Well, So Much For the Idea That Obama Is Reponsible for DC Gridlock

One of my pet peeves over the last few years is the bullshit notion that gridlock in Washington DC is the fault of both sides.  These couple of paragraphs from a recent USA Today article totally blow such fuckery out of the water:

When Obama played golf with Boehner a few years ago, he was criticized for only playing with him once. But it turns out that wasn't his fault. Boehner told the Naples group they had a "nice" game but he declined a couple of subsequent invitations in order to avoid irritating his "band of renegades" (his description of some of his fellow Republicans).

The exchange with Obama went like this, according to Boehner: "You think it would be too much trouble if we played golf again?" "Yes, Mr. President, I think it would be." To the audience, he added, "You just can't believe the grief I got."

Steve Benen notes that the President was simply "trying to cultivate a relationship with the then-House leader," but couldn't play golf with him anymore "because House Republicans were outraged."

House Republicans were outraged the Speaker of the House was socializing with America's first Black president. Of course, the former Speaker should have told these assholes to go fuck themselves, but standing up to the Baggers was never one of Boehner's strong suits.

The reason Republicans are intentionally causing gridlock is because it plays into their long-term strategy to destroy government. Sure, it makes them look like worthless pieces of America-hating shit in the short term, but the ultimate effect of what they are doing is that people trust government less and less because they continually see it as ineffective.  And that's just the way the Republicans want it.