The Big Lie

("The Upside of Opportunism")

It is the Big Lie. It is the tale that the Republican party likes to tell so it can be trusted. It is the fable that this is a party that is, at its core, flexible and reasonable and will, once in control, shed all the right wing babble and settle into policies that make the centrist comfortable. It is simply a lie.

Congress is the tail that wags this dog . Mitt Romney is not  now nor never will be the center of this universe. The Tea  Party is where the power and the platform resides.  Exhibit A was the emasculation of John Boehner, the putative leader of the House Republicans as he was forced by his own to backtrack from statements made in attempting to negotiate the Grand Bargain.

Yes, it is true that if President Obama is back for a second term, he will face more of the same and his accomplishments may be muted. But what he will not do , and will never permit, is the destruction that will inevitably follow a Republican ascension. There will be no overturning of health care reform on day one, no decimation of  the poor, no trickle down economic debacle and no safe haven for the most well to do to get even better to do.
 
Mr. Brooks is too clever by half in suggesting that the Republican party be rewarded for 4 years of despicable behavior with the keys to the kingdom, so that they will stop being who they are. It is tortured logic both harmful and full of deceit.