loiter squad.

an ongoing discussion/moment of clarity.

words.

"Refusal is not a legislative plan, and neither is the Democrats' pleading "cooommme onnnnnnn!" reply, but this is the settlement we've long achieved, and the idea that the Democrats "lost control" Tuesday misses the point. As an anti-government party, Republicans have no incentive to do anything. As a pro-government party, the Democrats have to find every avenue for compromise. Thus you can have an Ebola outbreak and no confirmed Surgeon General, dozens of unconfirmed federal judges and the constant threat of credit default, and you know one side will almost always choose to lose this game of chicken and hope that every 2-4 years something will bail them out. In that way, "no" is a form of perpetual control.

...The trouble with sticking your fingers in your ears, stomping around and saying "No!" is that it looks really weird when you are in charge. (Who are you even yelling at?) And what the GOP has so far is pretty thin.

 ...But if Republican plans are thin, Democratic plans are thinner.

 ... The comforting fairytale liberals tell themselves is that everyone would vote for them if they just got their message across, and of course it's wrong. The yawning chasm at the heart of American liberalism is that it insufficiently addresses humans' capacity for fear and resentment, which the GOP message sends straight to the brain like a rail of uncut cocaine. Some people can't be reached, but at least turning them away on purpose is an ethos. In the meantime, the GOP response to the last six and the next two years is unmistakable. It doesn't change, and the circumstances don't change with it. You can push pieces of paper this way and that, and pick up any of them and see your answer. The answer is no."

ROLLING STONE: Election 2014: Getting to No – And Staying There