. . . then you could credibly view republican efforts to derail this presidency as some normal political imperative of an opposition party. But, their efforts weren't against an anti-government, corporatist, anti-constitutional, anti-minority, anti-women, anti-gay, anti-environmental, or militarist administration. Their efforts were against a presidency which aspired to what most Democrats accept as a sincere reflection of what they regard as humanist and progressive. Their intentions were to elevate their objectionable, dangerous, discriminatory, damaging, and thieving agenda over the needs and concerns that a clear majority of Americans were anxious and desperate to advance.
The fact that this President sought to include republican initiatives in legislation was more of a reflection of the political realities of a divided government than it was just some arbitrary appeasement. We can argue that a more confrontational approach would have yielded better results, but, to your point, we're not really talking about Democratic obstruction of some agenda desired or required by some majority of Americans.
In fact, many of the initiatives Democrats do obstruct are designed for the benefit of narrow, corporate interests; quite different from republican efforts, so I don't see proof of the equivalency you're expressing.
More importantly, we can see the petty and personal outlines of that initial opposition which has persisted throughout the term. Much of it is, as I express in a post above, heavily tinged with racial overtones, and, in some cases, outright racial slurs. This isn't just politics which Democrats should look to emulate in some way. It's a special brand of republican disunion from the needs and desires of the majority of Americans which seeks to divide on the basis of our differences alone, just for these politicians' personal political gain. It has very little to do with policy and everything to do with their hunger for power and their corporatist mission to neuter government for all but the Defense industry and whatever lines their pockets with our tax dollars.
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