HAL, Open The...

... GOP's closed minds. Sorry, Dave, I'm afraid HAL, or in this case Hal, can't do that, either. From a comment by reader Hal in Tucson, AZ, on a thread on Paul Krugman's hilariously titled post, Saving Ryan's Privatization:

I am trying to think of a time when so many of the GOP were simply stupid or addle-brained and cannot. It used to be a party of predominantly sensible people. No longer.

And so it is. At age 61, I can remember a few sensible Republican officials over the years (especially in my youth), people with whom I more often than not disagreed on policy issues, but who saw that there were genuine issues and differences to be addressed, and who had less of a slash-and-burn approach. As the man said... no longer. GOPers in Washington now behave as if no one will notice that their announced policies (when they deign to grant us a preview of them) and their obstructive/destructive legislative actions are, as a package, fucking full-blown bat-shit crazy. Oh, no, we don't notice at all, do we?

Be sure to read Krugman's post in full; it is excellent, notwithstanding its title that sounds like (OK, better than) one of mine.