Just ignore them, Hillary: GOPers have crafted a ridiculous roadmap for Hillary to cross the aisle

[DonViejo]

Sure, Clinton might want to reach out to Republicans — but on her terms, not the absurd ones they've laid out

GARY LEGUM

In the wake of last week’s Democratic National Convention, there has been a great deal of talk about what Hillary Clinton can do, or is already doing, to reach out to Republicans disgusted by Donald Trump. Predictably, the suggestions mostly range along the lines of policy ideas, as if the GOP if made up of recalcitrant children the Democratic nominee can bribe with Happy Meals to keep them from scribbling all over the walls in crayon.

Jennifer Rubin has a list of ideas that amount to “Be nice to Republicans no matter how callow and shabby they have been in the past.” GOP strategist Patrick Ruffini suggested, apparently seriously, that Clinton should forget Merrick Garland and appoint a moderate Republican to the Supreme Court to fill the seat left open by Antonin Scalia’s death. Which is hilarious because a) Garland is moderate enough that some on the left were unhappy when President Obama nominated him, and b) such a suggestion means the GOP, after a year of refusing to so much as offer Garland the courtesy of a nomination hearing in the Senate, to say nothing of all the other seats in the judiciary it has not allowed the president to fill during his two terms, should get rewarded for its obstructionism.

There may not be enough internet memes and old bits from “" target="_blank">The Simpsons” to adequately express how much consideration Hillary Clinton should give to entertaining this suggestion.

The genre reached its apotheosis with this Ross Douthat column from the Sunday New York Times. Douthat is not exactly known for being gracious in defeat – he once complained that legal victories legitimizing same-sex marriages were awful because they did not allow opponents to negotiate the terms of their own surrender. So anything he says on this issue could be taken with an entire shaker of salt if he didn’t occupy prominent space in the country’s foremost newspaper to spout it:

-snip-

http://www.salon.com/2016/08/02/just_ignore_them_hillary_gopers_have_crafted_a_ridiculous_roadmap_for_hillary_to_cross_the_aisle/

[Happyhippychick]

1. Let me explain "negotiation" to the clueless Republicans. Rule 1:

If you have no power, you are not in a position to negotiate.

[BobbyDrake]

2. I had to laugh when Douthat wrote "Great Society liberalism" as if it were a bad thing.

One day, he's going to collect a Social Security check provided by that Great Society. Sadly, there's no clause in Social Security to deny benefits to those who want to destroy the entire system, although there should be.

[Beartracks]

3. Like when GOP blowhards suggest that rich liberals...

... are free to pay in more in taxes if that's what they think the rich should do, Douthat is free to deny his SS check if he thinks America would be better off without the Great Society.

==============

[BobbyDrake]

4. ^^^THIS! nt

[Hortensis]

5. One thing we know, Hillary has no illusions left.

She's a battle-scarred warrior. Sure, as a woman she'll be glad to cooperate--when it furthers her goals.

And Douhat is a dishonest schmuck. He can try to negotiate terms of his defeat, but it is a defeat and he's just a self-aggrandizing douchebag on the wrong side of history, and morality. He and the rest of his in-crowd can drown their sorrow together.