And a Brief Reflection on the Republicans

I am too lazy to link now, but recent focus groups have found Republicans to be in trouble.  It appears that swing voters have developed a lot of unfavorable associations with them (with the Democrats, too, but not as many).  But the one thing they were associated with more than any was "rigid."  And how surprising is that, really?  When a group of people let it be known that they will never compromise, never yield the tiniest point to get anything done, that they equate obnoxiousness with principle and cooperation with weakness, sooner or later people will start to notice and brand them as unduly rigid.

Republicans' strategy all along has been to seize the whole political process hostage and warn the American people -- give power to us or we will make this country ungovernable.  They assumed the American people would give power to them, out of fear of the country being ungovernable.  It is starting to appear that instead, the American people have noticed that one party seems to want to make the country ungovernable and decided that they shouldn't be trusted to govern.  Go figure!