Why are Democrats like Biden still defending Republican politicians?

[Nevilledog]

Link to tweet

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/feb/22/why-are-democrats-like-biden-still-defending-republican-politicians?CMP=twt_b-usopinion_c-us

Over the past few weeks, President Joe Biden has repeatedly emphasized his friendship with Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell. At the National Prayer Breakfast in early February, for instance, he praised McConnell as “a man of your word. And you’re a man of honor. Thank you for being my friend.”

Biden’s publicly professed affinity is weirdly at odds with the political situation. Going back to the Obama era, McConnell has led the Republican Party in a strategy of near-total obstruction which he has pursued with ruthless cynicism. It is true that he has, at times, signaled distance to Donald Trump and condemned the January 6 insurrection. But McConnell is also sabotaging any effort to counter the Republican party’s ongoing authoritarian assault on the political system.

The distinct asymmetry in the way the two sides treat each other extends well beyond Biden and McConnell. Republicans immediately derided Biden’s pledge to nominate a Black woman to the Supreme Court – while Democratic leaders are hoping for bipartisan support; House Speaker Nancy Pelosi insists the nation needs a strong Republican party – meanwhile radicals like Marjorie Taylor Greene and Paul Gosar, who fantasize about committing acts of violence against Democrats, are embraced by fellow Republicans, proving they are not just a extremist fringe that has “hijacked” the Party, as Pelosi suggested. And when Texas senator Ted Cruz recently intimated that Republicans would impeach Biden if they were to retake the House “whether it’s justified or not,” the White House responded by calling on Cruz to “work with us on getting something done.”

Republicans could not be clearer about the fact that they consider Democratic governance fundamentally illegitimate, yet some establishment Democrats act as if politics as usual is still an option and a return to “normalcy” imminent.

*snip*

[Lovie777]

1. Because he is the people's president . ....

and he does see some good in some of them.

[lagomorph777]

6. He's wrong.

Joe is a good man, but somebody needs to disillusion him. Anybody still in the Reptilian Party is evil all the way through. They are America's worst enemies.

[Budi]

2. Biden's immortal skill of the bluff.

If Biden 'likes' McConnell the R cult will have to hate McConnell.

[okaawhatever]

10. That is what I was thinking. nt

[Uncle Joe]

3. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread Nevilledog.

[KPN]

4. There are a lot of voters who ask themselves this question. The reason: they can't understand it

given the obvious reality. It's hard to rationalize comity in response to being intentionally f'd over. That's just the way a lot of voters see it.

Me ... I think Joe is just acting like Joe Biden. It is who he is ... a decent guy who goes the extra mile to fund win-win solutions. That is admirable in itself. Only time and history will tell whether it's beneficial and whether it served democracy and our country well.

[kacekwl]

5. For now we

should watch what President Biden does not so much what he says to repukes.

[maxsolomon]

7. Comity.

These are the things you say to keep the doors open to negotiation. The high road.

[aocommunalpunch]

8. It's not politically smart.

Run yourself in rings to defend it, but it doesn’t bring any of the opposition to your side and demoralizes your own base. There is no excuse whatsoever. They had years to see this coming. It’s negligent.

[Carlitos Brigante]

9. K&R! nt