Norman Ornstein (right-winger) lays blame at feet of Republicans in Congress (re: gridlock)
"Congressional scholars Thomas Mann and Norman Ornstein are no strangers to D.C. politics. The two of them have been in Washington for more than 40 years.
They came together in 2006 to write a book about dysfunction in Congress, called The Broken Branch. But their assessment of Congress today is even more dire — so dire, they've called their new book It's Even Worse Than It Looks.
Ornstein and Mann make no secret of who they blame for most of the dysfunction in Congress.
"One of the two major parties, the Republican Party, has become an insurgent outlier – ideologically extreme; contemptuous of the inherited social and economic policy regime; scornful of compromise; unpersuaded by conventional understanding of facts, evidence, and science; and dismissive of the legitimacy of its political opposition," they write.
http://www.npr.org/2012/04/30/151522725/even-worse-than-it-looks-extremism-in-congress
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Last edited Thu May 3, 2012, 09:45 PM - Edit history (1)
This book really blows the cover off of what happened to our government-- something we've all been suspecting is true: it was Gingrich's "dream" to decimate the Dem House, and he worked 16 years to achieve it. Ornstein was on Lawrence O'Donnell yesterday and the things he was saying blew me away. For example:
"Gingrich had his tactics all set for how to take over the House. He knew full-well what he was doing, and he persevered...I don't think he wanted it to work out that way for him. He wanted to destroy the institution and have it remade in his own image. But the progeny he brought along believed everything that he said, even if he didn't, and what he did was unleash a group of Frankensteins who continued to roam around the landscape and destroy American civility and the opportunity for compromise." [emphases mine]
And it's been that way ever since. Compromise is anathema. These monsters (ultra-right) have made a devastating impact on our politics and, hence, our country. Doesn't this border on TREASON???
Here are links:
Book: http://www.amazon.com/Even-Worse-Than-Looks-Constitutional/dp/0465031331/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1336020938&sr=1-1
Article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/lets-just-say-it-the-republicans-are-the-problem/2012/04/27/gIQAxCVUlT_story.html
Thank you for posting this--it blows the lid right off Gingrich and his horrific plan to oust House Dems and replace them with rabid neocons intent on devastating our country. Oh, and thanks, newt, for your legacy of treason. I hope you rot in hell. 
I don't know why there isn't more attention paid here at DU--this is critical news!!! Tho' I know it did cause a ruckus in DC, at least. It's at the very least obstructionism and the very most TREASON. Again, thanks for posting. With any 'luck,' maybe soon they'll be ousted. 