Who will swerve first?

I love the scenes in action movies when cars go hurtling towards each other from opposite directions and none of the drivers seem like they are going to back down. Of course at the last minute someone always decides that it's better to live than to die in a fiery ball of smashed metal, and then they swerve their vehicle out of the way to avoid sure death.

So this is where we are in America. In one car we have tea party right wing extremists, and in the other car we have the President of these divided states. Both are determined to keep driving, and they are boldly telling anyone who will listen that they are not turning their car off the road. Bring on the fiery crash.

Laughably, to the right wingnuts, this fight is akin to the civil rights struggle back in the day. (Yeah, I know. I am still laughing at that one.) To republicans, this Affordable Care Act is like Bull Conner's dogs and Jim Crow. The thing is, though, ninety percent of them have never read the act and don't really understand it. When you live in an age of sound bites and 24 hour cable news echo chambers, your thirst for real knowledge tends to become limited. (We see you Ted Cruz. Just telling a shameless lie on the Senate floor is not a good look.) Of course, most of us know that their unwillingness to accept what has already become the law of the land is motivated by something else.

In the other car is President Obama. He has vowed that he will not back down, because, to him, nothing in his signature piece of legislation known as Obamacare is negotiable. Right wingnuts believe that he will, because they see the polls and his latest foreign policy blunders and think that they are looking at a wounded president who is ready for the taking. This is how it works in Washington. Forget the fact that our government is on the verge of a shut down and that bad things will happen. (Soldiers not getting paid come to mind.) As long as they cripple the Kenyan Socialist and his presidency nothing else matters.

"At least 43 conservatives want the GOP leadership to go for broke, asserting that Obama has been damaged by stumbles over Syria and by several delays in implementing the Affordable Care Act.

The GOP’s internal battle pits lawmakers who want the party to take a calculated risk against leaders who fear it would be a big losing bet.
Democrats say there is no chance that they or the president will agree to hollow-out their signature domestic achievement.

The White House did not comment for this story, but Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) last week said the Senate would reject any attempt to defund the law.

Still, the GOP’s roll-the-dice faction is undaunted.
“I think the president’s too weak to shut the government down … I think we will win,” Rep. Marlin Stutzman (R-Ind.) said.

“Syria has hurt him significantly … it is a factor in the CR going forward, it is a factor in the debt ceiling,” Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) said.

Conservatives cite recent polling to buttress their case. Following Obama’s aborted attempt to get congressional backing for an attack on Syria, Fox News found public disapproval of Obama’s job performance at an all-time high of 54 percent and his approval rating at 40 percent, equal to his all-time low." [Source]

Easy there wingnuts, remember what happened the last time you watched those FOX News polls? (Mitt by a landslide).

Anyway, I hope that Obama holds on to the wheel. It's time he grew a pair. He has been playing nice to his political enemies too long. The ACA didn't go far enough, but it's a start. The fact that elected officials would try to overturn what has already been declared law in this country is frightening. Could a revolution where citizens take up arms be far behind? The Koch Brothers might be funding their own army somewhere in North Dakota as I write this.

The cars are getting closer. Mr. President, you better not turn that wheel. In fact, you might want to press harder on the accelerator.

*Pic with this post from pensitorereview.com