Am I reading too much into this? Am I misrepresenting what Grover Norquist is really saying here?
With all the blatant disrespect this particular president has endured from these Republicans, I’ll put Grover’s statement in the same category as that of the common Republican racist who shouted out “you lie” at the president while he addressed the nation, or the racist Romney adviser who threw out the usual stereotypical buzzword of “lazy” while referring to the first black president. Or the racist Republican governor who felt the need to point her old wrinkled finger in the president’s face as if he needed scolding.
Grover’s “short leash” comment came in an interview with Mike Allen at Politico Playbook Breakfast. Grover, respected and loved in the Republican circle and the author of the no-tax “pledge” most congressional and senate Republicans signed, is considered smart enough to know the sentiment his statement would conjurer up. But he opened his mouth and said them anyway.
The conversation between the two men was about the so-called fiscal cliff and the Bush Tax cuts set to expire at the end of December. It went like this:
Mike Allen: This president is not going to extend [the Bush tax cuts], he knows that he loses his leverage that way.
Grover Norquist: Well, the Republicans also have other leverage. Continuing resolutions on spending and the debt ceiling increase. They can give him debt ceiling increases once a month. They can have him on a rather short leash… Here’s your allowance, come back next month if you behave.
Mike Allen: Okay, wait. You’re proposing that the debt ceiling be increased month by month?
Grover Norquist: Monthly if he’s good. Weekly if he’s not.
Apparently this president, this particular president, is looked upon as an animal by the leaders in the Republican party.
