The lawlessness of unintended consequences

P.M. Carpenter: 'The lawlessness of unintended consequences'
Posted on Monday, March 28 @ 10:00:53 EST
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By P.M. Carpenter
The right's depraved indifference to the fiscal health of Social Security and its criminal recklessness in the passing of Terri Schiavo were self-inflicted one-two punches that have put the GOP on the ropes.
The first concrete evidence of this was last week's Gallup poll showing that President Bush's approval rating had fallen a precipitous seven points in as many days. He took his biggest hit from churchgoers, conservatives and men.
What's more, revealed the poll, the percentage of those willing to identify themselves as Republicans slipped from 35 to 32, while Democratic identification more than inched upward, 32 to 37.
In explaining this developing sea change, political number-cruncher Charlie Cook of the Cook Political Report said, "You have to wonder if people didn't feel that the president and Congress couldn't be spending their time working on Social Security and other problems."...