The Abyss Stares Back At Frum

(Via Yggy) Feeling a tad guilty about witnessing the behavior of his fellow travelers, David Frum discovers logic:

What would it mean to “win” the healthcare fight?

For some, the answer is obvious: beat back the president’s proposals, defeat the House bill, stand back and wait for 1994 to repeat itself.

The problem is that if we do that… we’ll still have the present healthcare system. Meaning that we’ll have (1) flat-lining wages, (2) exploding Medicaid and Medicare costs and thus immense pressure for future tax increases, (3) small businesses and self-employed individuals priced out of the insurance market, and (4) a lot of uninsured or underinsured people imposing costs on hospitals and local governments.

Of course, for a large percentage of the Republican Party, conservatives in general and the Pretty Hate Machine, that's all perfectly fine.

The lesson of 1994 is that a small group of hyper-partisan ideologues could hijack the media, the Republican Party, and Washington. Gingrich and others showed the way, and it took another 14 years to break their hold on them. They lost in 2008.

The lesson of 2008 that the Republicans have chosen to draw is that these partisans were not partisan enough. Frum seems shocked that the forces he's thrown his lot in with have doubled down on the crazy, and surprised that they have no interest in improving health care.

It'a always been about power to them.

[UPDATE 6:44 PM] Via BooMan, the inmates are running the asylum now.

On the other side of the aisle, Rep. John Sullivan (R-Okla.) questioned the authenticity of President Barack Obama's birth certificate and referred to a White House "enemies list" at a meeting in Tulsa.

"This is a scary time in Washington," he said. "It's a very frightening time. I see Barack Obama is creating an enemies list of people who oppose this miserable healthcare plan. I think that's frightening. That's from a guy that can't even show a long-form birth certificate. I think we all ought to be prepared to fight that."

Never mind the fact the "enemies list" is another mutant lie, but how long before somebody takes Rep. Sullivan's offer literally?

For well over a decade the conservative fringe has been out there, fed on hatred and half-truths and outright lies. The Republicans, sensing the coming wilderness, has removed the shackles from this beast of their own creation.

Now it runs free. People like Frum helped create it, helped nurture it, tolerated it, guided it, because it was politically convenient to have such an easily motivated group of die hards. Now that beast is out of control. It has broken away. It is now calling the shots.

And only now does David Frum question the wisdom of betting the conservatives' political future on it. Look on thy works, ye Frummy, and despair.