ALL THEY WANT IS EVERYTHING

We all know that Republicans would rather troll than govern, but it's now so obvious that even The New York Times has noticed.

When Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene was expelled from her congressional committees as punishment for conspiracy mongering and violent statements, she embraced her exile, declaring that she had been “freed” from the obligation to participate in the drudgery of legislating....

Since then Ms. Greene, locked out of the policymaking process, has instead devoted the first weeks of her term in Congress to disrupting House floor proceedings and trolling her colleagues on social media....

A growing number of lawmakers have demonstrated less interest in the nitty-gritty passing of laws and more in using their powerful perches to build their own political brands and stoke outrage among their opponents.

But I think it would be unfair to say that Republicans have completely given up on the idea of legislating. Here was Mitch McConnell a few days ago, warning of all the things Republicans will do if Senate Democrats eliminate the filibuster and the GOP subsequently regains congressional majorities:

“Nationwide right-to-work for working Americans. Defunding Planned Parenthood and sanctuary cities on day one.

“A whole new era of domestic energy production. Sweeping new protections for conscience and the right to life of the unborn.

“Concealed-carry reciprocity in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Massive hardening of security on our southern border....

“So this pendulum would swing both ways — hard...."

The thing is, Republicans don't want anything in between their wish list and the Democrats' wish list. They don't want half-measures. They don't want to compromise. They don't want to pull Democratic legislation a few inches to the right while leaving it mostly intact. They want it all or they want nothing.

Which I think helps explain the favorite politcal fantasy of so many Republicans right now, most recently described by a rising star on the looney right:

Congresswoman Lauren Boebert put a Q-flavored cherry atop an already controversial town hall last Monday night, when she claimed to have insider knowledge of a QAnon-linked conspiracy theory promoted by The Epoch Times that secret documents declassified in the final days of the Trump administration will expose wrongdoing by Trump’s enemies and lead to resignations and arrests, allowing Republicans to gain a majority in the U.S. House and Senate prior to the 2022 election.

Boebert, a Republican, claims her sources for this are close to Trump.

“And this is my opinion with that information that I have, I believe we will see resignations begin to take place. And I think we can take back the majority in the House and the Senate before 2022 when all of this is ended,” Boebert said at the Montrose event.

They love the QAnon mass-arrest fantasy in part because it allows them to imagine a world where they simply don't have to worry about the existence of an opposition party -- the Democratic Party, if their dreams come true, won't be reduced in numbers, it will be all but eliminated as a political force in America. (They've done this already at the legislative level in many states, but they can't seem to do it in Congress yet.)

They don't want to live in a world where the parties share power. They want one-party rule and nothing less.