Obama on MTP: 'Let's just say it: The Republicans are the problem'

That was the title of a now-famous essay by Thomas Mann and Norm Ornstein:

Let's just say it: The Republicans are the problem

The GOP has become an insurgent outlier in American politics. It is ideologically extreme; scornful of compromise; unmoved by conventional understanding of facts, evidence and science; and dismissive of the legitimacy of its political opposition.

When one party moves this far from the mainstream, it makes it nearly impossible for the political system to deal constructively with the country's challenges.

Here is President Barack Obama on Meet the Press Sunday, taped Saturday:

Mr. Obama told host David Gregory that "the only thing I would caution against'is I think this notion of, 'Well, both sides are just kind of unwilling to cooperate.' And that's just not true. I mean if you look at the facts, what you have is a situation here where the Democratic Party, warts and all, and certain me, warts and all, have consistently done our best to try to put country first."

That the standoff persists, he said, "is an indication of how far certain factions inside the Republican Party have gone where they can't even accept what used to be considered centrist, mainstream positions on these issues."

The Mann Ornstein piece is from April 2012. The Republicans have done their best to prove the point every day from then until now. And it's a major reason why they lost the 2012 election, and why the tea party is one of 2012's biggest losers.

The media's inability to get this point, when they should be repeating and amplifying it every time Republicans prove it yet again, instead of constantly making excuses for them in the guise of "analysis" (it's redistricting, it's solid red districts, it's political self-interest ... actually it's a lack of willingness to compromise, a radicalization of the party, a result of being funded by billionaire nut jobs and a complete inability to do their own job) is their biggest failure of 2012. And the inability to tell the truth is one reason why media is so disrespected by the public.

Let's hope 2013 is a better year for all concerned. The American public's patience for this crap is not infinite'see 2012 election results.

(Full interview available here.)