It's the oldest rule of war, because you'll never be able to defeat him otherwise:
Ultimately they themselves are going to have to say we'll do the right thing...There are members in the Senate right now and I suspect members in the House as well who understand that deep down, but they're worried about their politics. It's tough. Their base thinks that compromise would mean somehow a betrayal. They're worried about primaries and I understand all that. And we're going to try to do everything we can to create a permission structure to do what's best for the country.
At this point I've disabused myself of the notion that this President is possessed of any genuine partisan beliefs he's willing to fight to the finish for---except, perhaps, during election season, when they make compelling talking points in campaign speeches---but you would think after all this time that he'd have finally realized what the rest of have known from the minute he took office: That the opposition wasn't, and isn't, some principled adversary that has the nation's best interests at heart. They weren't, and aren't, good-faith negotiators. They weren't, and aren't, people who could be reasoned with. That's because they're not reasonable people, because they aren't surrogates for the crazy people or conduits for the crazy people---they are the crazy people, and acting crazy is what got them a ticket to Washington in the first place.
Maybe the President sincerely believes that somehow, some way, that he'll be able to break their spell of craziness, that they'll all be able to break bread together and write sensible policy someday, and if that's the case, then history will decide whether the President was either a naif, a narcissist, or some combination thereof. But before he departs Washington, he really should spend a little more time, you know, listening to the radio or watching a little TV. It might provide him with a bit more insight into the psyches of the people he's trying to deal with. Just a suggestion!
---Baron V
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