By the way, WTF is happening to America is a major political party that isn't the Democrats being so incredibly partisan that it would rather destroy the government than cede control, even though it represents a shrinking minority of the citizenry. The exemplars provided nicely make the point, as Rick has so thoroughly illustrated.

My wish, actually, would be to see a GOPartisan actually take his party to task for its behavior. For instance, wouldn't it be better to address the elephant in the room, a minority of the minority holding its own party hostage by threatening a government shutdown by tying the budget to a measure that has failed 40+ times already? Or using a budgetary gimmick (debt ceiling) to destroy the economy, rather than let the perception that Obama has succeeded at anything see the light of day. I find myself defending the administration against the most ridiculous tripe, when it would be far more interesting to debate the details of policy - many of which I disagree with.

Doug has, on many occasions, railed against the partisanship. Here's where I see a genuine difference, and why he and I often disagree about the label. I firmly and truly believe that Obama is trying to do the right thing - to get the parties together, to find compromise, to represent all Americans, to further an inclusive agenda. I see little of that in the Republican party, except sporatic, desperate attempts by Speaker Boehner to save face. I think his motivations are also, by the way, more genuine than the majority of his colleagues.

By all means, we should root out the desperate fringes of partisanship that are destroying America. But let's start with the worst offenders, and anyone with a shred of honesty left knows who they are.

A well reasoned argument is like a diamond: impervious to corruption and crystal clear - and infinitely rarer.

Here, as elsewhere, people are outraged at what feels like a rigged game -- an economy that won't respond, a democracy that won't listen, and a financial sector that holds all the cards. - Robert Reich