A distasteful coming together

Ezra Klein notes the harmful paradox of goo-goo centrism, as currently exemplified by Starbucks' eye-rolling "Come Together" campaign:

If you want Washington to come together, you need to make it painful for those who are breaking it apart. Telling both sides to come together when it’s predominantly one side breaking the negotiations apart actually makes it easier on those who’re refusing to compromise.

Implicit in Klein's sizable paradox is also its vast expansion. Many of us who have regularly urged compromise as the proper grease of government's machinery now find ourselves the most tactically as well as philosophically uncompromising faction. Republicans' deliberate gridlock, maliciously imposed, has reached such intolerable heights that by now the only serviceable response is the selfsame intransigence, squared.

Time and again we have been to Munich, time and again we have cautiously accepted the ideological militants' good faith, and time and again we have been betrayed. Each compromise--each appeasement--has been but a minor, temporary triumph in the opposition's march to total victory--which they mean to either achieve, or destroy us in the attempt. They intend, as Lincoln characterized his contemporaneous version of these cryptofascistic wretches, to "rule or ruin in all events."

As only a delicious paradox might have it, these non-compromisers will now desperately seek some oxygen-permitting compromise, while yesterday's virtuous compromisers should simply slam the door on any compromise whatsoever. For we'll never breathe easily again, until we asphyxiate this threat.

Comments

[Peter G]

PM my friend,for I consider you such, all that you say is true. But my motto, the guiding principal of my life, has always been to never attribute to malice what can be fully explained by stupidity. Or ignorance as required. I do not believe that the chuckle heads which dominate the Republican discourse are determined to hurt their country. They simply have not a clue what they are talking about. The road to hell appears to be paved with simple minded bumper stickers. Salvation lies in the fact they not all Republicans are afflicted with terminal stupidity. Or so I dearly hope.

[Jason]

True, Peter, but malice and stupidity are not mutually exclusive. Like you said, I don't think ALL Republicans knowingly intend to hurt the economy. They're just too stupid not to. However, they also intentionally refuse to edumicate their little minds as to basic economics because they're too arrogant, spiteful, paranoid, vengeful, close-minded, bigoted--i.e., malicious--to eat the required serving of humble pie that such an edumication would require.

[Robert Lipscomb]

I countenance a diversity in the Right, comprised of malice, stupidity and principles.

Most of the Right are now True Believers in the Staint Reagan maxim, "Government is always the problem." If I believed that - I mean truly, sincerely, completely believed that, I would fight government to my last breath and to my last ounce of blood. At least, I would like to believe I would. I would like to believe that if I had lived in antebellum America, I would have been an abolitionist and would have volunteered to join the army. If I had lived in 1930's Germany, i would have fought the Nazis.

My friends and family are not so optimistic, but i like to believe I would have that much courage of my convictions.

If today I believed that government is inherently evil, how could I not fight it with every tool and tactic at my disposal?

I would not be looking to negotiate.