Thread by @rudepundit

Here's one huge difference between Republicans and Democrats:
Democrats have always treated a GOP president as legitimate. Even after the 2000 election, Democrats generally respected the office.

Since Carter, at least, Republicans have acted like every Democratic president was an invader who overthrew their leader. It got worse under Clinton and blew up to full-on obstructionism under Obama.

The effect of Democrats not challenging this is that it has made every political discussion have a Republican frame. We see it all the time: an idea is only good if Republicans agree to it. It never works the other way.

Now that Democrats are making moves towards treating Trump as illegitimate, Republicans are losing their damn minds, mostly as a way of stopping Democrats from doing anything after the 2020 election.

Republicans acted like assholes and now they're saying, "Whoa, whoa, Democrats, don't be assholes by packing the courts or getting rid of the filibuster."

It's a helluva con job Republicans have pulled off. They shit the bed but won't admit it even as they sit in their own shit. And the problem is that Democrats are far, far too likely to let them get away with it.

(By the way, yes, your example of Democrats being mean to a Republican president is very nice. But those are the exceptions compared to, say, Clinton's impeachment.)