Something striking about an interview with Mitch McConnell yesterday.

He said the President had to sign off on whatever they came up with. He's the only one who can sign a bill into law, he said -- paraphrasing.

Obviously true. But striking because it's the first time since the campaign that I've heard a Republican say anything even slightly respectful of the President of the United States.

The last time was when McCain corrected a woman at a town hall who said that the President, who was then just a candidate, was a Arab. McCain said no. He's a good man, and you can't say stuff like that about him. (Of course his Republican running mate, someone he chose, was where the idea came from.)

Other than that, nothing but disrespect.

One thing we teach children is that if you want respect you must give it. And when talking about the President of this country, no matter how you feel about him or her personally, he or she is still the President. And if you don't get that, you don't even get to first base with me.

It's not just because the President is black that they show such disrespect, although I think that's a big part of it. I think the Republicans have become the party of racism, although it certainly wasn't always that way. They were similarly disrespectful of President Clinton. But he actually dis'd the office himself, so it's hard to say they were very wrong in that.

I think the basic problem with the Repubs is a lack of respect for the United States. How else could they hijack the democratic process the way they did to thwart the will of the people. We elected a Democratic Senate and a Democratic President. That wasn't a casual act, some kind of accident. It was largely a reaction to how the Republicans trashed our country. They still haven't gotten the message.

We didn't ask for the policies they forced on us. They took advantage of the fact that the Democrats actually care about the country enough not to let it go down the tubes. If the Democrats were as utterly devoid of love-of-country as they are, we'd be getting ready to default now. That's why we elected Democrats, because Republicans do things like what they did to us in the last month.

And of course it's not clear that we won't default anyway. The House Repubs don't follow their leaders, and if I were a Democratic congressperson, I'm not at all sure I'd vote for the "compromise" -- which really wasn't a compromise at all. Because that's where the betrayal of the democratic process hits the pavement, where the rubber hits the road. When a Democratic rep, who represents people who want jobs and want a strong economy, votes against those things, that's where we've gone astray.

It would hurt me a lot, personally, financially, to have the country default. But I'm not sure, at this point, that I would mind so much. Because I hate the idea of my country being pushed around this way.

And no, I'm not a liberal, and I'm not a Democrat. I voted for Reagan, and voted against Clinton both times, and for Bush II in 2000. I also voted for Kerry and for Obama because I woke up to the sickness that is the Republican Party.

The Republicans would like it to be simple, but it's not. It's not Liberals vs Conservatives. It's you vs the United States, as far as I'm concerned. And if this is what they do to the country when they're in a weak minority position, god help us if they get control of the Senate and the Presidency.

PS: My vote of confidence in David Frum continues to be justified. Read this piece for an idea of what a Republican who loves America would say about what just happened.

PPS: On the other hand. This makes me want to vomit.

 8/1/2011; 10:10:33 AM.   .