Posted 6:59 AM by steve

Eugene Robinson, who must have dirty picture of someone high up at the Washington Post (how else to explain his having a column when he obviously has so little talent, insight or common sense?) tries to analogize the House GOP's rejection of the stimulus plan to the air traffic controllers going out on strike - and getting fired for having done so - early in Reagan's presidency.

According to Robinson, both the House GOP and PATCO (the air traffic controller's union) fail to recognize that "one political era has given way to the next" and that the GOP is destined to suffer the same fate if they don't start going along with the Democrats.

What Robinson fails to recognize is that while the air traffic controllers certainly misjudged the situation, they were bucking their boss, who could - and did - punish them for their unlawful actions. The House GOP on the other hand, while Robinson may wish it were otherwise, doesn't report to Obama, Obama can't fire them if they do something he doesn't like. As Robinson should know, Congressmen report to their constituents and Congressional districts with GOP representatives are full of people who WANTED their representative to vote against the stimulus bill. Demonstrating either his ignorance or a willful disregard of the facts, Robinson writes "it's pretty clear that the GOP caucus has been meeting in a soundproof room" when it is in fact pretty clear that the GOP caucus has been paying attention to the cries of protest they've been hearing from their constituents.

And Robinson does this one better, in trying to paint Obama's victory as some kind of "rare fundamental shift in American politics". Well, if that were so, why would less than half of the public support the stimulus bill? How much of a shift could there have been if the public as a whole - and not just conservative voters - think the stimulus bill will either do no good or more harm than help?

It's a longstanding tradition for politicians and their supporters to claim a mandate where none exists. And Robinson is trying to do the same now... with just as little support for his claim as Clinton had in 1992 or Bush in 2004.