State of Denial

"The President did not cause the economic and fiscal crises that continue in America tonight. But he was elected on a promise to fix them, and he cannot claim that the last three years have made things anything but worse ..."
Gov. Mitch Daniels (R-Indiana)

Yes, it was State of the Union night, and everyone had something to say. President Obama. The Republicans. The Tea Party. Occupy members. .

Me, too, I guess.

You see, it was that line from the official Republican response that stood out, because it just felt so ... so ... hypocritical, bullying, disingenuous and steeped in denial.

Because I look at that statement and read: "Well, we caused this mess, he said he'd fix it, and didn't get it done fast enough -- even after we did everything in the last three years to sabotage him and the Democrats."

And they wonder why approval of Congress and most of Washington D.C. is at historic lows (as Nightline mentioned in its report -- Paris Hilton, the IRS and OJ Simpson have higher approval ratings). Or why the president mentioned that most cynical Americans (guilty) are pretty sure little to nothing is going to get done this year as most of Congress jockeys to keep their jobs.

And why wouldn't we be cynical about things? We've spent the last three years hearing Republican commentators barking at the American public. Everything from misinformation (Secret Muslim! Death Panels!) to scare tactics (Class Warfare! Ground Zero Mosque!) to distractions through social issues (Gays Want to Turn You! Michelle Obama Wants to Tell You What to Eat!). [Hmmm... that last one sounds familiar, eh Loma Linda residents?]

Of course, part of the problem can be blamed by the corner we've painted ourselves into with a predominantly two-party system. The Tea Party has splintered the GOP to the point that it has given its own official response the past two years. And then there are the varying levels of Democrats (which has always existed) that go from centrist (folks that are scared of how far right the Republicans have gone) to those so far left that even Jon Stewart would call them over to Camera Three.

It is getting to the point that we need to embrace the idea that more than two parties are needed for things to get done. Or, at the least, the Tea Party needs to A) release its grip on the people who signed the "no-new-tax" pledge or B) break off on its own and have its own primaries and elect its own candidates separate from the GOP.

And the same can go for those on the left who want to spout extreme views and aren't willing to work to find common sense solutions to our nation's problems.

But no one seems willing to do that. While many liberal commentators spent the evening praising President Obama for making a call to Congressional action and more harmony, many on the other side continued their abject objection to anything Obama -- to the point that they proved the President's message about Congress right.

“The guy can’t run on his record, so he’s got to run against us,” Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Corona, told The Press-Enterprise on Tuesday night.

Which brings us full circle. You can't complain that he's done nothing (and calling you out for it) when you've spent the past three years doing nothing but complain about him.