Republicans

I see that Michael Steele said something about how he's trying to get an elephant out that's stuck in its own mire. That's a pretty good image. They're definitely stuck.

In addition, there's hopeful signs -- if you think having a "loyal opposition" is a good thing, instead of just having an opposition, destructive and unhelpful. Two other Republicans or guys on that side somewhere, David Frum and Newt Gingrich, are standing up to Rush. Frum in a Newsweek column, of which I've only read a few lines. Just going by memory, it seems like he had some negative things to say about the R's chances in 2008 and glimpsed realism at that time somewhere. Newt in a TV interview. Newt's of course all over the place. Not usually in a good place, but this sounds more positive. He thinks it's "irrational" to want the president to fail, and that's true.

I presume the Republicans want to reclaim power at some point, and that they want there to be something left for them to reclaim, that they're not looking for an apocalyptic field somewhere that's nothing but dead limbs and bodies. If that's what they want to have authority over, then they have every reason to want misery. If they want to take power and start from a position other than the bottom rung of the ladder, then they need to hope and act for the best. Since Obama is the actual president now, and will be for the next few years at least, if things are going to happen anyway they should have a positive outcome.

The big dilemma for them, of course, is if things are too good, then Obama and the Democrats sail through again. I suppose every opposition wants a varying level of success on the other side, or to be in a position to claim half or more of the credit. If I were a Republican (which won't happen), I would be coming up with policies that sounded credible, trying to do things in a partnership of sorts, and keeping track of what credit was due us. It sounds rational.

I don't like the current brand of politics. It's too destructive. I want Obama to succeed for many reasons. One, I like him. Two, it's for our common good, so people aren't suffering as much. How hard's that?