Blame?

The Republican's can't.

The public doesn't.

So what will the "progressives" do? Matt Osborne frames the choices...

There are two ways progressives can react: (A) use the next three months as an opportunity to drive teabaggery to the margins by agitating for change with Congress as their focus, or (B) bitch about Obama some more to make their irrelevance complete.

I vote (A).

An answer, perhaps…

…to one of the questions that occurred below…


Hat tip to Anne Laurie.

Truth…

…the whole truth and nothing but the truth, from the Once and Future Speaker...

"This isn't about deficit reduction, this is about dismantling the public sector."

Yes, it is.

The problem…

…isn't the relative quality of the Democratic spine, or President Obama's facility at negotiation, or who or what is right or wrong. Here, via Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS), is the problem...

"It has always been a straight up or down vote. The new leadership in the House has decided that they want to add some budget cuts or other considerations to this vote, because that is their preference, and they are the leadership, so we are in this quagmire."

As far as the debt ceiling is concerned, we have a problem because the Republicans decided they wanted a problem. You might ask why, but the important question is what, as in what is "the single most important thing" they want to achieve. That's the lens to view every Republican action and statement through.

They call it politics. Some, to coin a phrase, call it treason.

Happy Monday!

Clinton confident...

NFL optimistic...

…and there's heartwarming news from hither and yon.

Feel better now?

Hammer, nail…

…BANG! James Fallows passes along a note from a reader...

All you have to do is ask yourself, "What would that sneaky little two-faced twerp Eddie Haskell do in this situation?" And the answer will never be far from Cantor's behavior.

It works!

From the "Not exactly news" file.

You can fool some of the people...

Stupidity has consequences.

Eric Cantor is a bad sport.

So, if all we get out of the deal...

...is an increase in the debt ceiling, isn't that pretty much all we wanted?

Might be something to that mulit-dimensional chess stuff after all...

Seems to me…

…that you can get "several Republican and Democratic sources" to say just about anything, especially off the record.

Just sayin'...

Chart of the day.

Via Ezra Klein...



Hat tip to Howie.

Quote of the day.

Robert Reich...

The Republican plan shouldn't be considered one side of a great debate. It shouldn't be considered at all.

He's talking about the budget plan, but the idea is worthy of more general, indeed universal, application.

From the "Me neither" file.

President Obama...

"I'm not yet prepared to express wild optimism."

Me neither.