We are way, way beyond mere political polarization. House Republicans can't even see Earth from wherever they are. It's expected that Iowa's Steve King would appear, as he did moments ago on MSNBC, to reeducate us about a default not really being a default, or that Tennessee's Marsha Blackburn would have appeared earlier to deny that Speaker Boehner's plan yesterday wasn't actually "in trouble."
But this, from The Hill, suggests a whole new plateau of abject, otherworldly self-delusion:
Despite vows by the Senate to defeat Boehner’s plan, many House Republicans, including Boehner, had thought a strong vote on the Speaker’s initial debt measure would have forced Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to accept the plan and send it along to President Obama [italics mine].
It's kind of hard to believe Boehner ever believed it, though it's easier to believe he said it, and convincingly enough to pass muster with the always-already convinced.
If you can't stand reading the rightwing blogs or watching Fox to get a good idea of the alternative reality/echo chamber/epistemic closed loop in which much of the right dwells, just check Jennifer Rubin's fantasia on the 10 things and a pony that would happen after the Boehner bill passed, ably ridiculed by Chait a few days ago. As a go-to hack at the WaPo, she was no doubt taking dictation from Boehner or one of his upper functionaries.
In their Oz, debts and deficits are mainly BHO's fault and generally the fault of the liberal/socialist policy going back to Roosevelt, Wilson, Lucifer, and Mephistopheles, and, furthermore, this crisis is BHO's creation, his far left masterwork intended to create chaos and on and on and on...
And thus it also makes perfect sense to pass a bill demanding a Balanced Budget Amendment passed out of both houses NOW NOW NOW...
Posted by: CK MacLeod | July 29, 2011 at 01:57 PM
Surely not. I would say the Barbarian hordes of Tea Party Clingons are merely orbiting Uranus.
Posted by: Peter G | July 29, 2011 at 03:12 PM
had the misfortune to land on CNBC for a few mintues, where the host was griping about Obama's mentioning of tax breaks for the wealthy, jet taxes, etc as being "devisive". What a bunch of wankers. I hope they like their defaults well done.
Posted by: Bulworth | July 29, 2011 at 04:15 PM
CK McCleod: If I've recently had heart surgery should I stay away from the right wing echo chamber? Also, does anyone think that if McCain had won there would be these tea party yahoos taking over now?
Posted by: Anne J. | July 29, 2011 at 07:19 PM
Anne J: Haven't they decided that strenuous workouts are better for coronary rehab than previously thought? On the other hand, I don't recommend the RWEC for anyone who doesn't either feel a need to verify the facts for herself, or has a very broad sense of humor.
Posted by: CK MacLeod | July 29, 2011 at 11:18 PM