Articulating the Unspeakable

These two, at least, made me feel not despair but anger and determination:

Jack Stuef at Wonkette:

The deal is done. Barack Obama decided to compromise. So, once again, Republicans get what they want, and can pretend they are mildly unhappy with it. All of their dumb old tax cuts, extended two years. They even got a cut in the estate tax. According to Obama, it was more important to save the middle class from slightly higher taxes for a bit and secure more aid to the unemployed than to make the Republican Party actually stand up and suffer for their positions. Barack Obama has just endorsed the domestic policy of George W. Bush in one area. And if his decision is to set aside his policy positions in favor of a smoother-running country, Republicans can expect a whole lot more of their agenda to be passed by the White House the next couple of years. Ronald Reagan has such a huge heaven boner right now.

White House officials said they feared a long standoff that would see benefits end for millions of Americans over the holiday season and in the months ahead.

They feared that? They didn’t relish a fight that would embarrass the Republican Party and earn themselves back the trust of the public on the economy? They feared that? Either these guys believe in their own policy or they believe in Republican policy. If they’re not willing to fight for their positions, they may as well just put a Republican administration in there. Do these guys know how politics works? You are supposed to fight for what you believe in. That is sort of the point. You are supposed to think your ideas are better than the other guy’s!

But [Obama] said he was determined to prevent a stalemate that would let taxes rise for everyone when the Bush-era rates are set to expire at the end of the month. “I am not willing to let working families across this country become collateral damage for political warfare here in Washington,” Mr. Obama said.

Interesting. Working families will be destroyed if there’s gridlock, according to this man. Working families will explode. They will fly into the air in a million pieces of charred human flesh. When you capitulate to enemies who want to destroy your countrymen, that is known as appeasement. Interesting historical choice on this, THE DAY OF INFAMY, BRO.

And the Rude Pundit, whose title says it all:

Compromise After Compromise Is Just Defeat After Defeat

Yes, compromise supporters are correct that an extension of unemployment insurance for 13 months to those whose benefits are just running out (but not those whose ran out before now) is a good thing. And the only thing one can say to that is that the GOP sure fucking outgunned the Democrats without ever firing a shot. This is the end result of nearly two years of nonstop capitulation. Was there a single speech by the President where he said that Republicans were keeping food from the mouths of poor children in order for rich people to give their kids cars with sweeter rims? No, and that's because the poor are always the pawns, man, readily sacrificed until they're really needed. There were ways to have this fight. Get governors involved because a shift of 2 million people off unemployment would have meant a fuck of a lot of people needing public services mostly provided by overburdened, under-revenued states. Take the fight big and open instead of small and backroom.

As far as compromises go, what would Republicans give up? The word "permanent"? That's about it. And what would Democrats give up? One of the major planks of their platform. Fuck, this doesn't even include a vote on Don't Ask, Don't Tell. And it ain't even definite that Republicans are gonna support the extension of unemployment because they're just motherfuckers.

SNIP

Sorry, dear, sweet, strong Obama supporters. But congressional Democrats should rebel. They should tell Joe Biden today that it ain't gonna happen, that Mitch McConnell can shove it up his ass, that the minority leader needs to explain to America why it's more important to give the wealthy several hundred billion dollars in tax relief rather than extend unemployment, which would cost less then five months of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. In fact, Nancy Pelosi should donate some of her spine to the President and tell him to join with them. How many more times does this happen? If Obama is willing to cave so quickly with Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress, what's he gonna do with a Republican House abetting a filibustering Senate minority?

The Rude Pundit fears, though, ah, Christ, he fears that we've been cornered again, the cat too afraid to lash out at the rats. Even in defeat (and it was defeat), even while saying that Republicans were wrong, President Obama took a swipe at the left: "The American people didn’t send us here to wage symbolic battles or win symbolic victories." No, we didn't. But one of the reasons we sent you there was because you said, over and over and over, that you'd make the undertaxed, over-loopholed wealthy pay a couple of percent more of their income in order to secure the blessings of liberty for the entire nation.