I found this in Steve Richards column at the Independent.  He’s talking about David Cameron’s response to the situation in Libya, but I think it applies to the US right now too.

Some of the best thrillers depend on the audience knowing in advance that a deadly outcome is unavoidable. We sit, watch and wait, gripped with fear as the inevitable end looms. And often the characters suspect they are making the wrong moves but cannot stop themselves from doing so.

The same pattern applies in politics. Governments tend to make the same colossal mistakes as their predecessors. Leading figures recognise the errors when they were committed the first time around but then proceed to make a similar set of misjudgements. It’s as if they are trapped by dark forces beyond their control.

We too are making the same mistakes all over again and seem about to revisit the pain of 1937.  Our common sense has left us for the Tea Party fantasy world.  The deal is done.  The public and the President will do the suffering.  Keith Olbermann has a compelling rant at Current TV.  His “four great hypocrisies” are the sharpest criticism I’ve seen of the “deal” anywhere, and he makes sense.

There was also this calmer discussion at MSNBC.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32545640

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

The comment about the Super Committee I found chilling. They are going to put us through the agony of this “debate” between now and December. By then I suspect lots of people will be angry, and I hope they are angry enough to quiet the TeaParty and its Congressional members.  Instead of a calmer, settled atmosphere Washington could well become more acrimonious and dysfunctional than it is already.  Not a pretty picture.  It could well turn some voters off completely which in turn won’t help anyone.