> By design, Congress is unable to do anything. It's either one party (always the same party) being completely obstructionist, even other presidential appointments, or if a rotating villain who defects and stops any meaningful legislation.
Don't pretend like the Democrats wouldn't be just as obstructionist if it suited their political objectives.
What we actually have is lack of consensus, and excessively polarized factions that are unwilling to budge to create a consensus (or rather waste their energy making a great deal of noise on non-consensus issues and nonstarters and bickering with each other).
> Don't pretend like the Democrats wouldn't be just as obstructionist if it suited their political objectives.
So if someone throws a stone at you, you might reasonably be tempted to throw a stone back. If called up on this, you might be tempted to say "he started it". Legally speaking, that might or might not be a defense.
What if instead you throw a stone at someone and justify it with "he was going to throw a stone at me"? Would you consider that a sound defense?
Take it further. Your defense becomes "he would've thrown a stone at me if he had the option so I had to throw the stone at him". No reasonable person would respect that argument.
So why is the hypothetical "Democrats would block a Supreme Court nomination if they had the chance" reasonable to you?
> Don't pretend like the Democrats wouldn't be just as obstructionist if it suited their political objectives.
And this is exactly what they did when Trump was in office! Their motto was “#resist” for crying out loud. Sheesh, right now TikTok is on the verge of being banned, something that they were completely against when Trump wanted to do it. Bad idea when Trump wants it, good idea when Biden does.
Just be honest folks, it’s truly a “both sides” thing. And honestly, political gridlock is a good thing. Most of the people here on HN quickly forget how valuable it is when it’s the side YOU don’t like ramming legislation through.
Don't pretend like the Democrats wouldn't be just as obstructionist if it suited their political objectives.
What we actually have is lack of consensus, and excessively polarized factions that are unwilling to budge to create a consensus (or rather waste their energy making a great deal of noise on non-consensus issues and nonstarters and bickering with each other).