.

About a half-century ago, actor John Wayne, who was very conservative, was asked for his thoughts after JFK defeated Richard Nixon in 1960. "I didn't vote for him," Wayne said, "but he's my president, and I hope he does a good job."

It's clear that the nominal leader of today's Republican party is Rush Limpbaugh, who hopes for Obama's failure out of sheer spite. It's disheartening to realize that a third of Americans are willing to buy into this utterly shameless stance.