When DREAMs Become Nightmares....

Charles Pierce capsulizes the Republican reaction to President Obama's new immigration policy, chiding Lindsey Graham for complaining, among other things, that the President did not work "with Congress".

You and your party have demagogued this issue to the point where, in the last presidential campaign, John McCain had to disavow his own immigration bill. Who in the hell is the president supposed to lead?

Pierce also points to the arguments made during GW's tenure, about the near-imperial powers of a President.

But let's not forget, then or now, that we're really dealing both with the unwillingness of Congress to tackle difficult issues, and their preference that the President act unilaterally so that they don't have to take any responsibility for the tough decisions or their outcomes.

Nothing is stopping Congress from, right now, this very moment, passing a law that addresses this issue. It won't, not because of a lack of Presidential leadership or because the issue isn't long overdue for resolution, but because congressional leaders like Lindsey Graham don't want to be held accountable. And yes, the same is true of the Democrats in Congress who mouthed opposition to G.W.'s unilateral action on various "national security" matters, but failed to introduce legislation that would define how those powers should be exercised.