I’m glad that Obama ran and won on a theme of trying to bring this country together to solve the major problems that are facing us – both home and abroad. But for anyone who thought that this is going to apply to the republicans in Congress (maybe we have a chance to bring some people around in our everyday lives to work towards solutions) is very sadly mistaken.
So before "we" ("we" meaning progressive activists) start giving the benefit of the doubt to those on "the other side" who are in Congress, "we" should be well aware that this is a mere pipe dream and will only get worse as the number of republicans in Congress dwindles next year. They do not know any other way. This is the group of elected officials who supported torture, illegal wiretapping, the never-ending illegal occupation of Iraq, set a record of filibustering and ran on a platform of "we can’t let the Democrats do everything they want, so we promise to obstruct everything if you vote for us".