The perfect musical accompaniment to our times. (h/t Daily Kos for the pic)

Chait ponders why Republicans are preparing to do the strategic equivalent of “the American military [...] preparing in 1980 to send troops back to Vietnam” and speaks some sense:

The primary driving force is obviously the Republican base. Republicans rehabilitated themselves from the Bush administration disaster by crafting a narrative in which the party veered from its conservative roots, and now a new grass roots movement would purify it. This was useful in suturing the party off from Bush’s legacy and re-invigorating the base, but one side effect was to stoke the already-strong suspicion that the party leadership was prepared to sell out conservative principles.

Conservatives expect major spending cuts and believe the public supports them, but Republicans can’t actually enact their agenda because Democrats control the Senate and the White House. Republican leaders have to show that they’re fighting for their agenda, which leaves them no room to come out with a compromise. Conservative Republican voters, unlike moderates or even liberal Democrats, oppose compromise even in the abstract.

I particularly like his capper: “There’s logic in coming up with a bunch of bullshit to fool the public. It’s dangerous to do it to yourself.” Which nicely encapsulates the last decade of American life, I think.

Evidently the geniuses at POLITICO are asking the question if this will turn out better for Republicans this time. I think the obvious answer is: no, it won’t. The message of pro-shutdown Republicans has fallen into two basic arguments: (1) it won’t be a big deal and (2) we’re going to do it because we have a mandate and the Democrats need to do what we want them to do. It will obviously be a big deal, and setting the tone for the next two years by shutting down the government right off the bat seems like a perfect way of turning public opinion against them. Considering that the Republicans’ budget cuts seem to just be a bunch of random stuff that basically shows they don’t really have a clue what they’re doing, I think confronting them is the right move. Say that their budget doesn’t solve the debt problem but just makes it harder to protect the borders and get out Social Security checks, and if Republicans do shut down the government, just use it as a club against them, some variant on “I have troubles enough without the Republicans keeping my checks from coming.” Republicans see compromise as a bad thing and, if I had to guess, will applaud themselves for not giving into the demands for compromise and shutting things down. You can’t brag about something while simultaneously blaming someone else for it.