Hillary: There can be no civility until Democrats are back in power

I can understand why you might suspect that. It’s a common tactic in opinion-driven media. But no. She actually said it, straight out, with no tinge of irony. The whole thing is worth watching but the money passage starts at the 4:00 mark: Invoking of Merrick Garland as justification for that statement is really rich. The Senate was under no obligation to confirm Merrick Garland. You can argue that they should have held hearings or taken a vote, but what they certainly did not do was engage in character assassination against Garland. Indeed, I don’t recall Republicans attacking Garland in any way, or even criticizing him. They simply decided not to confirm him, and yes, it was for ideological reasons – and everyone knew it.

Democrats, by contrast, chose to blow up all protocols on background checks and personally smear Brett Kavanaugh, even entertaining completely absurd suggestions that he was complicit in “gang rape” in order to try to stop his confirmation. And it’s Republicans who are responsible for “demeaning the confirmation process”? Because of Garland? Not Democrats because of Kavanaugh? Astounding. So to cut to the chase, Democrats cannot be civil to Republicans because Republicans oppose the Democrats’ agenda. Oh, they “don’t want to model bad behavior,” says the model for bad behavior, and they don’t want to “cross the line to lying” says the world’s biggest liar. But hey, the Russians! Oh, and Trump is “indebted to the mafia” or something. I guess some people have an easier time getting over losing than others. And some people just go stark-raving insane. It must be nice to have a lapdog like Christiane Amanpour who will interview without the slightest call-out of just how much of a lunatic you sound like. And yet, in all her madness, she does give away the game here. The Republicans’ great sin, when it really comes down to it, is possessing the power that the Democrats believe is rightly theirs. There can and will be no civility until that is rectified. And of course, not even then, because the Correct Proper Appropriate People will not tolerate your insolence.