The ongoing debt-ceiling crisis has exposed both sides of that coin. The Republican Party, led by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, has used the sticks outside the West Wing, news shows, social media, the halls of Congress and probably the lemonade stand run by McCarthy's next door neighbor's children to accuse the Democrats of the very demagoguery of which the Republicans are most guilty. Watching McCarthy's blundering efforts is both frustrating and comic.
Meanwhile, the president of the United States has the bully pulpit, and more important the 49-seat James Brady Briefing Room a mere 60 feet away from him, which is hard-wired and ready to roll. From there the president can speak live to the world at a moment's notice. He hasn't visited it once during this supposed crisis to explain anything, communicate anything, deny anything or frame any argument.
