(cross-twatterized) So what?
Okay, assume Congress has a new, Republican Speaker in January, who immediately sets out to impeach the President.
So what? A Republican Speaker was going to use any means at his disposal, including Bachmann's loony (but effective) idea of wasting the taxpayers' money on endless subpoenas, instead of making good laws and revising/unmaking bad ones, to stall the Presidential/Democratic agenda. That is what many of the people (hardly a majority of course) who vote for them really will want them to do.
And again I say, so what? The net result of impeachment, endless subpoenaeing, or just stubborn, childish "Party of Hell, no!" whining and pouting will be the same: most of the Democratic agenda will remain stalled in committee and practically nothing else will happen. There is simply nothing that the President/Executive Branch has done that will survive a trial in the Senate, except for the Presidential agenda, and the President's reputation. That will come through stained, but completely intact.
Second-term President Obama, then, would likely see a turnaround to single-party rule again with his midterms, presuming the Republican Congress behaves as stupidly, and as shamefully, as the real loons (like Bachmann and O'Donnell) who are candidates now, are elected and re-elected, and behave the same way they do on the campaign trail. I'm honestly not a big fan of single-party rule, but I am less a fan of childish, ignorant people being elected to public office, and right now, that's who the Republican party seems to want to vote for. Find me a grownup, pin an American flag on his/her lapel, and set her to work for the public good. I don't give a damn who your party is. Republicans lately, are signally failing to do that, and Democrats lately, are succeeding.
I for one, prefer to vote for success.
And to anyone who votes for failure, or impeachment, or endless intragovernment wankery (will there be a new segment of JournalFen for Republican-Democrsatic grudgewank if this ridiculous impeachment notion comes to fruition?) I say, grow up. Embrace self-interest, learn that altruism is often in your own interest as well, and learn that competing in the market is often both easier and far more effective if we have a government that works to make that market fair and open (sorry, farmers; that means your subsidies are likely to go down. Good news, manufacturers; that means you'll likely see lower tariffs overseas.)
So what? A Republican Speaker was going to use any means at his disposal, including Bachmann's loony (but effective) idea of wasting the taxpayers' money on endless subpoenas, instead of making good laws and revising/unmaking bad ones, to stall the Presidential/Democratic agenda. That is what many of the people (hardly a majority of course) who vote for them really will want them to do.
And again I say, so what? The net result of impeachment, endless subpoenaeing, or just stubborn, childish "Party of Hell, no!" whining and pouting will be the same: most of the Democratic agenda will remain stalled in committee and practically nothing else will happen. There is simply nothing that the President/Executive Branch has done that will survive a trial in the Senate, except for the Presidential agenda, and the President's reputation. That will come through stained, but completely intact.
Second-term President Obama, then, would likely see a turnaround to single-party rule again with his midterms, presuming the Republican Congress behaves as stupidly, and as shamefully, as the real loons (like Bachmann and O'Donnell) who are candidates now, are elected and re-elected, and behave the same way they do on the campaign trail. I'm honestly not a big fan of single-party rule, but I am less a fan of childish, ignorant people being elected to public office, and right now, that's who the Republican party seems to want to vote for. Find me a grownup, pin an American flag on his/her lapel, and set her to work for the public good. I don't give a damn who your party is. Republicans lately, are signally failing to do that, and Democrats lately, are succeeding.
I for one, prefer to vote for success.
And to anyone who votes for failure, or impeachment, or endless intragovernment wankery (will there be a new segment of JournalFen for Republican-Democrsatic grudgewank if this ridiculous impeachment notion comes to fruition?) I say, grow up. Embrace self-interest, learn that altruism is often in your own interest as well, and learn that competing in the market is often both easier and far more effective if we have a government that works to make that market fair and open (sorry, farmers; that means your subsidies are likely to go down. Good news, manufacturers; that means you'll likely see lower tariffs overseas.)