A Disdain for Governing

Purposeful penquins on the march? Or stranded whales on the beach?

The leviathans of the GOP have boldly swum themselves onto this patch of dry sand, and it won't be easy for them to get back to open ocean.

So says David Ignatius in the Washington Post, who offers this analysis of the ruling party's current woes:

What's interesting is that most of these wounds are self-inflicted. They draw a picture of a party that, for all its seeming dominance, isn't prepared to be the nation's governing party. The hard right, which is the soul of the modern GOP, would rather be ideologically pure than successful. Governing requires making compromises and getting your hands dirty, but the conservative purists disdain those qualities. They swim for that beach with a fiercely misguided determination, and they demand that the other whales accompany them.

This same disdain for governing has informed many of the GOP's decisions over the last five years: Tax cuts will create a deficit? They either argue that the opposite is true (in the face of historical evidence) or simply accept deficits as confirmation of their prejudice that government is too large. Giveaways to corporate interests? Hey, the private sector is more efficient than government. Cronyism in federal appointments? Well, the job isn't that important anyway. State Department professionals cite a lack of evidence for WMDs or ties to Al Qaeda in Iraq? Just show resolve and stay the course.