"Congress in the Lead" does present one truth in the midst of all its fiction: President Obama did break no new ground in his seminar, I mean speech, to the nation on Monday night. But for Mr. Brooks to point an accusing finger at the president for "losing his cool" after Mr. Boehner took his toys and left the room on Friday, or for precipitating this crisis for failing to be forthcoming with specifics of the negotiations in real time, is ludicrous.
The Republicans have fashioned a monster of their own choosing by artificially selecting a procedural step of ratifying our pre-existing obligations as a substantive line in the sand. This never had to be, and never was in the past anything but pro-forma acceptance of an already established reality. Once they had manufactured their Frankenstein-like vision, the most right wing of the right wing took control of the message and pushed this discussion far away from the real dilemma of lost jobs, mortgage foreclosures and massive disproportionate wealth in this country. The Tea Party creation of a debt "crisis" became its own reality.
And now, as they have brought this country and this President to the brink, Mr. Brooks finds the fault lies not with this party who contemplates and threatens us with the unthinkable. Rather, he criticizes the President for both not being forthcoming and then being forthcoming.
If Mr. Brooks believes that Congress is in the lead on this matter, he is badly mistaken. The sad truth is that no one is in control of this monster. We are all, sick, tired and scared of where this Republican debacle may lead. Sorry, Mr. Brooks if the president is a little testy. Get over it.
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