US politics: It’s Even Worse Than It Looks

Thomas Mann, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, and American Enterprise Institute scholar,Norman Ornstein, appeared on MSNBC’s Now with Alex Wagner.  


They have a new book, It’s Even Worse Than It Looks: How The American Constitutional System Collided with the New Politics of Extremism. 


 The authors find that both parties have shifted closer to their respective extremes.


 The GOP that has become so extreme that it is becoming unstable. 


Ornstien sated: 


The Democratic Party has probably moved from around its own 40 yard line to its figurative 25. The Republican party is sharply behind its own goalposts now. 


Rightardia has been talking about this since we started publication. The GOP has, in fact, descended into fascism, a synonym for corporatism.

We don't think the Democrats are on the 25 year line, but closer to the 40. The Congressional Progressive Caucus has 76 members and only one is a Senator, Bernie Sanders. Sanders isn't even a Democrat. 

There are currently 190 Democrats in the House so the majority of Democrats are not progressive. 

Keep in mind that liberalism is an older 18th century philosophy that is centrist. There is only one socialist in the congress: Bernie Sanders. There is no labor caucus in the Democratic Party either. 

Rightrdia doe not think a coherent left exists in the US that is remotely equivalent to the Labour party in the UK or the Social Democrats in Germany.  

Where is the middle is the question

If the Democrats are on the 40 yard line and the Republicans are making a goal line stand. the middle is on the 30 year line. 

If the Democrats are on the 25 yard line. the middle would be about the 38 year line. 

But the Republicans don't want to play ball that close to mid-field.

What would jar the GOP out of their fascist stupor? 

The only thing would be a crushing defeat in 2012 in which Democrats took both houses of congress and the presidency. 

As Rightardia sees it, Obama will be reelected and the Democrats may retake the House. If the Democratic victory is large enough, the Dems may be able to hold the Senate. Intrade suggests otherwise.

One bright spot in the Senate is FL Senator Bill Nelson: 

see the complete article at: http://www.mediaite.com/tv/on-msnbc-authors-of-anti-republican-book-lay-blame-on-gop-for-polarized-politics/

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