They are Insane!...those Republicans...
Rep. Doc Hastings (search), R-Wash., announced that he will empanel a subcommittee to investigate some of the charges surrounding DeLay if the Democrats agree to a compromise effort designed to break the impasse that has kept the committee from organizing.The Republicans have again, as they have done so many times before, buckled under pressure in their never-ending efforts to prove a negative, that they are really good guys, and if they just play nice to the opposing party, everyone will at once bury their hatchets and engage in rounds singing Kumbaya and other pretty songs.
The Republicans were "prepared to vote at the earliest opportunity to empanel an investigations subcommittee to review various allegations concerning travel and other actions" by DeLay, he said.
Four of the five Republicans on the committee are on board for immediate movement, Hastings said. Reps. Judy Biggert of Illinois, Melissa Hart of Pennsylvania and Tom Cole of Oklahoma joined Hastings at the news conference. Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas did not attend. The panel also has five Democratic members.
Republicans are trying to force Democrats to return to the table by suggesting that if DeLay is the stopping point for organizing the panel then they are willing to take him out of the mix. DeLay has repeatedly said he has done nothing wrong and has asked to appear before the committee to explain all the travel he has taken that has been called into question. He has called Democratic demands part of a smear campaign.
The Republicans continue to harbor the delusion that "If only we offer another sacrificial lamb this time, the bad old democrats will surely be assuaged and their attacks will surely stop!" This mentality is reminiscent of a wife who stays in an abusive situation, perpetuating her own victimhood. She hangs on, thinking, "If only I'm a little nicer to him... if I only cook or clean better--then he'll love me and quit beating me!", only to ultimately end up in an emergency room, suffering from an unfortunate "accident" on the stairs. Yet despite years of undergoing the same cycle of abuse, she hangs on.. thinking someday...
Just as it is in the nature of an abusive husband to continue the abuse as a means of asserting power, it is likewise in the Machiavellian nature of the democrat party and their willing counterparts in the MSM to continue unfounded character assassinations--and for the same reason. Given the history of the last 30 years, the Republicans should have realized by now that every good faith action toward the opposition party will only be taken advantage of and thrown back in their collective face. Yet the Republicans keep on turning the other cheek..thinking someday...
Just what are the dynamics that keep up this symbiotic (though decidedly dysfunctional) relationship between republicans and democrats? Perhaps Michael K. Gilbertson, Ph.D., B.C.E.T.S., can show us some insight:
At this point a reader familiar with the Stockholm Syndrome might wonder if that phenomenon is relevant to the discussion. It might be. Several years ago in Stockholm a bank robber held a woman as hostage for several days in the bank's vault. When rescued, the woman denied that her captor was responsible for her pain. She was in fact quite indignant at the force the police had used to capture her assailant. She seemed to be infatuated with the gunman.
The key here might be the infantilization of the hostage who was dependent upon her captor for food, water, and toilet privileges. Frank Ochberg (1995) thinks this traumatic age regression (my term, not Dr. Ochberg's) accounts for the almost primal gratitude for life's necessities that many hostages feel if they're shown even a little kindness. He specifically links the Stockholm Syndrome with the bond many battered women feel for their abusers.
So, could the Republican's perpetual, systematic, and self-defeating propensity for making nice with their abusive democrat and MSM detractors be part of a syndrome?
Given the Republican's said pattern of pathological behavior over history with nearly identical results, I can come up with no better explanation.
A well-known radio talk show host has recently released a best-selling book entitled Liberalism is a mental disorder. It would appear that some "conservatives" are suffering from a malady of their own.
***UPDATE****
triple_a has a post on the ineptitude of the state Republican leadership in passing the Conceal & Carry act. I guess the mental disorder is more widespread than I thought.
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