Republicans want to start "World War III"

This is unsurprising. No, actually, it's surprising. It is surprising Republicans are stupid enough to think this will work, or do anything other than make the public hate them even more than it already does:

Sen. Mike Enzi (R) of Wyoming said using reconciliation to pass health care reform would be tantamount to "a declaration of war." Roll Call reports today that the GOP is already planning its retaliation for Dems using a procedure Republicans have used many times.

As Senate Democrats move closer to using reconciliation to pass health care reform this year, key GOP Senators are signaling plans to avenge the move by employing parliamentary tactics to trip up even the most noncontroversial of agenda items.

Look, guys, you lost. I mean it--you guys got clobbered during the last election on every level. You're facing off against a popular president who is merely trying to implement the agenda upon which he was elected. It's a pretty popular agenda, too. You don't have to support it, but some realization that a party that has about 60% of the seats in both houses ought to be able to implement its priorities in more or less the way it likes would be nice.

Let's put this another way. You've gone this way before. And the results were, in rapid succession, the rise of Newt Gingrich as the most hated major political figure in the country, the handy re-election of a president with mediocre popularity, and the eventual nomination of someone who strayed as far as possible from Gingrichian rhetoric. Republicans, having the selective memories that they do, seem to think that the Gingrich years were some sort of triumph. Quite the opposite: they were a rapid succession of failures, starting with the Contract with America's failure, continuing through the government shutdown that basically facilitated Bill Clinton's political rehabilitation, and then culminating in the impeachment debacle that cost Gingrich his job.

Look, I know you're all upset about getting your asses kicked, and I sympathize. It wasn't like 2004 felt all that good for us. But it's hard to see how shutting down the Senate really accomplishes anything helpful for the GOP. In fact, it gives Barack Obama a new series of targets to attack, and as Bill Clinton proved, these sorts of actions lend themselves to a natural counterattack that can help even beleaguered presidents reclaim popularity. Obama is popular, as is his agenda, and he has a pretty effective press operation. Just imagine what he'll be able to do to Mitch McConnell.

One would hope that this is a bluff, but considering that the GOP is not allowing routine and uncontroversial nominees like Kathleen Sebelius, Dawn Johnsen and David Hamilton to get Senate approval, I'd say that the Democrats should roll the dice and see how far Republicans want to take this. Catharsis in this case will carry a hefty price tag.