Abbreviated Pundit Roundup: Don't feel noways tired
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Let’s dig right in! Paul Krugman of The New York Times says that Republicans are “actively working to make the country ungovernable.” To some extent it surely reflects a coldly cynical political calculation. Voters tend to blame whichever pAbbreviated Pundit Roundup: Don't feel noways tired
Let’s dig right in! Paul Krugman of The New York Times says that Republicans are “actively working to make the country ungovernable.” To some extent it surely reflects a coldly cynical political calculation. Voters tend to blame whichever party holds the White House for anything bad that happens on its watch, which creates an incentive for a sufficiently ruthless party to engage in outright sabotage. Sure enough, Republicans who fought all efforts to contain the coronavirus are now attacking the Biden administration for failing to end the pandemic. But trying to shut down the government to block vaccinations seems like overreach, even for hardened cynics. It’s notable that Mitch McConnell, whom nobody could accuse of being a do-gooder, isn’t part of the anti-vaccine caucus. What seems to be happening instead goes beyond cold calculation. As I’ve pointed out in the past, Republican politicians now act like apparatchiks in an authoritarian regime, competing to take ever more extreme positions as a way to demonstrate their loyalty to the cause — and to The Leader. Catering to anti-vaccine hysteria, doing all they can to keep the pandemic going, has become something Republicans do to remain in good standing within the party. The result is that one of America’s two major political parties isn’t just refusing to help the nation deal with its problems; it’s actively working to make the country ungovernable. Read more
