Decode DC: Hey Tea Party, meet your lefty cousins

While listening to this podcast, I could feel pain start welling up in my heart as I thought, "Oh Jesus, please not again." Dealing with the Tea Party during the Obama years, particularly during his first term, was really fucking frustrating because they would block law after law if it didn't pass their strict litmus test for their ideals. And now this dude is trying to do the same thing except for the left. After spending years railing against Bush and then the Tea Party for not willing to compromise, I'm really frustrated that this is now continuing. What happened to all those words we said about each side giving and taking? For example, we live in a country with a shit ton of racists. I don't like it, but I have to recognize they're citizens like me and have a voice. If liberal says we have to immediately let any and all people who want to enter the US to do so and have a quick path to citizenship, the racists are going to push back. Hard. So in order to make both of them happy, both sides have to give up something they want. We don't round up all the illegal immigrants, but we strengthen the border. We don't make it easy to enter and become a citizen, but we don't make it impossible either. That way a group of people — who can form a solid voting block — isnt't felt completely left out. That way as a country we aren't torn apart and slowly we move society away from racism. That's what happened with gay marriage; in the 80s gay marriage would be impossible and even though much of our country is still uncomfortable with it, it's now much more accepted. And yeah, there are some things that shouldn't be compromised: We're not going back to Jim Crow, abortion shouldn't be completely banned. But that's how negotiation and compromise work. Each player figures out what the priorities are and what can be sacrificed. No one comes out happy, but if you expand your list of non-negotiable items, then we're gonna continue to be in this gridlock that we've been in for the past eight years.