I suppose this is another story about the perils of addiction, the case in point being a Republican Party in Washington harrowingly addicted to opposing everything. My initial assumption, which I retained for some time, was that this out of hand rejection of every idea, piece of legislation or proposal was a political strategy. But I was wrong. Notify the DEA. It’s a narcotic, and a powerful one.

The Republican thinking, if you can visualize those reptilian brains at work for a moment, seems to be, the more they reject, the worse the country gets, the more Obama gets the blame. I believe one may conclude with confidence by now that if Republican members of congress were able to vote to prevent the sun from rising tomorrow they would happily do so, perfectly willing to freeze to death in order to cast blame on Obama for the lack of light and warmth. Of course you’ll be freezing too.

Likewise, Republicans show every indication of being heavily saddled with a humongous monkey on their backs in the form of unseemly and addictive solicitude for banks, corporations and the leisure class, rushing to defend them at the tamest provocation.  It’s got to feel good, and I can’t blame anyone for needing that.

However, concerned individuals such as yours truly have begun to fear the high Republicans rode after the 2010 election results was so incredibly sweet, it has saturated all fear of looming self-destruction when the banging away with the syringe continues. Yes, at a time of high unemployment and economic anemia, intransigence, nihilism and obstruction seemed to work magic. But as Old Lodge Skins says in Little Big Man after lying down to be transported to the afterlife and failing, “Well, sometimes the magic works, sometimes it doesn’t.” I’m guessing the magic is about not to work for the Republican Party.

One can add up in the Crazy Ledger the examples of Republican indifference to the economy and America’s well being just in the last few years:

Almost all Republican members of congress voted against the economic stimulus program, an initiative that a consensus of economists and financial experts assure added several million American jobs and turned the economy from negative growth to growth.

Republicans voted in entirety against health care reform designed to make health care accessible to all Americans and to reduce overall costs.

Republicans threatened to close the government down, denying services to millions of Americans depending upon them unless tax breaks for the wealthy were sustained.

Republicans threatened America’s first default unless all of their ideological demands were met in legislation for long-term deficit reduction.

Paul Ryan introduced his plan to privatize Medicare, turning it into a paltry voucher system, and Republicans in the House of Representatives voted to approve the plan.

After Bank of America made the decision to charge customers for using debit cards, Republicans defended the bank,, blaming regulation of excessive fees on merchants for the charge.

Senate Republicans filibustered the American Jobs Act at a time when unemployment remains above nine percent, though Americans by an enormous margin favor its passage.

Republicans continue to oppose any additional taxes on the wealthiest, even on millionaires, and even on corporations, though again, most Americans favor doing so.

Even people without a Twitter feed stacked with prominent economists probably can piece together the pattern here. Does anybody in America outside the top one percent in wealth and income believe these guys could possibly be on their side?  Isn’t doing something over and over because it feels so good even though it’s leading to one’s extinction a pathology, not an electoral plan?

This isn’t politics anymore, it’s a Lifetime movie.