‘Disingenuous calls for cooperation’

I’m encouraged that Marc A. Thiessen accepts Joe Biden as his president, but his criticism of how the left treated Donald Trump demonstrates a very selective memory.

Mitch McConnell openly declared his mission was to sabotage the Obama presidency, and he mostly succeeded, especially regarding the judiciary. Beginning with Newt Gingrich, Charles Koch and his cabal of billionaires that constitute the largest Republican donors has demanded a pledge never to compromise as a condition for election funding, and they back this up with primary threats. Koch also financed the technical support for the most successful gerrymandering operation in history. This has stacked the Republican controlled Senate with obedient minions taking direction from McConnell, Koch’s cashier.

Democrats tried cooperation before. Thinking something is better than nothing, they took the Republican heath care plan know as Romney Care and nationalized it as the ACA, better known as Obama Care, thinking yielding to Republican demands for a market-based approach would win their cooperation. Republicans soon revealed winning was more important than the needs of the nation, and they turned against their own plan.

Since Democrats took their best idea, they since have been impotent in providing a better plan to replace it. The lesson from Obamacare is that valuable time was wasted seeking cooperation from Republicans, time that might have provided immigration reform. If Republicans want to have some influence, they cannot approach this like they are negotiating a surrender. From day one, procedural tricks already have been used to obstruct consent for Biden’s cabinet nominations, apparently out of sheer spite.

This is a warning of things to come, which likely will be a “fool me twice” situation with more disingenuous calls for cooperation. Shame on Democrats if they waste another opportunity.

Dennis L. Green Farmington Hills