The care less party.

• Author: Durst, Will
• Position: Off the Map - Republican Party

I thought it was going to be a summer without fireworks, as cities all over the country were forced to cancel Fourth of July festivities due to fear of fire, glitchy computers, and twitchy bureaucrats. Like there's another kind. But then along came the GOP and salved our sensory-deprived souls by trying to set off enough indoor fireworks to make the San Diego Big Bay Bust look like a fluttering votive candle.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

The spectacular explosion was fueled by ego, obstinacy, and behavior so self-absorbed that the casual bystander might assume we were ... in the middle of an election year.

For the thirty-third time, all House business slammed to a grinding halt to accommodate yet another vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Again. Thirty-three times. Let's see what that looks like, shall we? 1.2. 3.4.5.6.7.8.9.10.11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30.31.32. 33.

You got to give the leaders of the Republican Party credit for being able to flog this dead horse without getting any flying bits on themselves. Thirty-three times is at least thirty-two times more than the Administration ever tried to sell this bill to a public that is overwhelmingly in favor of its component parts.

House Republicans persevered even though everyone knows there's a better chance of flamingoes flying out of monkey butts than the Senate ever signing on to this repeal. And as for getting past a Presidential veto, you can substitute polka-dotted pterodactyls for the flamingoes.

As political theater goes, this sad summer stock production fizzled with tired choreography and a script duller than Shakespeare in modern dress performed by third graders in Mandarin. No wonder they keep trying to cut funding for the arts: They're deathly afraid of the competition.

They rationalized this particular recycled Theater of the Absurd by claiming they needed to make a statement. And indeed a statement has been made: that Congress is broken and impotent...