Role of the Minority Party

Have you been paying attention to the Republican Party since the election of Barack Obama as President in 2008?   I hope so, it's been downright embarrassing, if not treasonous.

I fully understand that there is a role for the minority party, they should have a strong voice in opposing policies that they disagree with, they should vote against policies that they oppose, or perhaps they could offer alternative policies that they feel could work better, perhaps obtaining concessions on the legislation along the way, they can also offer up policies themselves that would better society as a whole in some way, all of this is a critical part of a functioning democracy, what they should not be doing is blocking and obstructing every piece of legislation and every nomination from the majority party as a policy.

I'm certainly aware of the need for checks and balances but this is in no way what the founding fathers intended, the founding fathers intended for elections to have consequences, with elections not having consequences they become pointless.  If policies fail or become unpopular, the checks and balances should come in the form of electing new officials that will support your policies.

To block and obstruct everything as a policy, with the sole intention of harming the other party, even if it hurts the country, is the very definition of treachery and should not be tolerated.