Right-wing obstruction could have been fought: An ineffective and gutless presidency’s legacy

[BumRushDaShow]

253. I agree that calling their bluff

was something that the GOP didn't anticipate, but probably half of DU didn't either. But it took almost 3 weeks of people like me being furloughed ("sacrificed" for "principle&quot before the GOP "retreated", as they began to try to cherry-pick funding certain functions not realizing those functions needed other unfunded functions to be there to operate. Meanwhile their corporate media machine worked overtime to cushion the blow from their stupidity, furiously highlighting the delightful reading of Dr. Seuss while hundreds of thousands were sentenced to a silent journey of unknown length without a paycheck. And doing so with the wrath of the GOP hate machine further denigrating the roles of the government worker.

The compromise 1-year extension of unemployment insurance was a blessing for those long-term unemployed in 2011, but it became a bashing point from the left because of single-issue principles and not thinking in terms of the very people (unemployed) who would benefit - even if for the short term during the prolonged downturn.

The fact that Harry Reid had to invoke the nuclear option in order to get confirmations moving again, is a case in point as to how far they were willing to go to cut off their noses to spite their face. So as an example, thankfully we now have ALL of the judges in the D.C. circuit confirmed, that have gone unfilled for far too long, and that court will cover some issues extremely important to Democrats.