As he made a discombobulated, shaky case for why Democrats were somehow responsible for Republicans’ failure of leadership, and fretted about Al-Qaeda coming after us while we were shutdown, Senator John McCain (R-AZ) huffed on CBS’ Face the Nation that Democrats better stop humiliating Republicans. He tried to sound scary from beneath the pin of GOP defeat, “Democrats better understand something, what goes around comes around!” So there. NEENER NEENER.
Watch John McCain in a Face the Nation clip via CBS here:
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“Al-Qaeda is not in shutdown!” Senator McCain, King of Fear-Mongering, intoned on Face the Nation. You’d almost think he was working for Democrats; however, he tried to lay our vulnerability and inability to defend ourselves at Democrats’ feet for being unwilling to let Republicans abuse the country. Mean old Dems.
John McCain has a warning for you!
“Democrats better understand something, what goes around comes around! And if they try to humiliate Republicans, things change in American politics, and I know what it’s like to be in the majority and the minority and it won’t be forgotten. Now is the time to be magnanimous!”
So there you have the best spin Republicans can put on their twin manufactured crises of shutdown and default. Democrats had better cave or else Republicans won’t be nice when they are in power.
Oh. So scary.
To clarify, are Republicans being “magnanimous” now? Because it’s been five years of Republicans calling Obama a terrorist, asking for his birth certificate, and shouting about impeaching him because of his skin color. They’ve crapped all over his nominations and stalled his entire agenda. In McCain’s chamber, Republicans as the minority have set records for filibustering. In the House, they have set the record for pretend votes to repeal ObamaCare. So, this is “magnanimous”, eh?
Democrats better watch out! When Republicans are in charge, they aren’t going to be magnanimous to Democrats. No more “you’re either with us or against us” or “you’re a terrorist if you don’t vote to invade Iraq” niceness.
John McCain and Republicans are banking on the public falling for this ruse that Republicans are the generous, magnanimous party and they are further banking on the idea that Democrats will buy into the very LIBERAL IDEA that negotiations are a function of reciprocity.
But Republicans do not function under the value of reciprocity. They function under the paradigm of power over or power under, which means every new power struggle (as they see it, or “negotiation” as Democrats see it) is an opportunity to take more control. Republicans are all about taking control even if it wasn’t given to them by the voters. They don’t give nice points for good behavior. They reward callous ruthlessness and then they crow about survival of the fittest, so Democrats have nothing to fear.
Also, Republicans are doing a fine job of humiliating themselves and they don’t seem to require any help. Democrats aren’t trying to humiliate Republicans when they ask Republicans to stop threatening the country, and only a party of defiant juveniles would see being asked to do their jobs that way.
There is no way to negotiate Republicans into playing fair or treating talks as a form of compromise where both sides give. These are not the old school Republicans. These are the Republicans born of their party’s refusal to admit their failures post-Bush. They make no sense, and they have no values. They can’t afford to have values because they haven’t the spine to admit that they sold out under Bush and still haven’t taken back “fiscal conservatism” or “keeping the country safe”.
Since the Republican Party can’t get its act together and is on the verge of a major meltdown between the House and Senate, they’re begging Democrats for mercy. Because they are Republicans, they don’t do this nicely or offer concessions in order to entice mercy. Instead they threaten if they don’t get mercy, everyone will pay next time around. This from the party that is currently threatening to destroy the global economy.
Yeah, Republicans already played that card, so Democrats have nothing to fear. To make matters worse for Republicans, Democrats are in the right, as they are defending the country against a Constitutional crisis manufactured by the “law and order” party of old.
John McCain was basically crying “Uncle” Republican style– that’s where you still point your finger at the other guy and cry that he’s done you wrong while you beg him to help you, because insulting people is always a win when you’re demanding that they not humiliate you.
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