Why waiting for Obama to fail is not enough

Rich Lowry, editor of National Review, says everyone should calm down and have a cup of tea:

Barack Obama and the Democrats have the initiative. Until such time as their policies are perceived to have failed, it doesn’t matter too much what Republicans do. Yes, they obviously should endeavor to be sober and creative—replenishing their policy arsenal for the day when the public is seriously paying attention to them again—but the big question in American politics right now is how Obama handles the financial crisis and the economy. In the grand scheme of things, everything else is commentary.

Aside from the fact that the Republican party is neither sober nor creative right now, there’s something to this. But the elevation of Rush Limbaugh from Movement Entertainer to, apparently, Party Standard Bearer is part of the problem. The public would quite appreciate a period of reflective silence on the part of the GOP right now, but it isn’t getting that, is it? Instead Republicans are, if anything, turning up the volume.