The GOP Has Become Completely Parasitic

Like a tapeworm, 95% or more of it is geared toward reproduction and it's asymptotically approaching 100%. This to the point that they can't even tell when they're losing - see Romney, 2012 election, since they don't even have metabolism free for such a task. When it comes to policy, that's been outsourced to big business. So when a Republican makes any sort or argument for a policy, it's important to consider that it isn't well thought-out, and probably isn't thought-out at all.

So as we head into the default on the debt, arguments about what kind of damage it will do, who it will hurt, or why, perhaps, it's a bad idea aren't going to get anywhere. I'm not even sure polls will do the job, since Republicans appear to simply shield out that information. The only people who can be at all persuasive are going to be the ultra-rich or well-connected corporations.

When the polls showed people not liking the shutdown, the Repubs blamed Cruz for leading them where, honestly, they wanted to go anyway. Now, it appears they're just doubling down on a failing strategy - a surge if you will - with the default. I think, in his first term, Obama may have wanted to steer the GOP back to a rational course, which is why he tried so hard to work with them. I believe that we need (at least) two functioning parties to bounce ideas off each other, rather than to just have one, unchallenged line of thought. Unfortunately, the GOP doesn't have thoughts and produces no thoughtful arguments, so Obama has probably decided it's not worth saving.

May we live in interesting times.

P.S. Don't read Krugman in the NYT before going to bed.