You might not like the author...

[whell]

...but in this case he's spot-on:

https://townhall.com/columnists/patb...gress-n2378527

If democracy, as Freedom House contends, is in global retreat, one reason may be that, in our new age, legislatures, split into hostile blocs checkmating one another, cannot act with the dispatch impatient peoples now demand of their rulers.

In the days of Henry Clay and Daniel Webster, Congress was a rival to even strong presidents. Those days are long gone.

The current GOP congress is the most dysfunctional group in recent memory, and maybe ever. The GOP, as I've said before when they were a minority party, has difficulty agreeing on much of anything. Now that they're in the majority, that factionalism and lack of a rudder are more obvious than ever.

I'm usually in favor of some level of legislative paralysis because I think as a country we're already way over-regulated and legislated. However, there are some key and pressing issues which require Congressional action. McConnell and Ryan have not been able to show that they can deliver within the majority anything that looks like a workable agenda, they appear to have no spine, and many in Congress appear unwilling to expend any political capital, even to move forward legislation that they campaigned on.

At least the Dems know what to do when they get their hands on the levers of power, though I typically don't agree with what they do when they execute. However, the other issue here is that if Trump thinks sharing those levers with the Dems are going to earn him any brownie points with the media or the left (and I don't know if that's part of his motivation), he's sadly mistaken.

[finnbow]

The source of the problem within the GOP is the nihilist bunch of hypocritical clowns called the Freedom Caucus (erstwhile Teabaggers). These clowns, even when they are part of government, still think government is the enemy. Their base gets its "news" from talk radio, Fox News, Breitbart, NewsMax and InfoWars which has them believing this nihilistic message of resentment and racism and demanding the same from their elected leaders while demeaning reasonable, competent Republicans as "RINO's."

That's how you get despicable incompetents like Louie Gohmert, Jim Jordan, Mo Brooks, Ken Buck, Trent Franks, Ted Yoho and Steve King in Congress and why decent, competent Republicans on the Hill (Charlie Dent, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Dave Reichert) have given up on their party and are abandoning their House seats (even with their party in complete "control"). In the (paraphrased) words of conservative columnist David Brooks, the GOP no longer has a place for decent people.

[whell]

Originally Posted by finnbow

The source of the problem within the GOP is the nihilist bunch of hypocritical clowns called the Freedom Caucus (erstwhile Teabaggers). These clowns, even when they are part of government, still think government is the enemy. Their base gets its "news" from talk radio, Fox News, Breitbart, NewsMax and InfoWars which has them believing this nihilistic message of resentment and racism and demanding the same from their elected leaders while demeaning reasonable, competent Republicans as "RINO's."

That's how you get despicable incompetents like Louie Gohmert, Jim Jordan, Mo Brooks, Ken Buck, Trent Franks, Ted Yoho and Steve King in Congress and why decent, competent Republicans on the Hill (Charlie Dent, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Dave Reichert) have given up on their party and are abandoning their House seats (even with their party in complete "control"). In the (paraphrased) words of conservative columnist David Brooks, the GOP no longer has a place for decent people.

Somewhere in the rant above there are small slices of truth. However, the largest part of the thesis is your conjecture about "government being the enemy". I don't think this is the case at all, yet there are many, many ways that government - in the form of the bureaucratic jungle - either stifles progress or adds significant cost to routine tasks.

You have observed here on many occasions how dysfunctional the Dept of Defense is. I'm sure there are many good people there. However, as W Edwards Deming pointed out, you can put great people to work inside of a shit system with shit processes, and you're going to get shit as a result.

[bobabode]

Townhall.com is the reverse of an ivory tower. It's a deep hole in the ground where a latrine used to stand. I'll bet they're frothing at the mouth and hurling themselves against the slime covered walls after the Trump/Schumer/Pelosi love-in yesterday in the Oval Office.

[finnbow]

Originally Posted by whell

Somewhere in the rant above there are small slices of truth. However, the largest part of the thesis is your conjecture about "government being the enemy". I don't think this is the case at all, yet there are many, many ways that government - in the form of the bureaucratic jungle - either stifles progress or adds significant cost to routine tasks.

From the lips of the patron saint of today's GOP, Ronald Reagan:
Government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem. and

"The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help."

All of those hypocritical Texas Republicans seem to now have discarded this last sentiment in the last couple of weeks. I wonder why.

You have observed here on many occasions how dysfunctional the Dept of Defense is. I'm sure there are many good people there. However, as W Edwards Deming pointed out, you can put great people to work inside of a shit system with shit processes, and you're going to get shit as a result.

And yet DoD is the only cabinet department from which the GOP does not demand reform or cost savings. Their solution to the problems in DoD is to throw more money at it (something they love accusing Democrats of doing). The GOP has never met an advanced weapons program they don't like or are unwilling to fund (at the expense of soldiers and sailors training and quality of life.)

[Chicks]

Used to be fun watching Pat and Eleanor at each other's throats on McLaughlin Group. She held her own amidst all that testosterone.

[bobabode]

Originally Posted by Chicks

Used to be fun watching Pat and Eleanor at each other's throats on McLaughlin Group. She held her own amidst all that testosterone.

More often than not Eleanor left Pat's guts lying on the ground while she gleefully field dressed his quivering carcass.

[whell]

Originally Posted by finnbow

From the lips of the patron saint of today's GOP, Ronald Reagan:
Government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem. and

"The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help."

You believe that quips are policy statements? Interesting.

[whell]

Originally Posted by bobabode

Townhall.com is the reverse of an ivory tower. It's a deep hole in the ground where a latrine used to stand. I'll bet they're frothing at the mouth and hurling themselves against the slime covered walls after the Trump/Schumer/Pelosi love-in yesterday in the Oval Office.

In honor of Finn, who likes Reagan quips: "There you go again."

[finnbow]

Originally Posted by whell

You believe that quips are policy statements? Interesting.

These "quips" are the animating dogma of the GOP, particularly those of the Freedom Caucus/Tea Party persuasion.

Take a moment and read this from Jennifer Rubin, a conservative and erstwhile Republican. It pretty much sums up today's GOP. A good, insightful read with the following punch line:

The GOP is a party gone off the rails morally, intellectually and politically. Not conservative or even coherent, it relies on state TV (Fox News) and Russia bots to echo its nonsense. The question is not why people like Dent, Ros-Lehtinen and Reichert are leaving but why any reasonable adult would remain in the GOP.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...re-of-the-gop/