.

“Okay, no more Miss Nice Juanita.  I’m gonna start saying what I want to say,” Juanita begins, which is not something you’re excited to hear on a Monday morning before the coffee is ready.

She is clutching Paul Krugman’s column in her hand.  “Paul contends that it’s time to quit being civil,” she explains.

Which brings me to those calls for a bipartisan solution. Sorry to be cynical, but right now “bipartisan” is usually code for assembling some conservative Democrats and ultraconservative Republicans — all of them with close ties to the wealthy, and many who are wealthy themselves — and having them proclaim that low taxes on high incomes and drastic cuts in social insurance are the only possible solution.

This would be a corrupt, undemocratic way to make decisions about the shape of our society even if those involved really were wise men with a deep grasp of the issues. It’s much worse when many of those at the table are the sort of people who solicit and believe the kind of policy analyses that the Heritage Foundation supplies.

So let’s not be civil. Instead, let’s have a frank discussion of our differences. In particular, if Democrats believe that Republicans are talking cruel nonsense, they should say so — and take their case to the voters.

“Here comes my Monday morning rant,” she warns.

“Civility is meant to be a means, not an end.  I am very afraid that the Democratic leadership sees it the other way around.  When you allow civility to be the ends, you become a doormat.  You give up everything you want in order to say, ‘See how civil I am!'”

“Who in their right mind wants to be civil when someone says little children need go hungry, sick, and nakkid because we can’t afford to feed, clothe, or heal them?  We can, however, afford tax breaks for the rich.  Who wants to be civil when social security and unions are under attack?  Franklin Roosevelt took joy in being the enemy of big business.  He was not civil about it,” Juanita takes a breath and continues, “And why do I have to civil about destroying the air I breathe and the water I drink?”

“Tell me,” she demands, “what virtue is there to being civil about that?”

“Me?  I want a bucker and a snorter.  I want someone two shades meaner than the devil himself.  I want a skillet chunker.  I want a hurricane with two eyes and junk yard dog.  I want someone to fight for me.”

“The American people will tell pollsters that they want civil because that sounds adult and nice.  But, that’s not what they really want.  They want someone who can go into a smoke filled backroom and come out with more than smoke in his eyes.  That is what they want,” she hollers.

Thank you, Paul Krugman, for getting the ladies started this week.