As Atrios said yesterday, "Governing by crisis is an undemocratic way for our overlords to try to avoid accountability."

We've seen a lot of that lately. This is a problem with both parties, but it's especially egregious in the Republican party because they quite literally believe that any positions but their own are inherently illegitimate. Like Our Drama Queen Mitch, who sputtered up a storm over this:

The time has come for a balanced budget amendment that forces Washington to balance its books. If these debt negotiations have convinced us of anything, it’s that we can’t leave it to politicians in Washington to make the difficult decisions that they need to get our fiscal house in order. The balanced budget amendment will do that for them. Now is the moment. No more games. No more gimmicks. The Constitution must be amended to keep the government in check. We’ve tried persuasion. We’ve tried negotiations. We’re tried elections. Nothing has worked.

Wow. Now, in a rational world, real conservatives would be calling for his head, because what he's calling for here is a figurative coup. Elections have consequences, Mitch. But his reaction? Screw those voters, we don't need them!

This is, after all, how they operate. From Bush v. Gore on down, that's what Republicans have done: lied, cheated, stolen, suppressed votes -- you name it. Why?

Because whenever voters understand what Republicans really want, they reject it.

The Republican agenda is deeply anti-democratic. I don't think anyone can seriously argue otherwise, and yesterday Mitch McConnell opened his mouth and proved it.

Balanced budget amendment, huh? Oh sure, sounds good if you don't ever think about it. But what you're saying is that the United States government won't have any wiggle room at all, say, for rebuilding after a 9.2 earthquake along the San Andreas fault, or a dirty bomb set off by terrorists. (Or by yet another offshore oil disaster.)

Of course, Mitch wouldn't be able to get away with this if a Democratic president had simply slapped him down like a fly the first time he started talking about this nonsense instead of solemnly regurgitating the right-wing "kitchen table" belt-tightening talking points that have painted our country into an economic corner.

It would be nice if we didn't have a wingnut enabler in the White House. Mr. President, don't encourage them!