This is exactly what some of us have been saying for a few years now ~ the GOP/TPers have no interest in governing, no interest in serving those who elected them, no interest in honoring their oaths of office ~ it's not about policy or ideology ~ it's ONLY about "winning" ~ and the more they paint themselves into corners and lose credibility by their own actions/inactions/words, the worse they get ~ it's a vicious circle ~ Sooz

GOP leader pushes ‘messaging’ over governing
11/06/13 10:45 AM
By Steve Benen

Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas) is generally a reliable source for over-the-top rhetoric. It was Sessions, for example, who said shortly after President Obama’s inauguration in 2009, that House Republicans would look at “the Taliban” as a tactical “model.” GOP lawmakers, he said at the time, would emulate “insurgency” tactics.

Yesterday, Roll Call published a piece that included some similarly striking candor from Sessions.


I can appreciate why cynicism may make comments like these seem predictable – of course House Republicans want to see their party win a Senate majority – but this is a pretty remarkable thing for a sitting lawmaker to say out loud, on purpose, on the record.

Ordinarily, we’ll hear members of Congress say, “Everything we do in this body should be about creating jobs.” Or maybe, “Everything we do in this body should be about helping the middle class.” But not Pete Sessions – he thinks “everything” the House does for the foreseeable future should be about influencing Senate races and helping Republican candidates.

In other words, according to this House GOP leader, half-way through the 113th Congress, Republicans should give up on governing altogether. All that matters is politics, campaign considerations, and “messaging.”

In terms of the larger context, keep three angles in mind. First, this Congress is already on track to be the single least productive in generations, and if Sessions is right, this will not get better. Second, there’s actual work lawmakers should be tackling, but if House Republicans officially abandon the pretense of caring about governing, their sole record going into the 2014 midterms will be a government shutdown, a series of hostage crises, and a culture-war crusade the American mainstream has no use for.

Finally, when it comes to the post-policy thesis, it’s tough to top, “Everything we do in this body should be about messaging to win back the Senate. That’s it.” As we’ve discussed, the hallmark of post-policy nihilism is the belief that policy outcomes and substantive governing are largely irrelevant – which apparently summarizes Pete Sessions’ worldview quite nicely.

This was an exchange between Rachel and Ezra Klein back in March:


At the time, Rachel and Ezra were talking about budgets and fiscal arguments, but couldn’t their exchange apply to just about every possible political debate in the United States right now?

For Pete Sessions, this is a feature, not a bug. Governing, bipartisan cooperation, finding common ground, working on policy through a series of compromises – these may be fine ideas for saps, but House Republicans shouldn’t bother with any of this.

For pundits and pols trying to understand the roots of Washington dysfunction, wonder no more.

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/gop-leader-pushes-messaging-over-governing

Some of these dopes just get so arrogant. As if in their former lives they had the power in their little worlds to just do and say whatever they damn well pleased. They're people whom power is corrupting

Sounds a lot like the ragged, desperate, tag end of "...make sure he's a one term President."

Lets be honest, the "win at all costs" malaise infects the overwhelming majority of politicians from all sides. Its just that some sides seem to have more terminal cases.