Reality check for Republicans …

I am at a complete loss to understand how leading Republicans consistently snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.  They squander every opportunity they get.  Republicans routinely paint themselves into corners they have to skulk from later with their tails between their legs.    

Democrats must watch in absolute amazement.  I suppose they are as dumbfounded as I am at the complete ineptitude of today’s Republican leaders – always picking the wrong battles, saying the wrong things, and turning the public against them at every turn.  Then, ultimately backing down when push comes to shove making them look weak and indecisive. 

It’s almost impossible to take the Republican Party seriously.  If Democrats didn’t have the Republican Party as a foil, they’d have to invent one.  As it is, the Republican Party is to the Democrats as the Washington Generals are to the Harlem Globetrotters. 

Now, some people will say it only appears that way because the media is biased in favor of Democrats.  The media do tend to ignore a lot of stupid things said by Democrats. The media will also seize every opportunity to make Republicans look foolish. 

But Republicans make it so, so easy.   

Look, it’s one thing to get sucker punched.  It’s another to lean into it.

Democrats may be the party of prevaricating weasels.  But Republicans are the party of posturing buffoons who substitute bluster for leadership.

All Republicans have as a common theme is that they hate Obama.  Aside from that – and that’s not exactly a great platform to run on – they have nothing.  Nada.  Zip.  Zed.  Zero. 

Republicans seem obsessed with crap the vast majority of the general public doesn’t seem to care much about, like Benghazi, Hillary’s e-mails, protecting tax loopholes for corporations and the rich, and the national debt.  They also seem fixated on things most Americans have decided long ago are purely personal issues the government shouldn’t be involved in.  Like gay marriage, school prayer, and whether women should have to right to get an abortion.

That’s not to say that Republicans don’t occasionally come up with some very good ideas that would benefit the country and its citizens.  Even a stopped clock is right twice a day. 

But those laudable ideas get lost in all the huffing and puffing about stuff nobody but the fanatical right and a handful of policy wonks are interested in. Thoughtful, intelligent Republicans, and there are a few, see their good ideas go down in flames at the hands of bomb throwers in their party who intentionally sabotage reasonable legislation by attaching ridiculous unrelated amendments no one would ever agree to.  On purpose. 

Over the years, I’ve tried to figure out why.

The only thing I can come up with is that Republicans want to lose.  As long as they lose they can keep their campaign fund-raising machine churning out the letters and e-mails to their red-meat constituencies to keep the bucks rolling in.

But what about now?  Now that the Republicans have control of the House and Senate – honestly, through no efforts on their part, and certainly not by winning a “battle of ideas” – what can they do?  How can they still continue to claim to be victims when they’ve actually won?  And make no mistake … even though it doesn’t seem like it, they hold substantial majorities in the House and Senate.    

They can’t keep blaming Harry Reid for refusing to bring their bills to the Senate floor.  He doesn’t control that anymore; they do.  Now the Republicans claim they don’t have enough votes in the Senate to override a veto by Obama. That gives them cover to keep whining and complaining about how they need to elect more Republican Senators – and of course, raise more money.

So what’s the point of winning majorities in the House and Senate?  If you are Republicans, there is none.  You still can’t get anything accomplished.  Instead of trying to build a coalition, and getting something useful accomplished, Republicans continue to push legislation they know full-well will fail mainly to provide campaign fund-raising fodder. 

I am beginning to believe that’s what Republican Party leaders want.  If they truly wanted to push through their legislation, McConnell would pull a Harry Reid and change the rules of the Senate to get rid of the supermajority requirement to pass legislation without fear of a filibuster.  But he won’t; instead, he’ll hide behind a “tradition” already broken by Reid and the Democrats to avoid having to assume responsibility for anything.  He’ll be a gentleman, a statesman, while Democrats laugh their asses off at his temerity. 

The comedian Lewis Black once said the main problem with U.S. politics was Republicans saying “I’ve got a really shitty idea,” and Democrats saying “Oh yeah? Well I can make it shittier!” Now, Republicans don’t even have a shitty idea; they have absolutely no ideas anyone except themselves is interested in seeing become the law of the land. 

They’ve earned the antipathy of the voting public.    

Rush Limbaugh – someone I can take in only very small doses – once offered a theory that the only reason Republicans ever get control of the House, Senate, or the Presidency is because Democrats screw up.  In short, Republicans get elected to punish Democrats who’ve gone too far.  As soon as Republicans get things running well again, the public feels safe in electing Democrats again. 

The problem for Republicans today is that they’ve been elected to punish Democrats and Obama for going too far, not because Republicans have better ideas.  They need to understand that and make the most of the brief time they are in charge, because they lack the will or the ideas to fix things and retain power.  If they don’t do real stuff right now to fix the economy, immigration, and defense – and avoid all the other BS issues like gay marriage, abortion, and school prayer – they’ll all be out in the next election cycle with no one to blame but themselves. 

That’s the cold, hard truth for Republicans.