It always seems to be one step forward, two steps back with South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley. On one hand, she’s right, the prospect of a looming national government shutdown is “frustrating” indeed. But assigning blame to President Obama for the failure of her colleagues in the Republican party seems to miss the point exactly.
Earlier today, she told the Columbia Rotary Club:
When it comes to D.C. I have never been more frustrated with a group of people in my life because Republicans and Democrats are both wrong in this…If that (S.C.) State House ever shut down, you would have me stoned. … What leader allows a government to shut down. You can’t do it because you’re putting so many many other people in the balance. Why does it get to this point?
More bizarre is that Haley doesn’t seem to comprehend that the log-jam triggering this shutdown has been caused primarily by Republicans lashing out against the inevitable roll-out of the Affordable Care Act. She also said, “I have had to do it at the State House before, pull Republicans and Democrats in a room and say, ‘Stop. At some point, we’re going to act like adults today.'” Yes, she did just say, “Act like adults,” as if that ship hadn’t already sailed nearly a decade ago. But hey, can we at least get Haley a few bonus points for conceding that many in her own party are letting down the American public?
Rohin Guha is a contributing editor at The Aerogram. Follow him on Twitter @ohrohin. Find The Aerogram on Twitter @theaerogram.
It’s a struggle, squeezing things to like out of what that woman says.