The only group to lose out more in 2007 than al-Qaeda was the Democrats in Congress. They were able to demonstrate that the last GOP Congress which did nothing because the far right feared compromise at any cost was not the lowest Congress could go. The Democrats showed how anger over previous election losses and a greed for power can make Congress impotent as well. They were able to produce an even worse record than the GOP Congress they vanquished.

The most entertaining part of this historic disaster is watching those on the left admire the results of their hyper-partisan handiwork:

For liberals in the US, 2007 seems destined to go down as a year of dashed hopes and frustrations. After six years in the political wilderness, including an infuriating 2005 when we were treated to several essays and at least two books about the doomed state of the Democratic party, the good guys were back in the saddle. It’s hard now to remember the sense of elation that greeted the results. Pickups were widely expected, and a change in control of the House even forecast as somewhat likely, but almost nobody believed Democrats would secure control of both chambers of Congress. And yet, they did! Things were gonna change.

Except, by and large, they didn’t.

The hoped-for dramatic expansion of the child health insurance programme S-Chip? Didn’t happen. Transformation of American energy policy? Didn’t happen. The “carried interest” loophole that lets private equity billionaires pay lower tax rates than their secretaries? Still open. No Child Left Behind? Unchanged, despite the hubbub. Surveillance? Same as ever. And, of course, the war in Iraq continues despite its steady unpopularity.

What went wrong?

What went wrong is simple. The GOP had gone too far right and refused to work for progress over purity. The backstabbing of Bush and anyone who dared strike compromise were pilloried. The GOP refused to see the upside in alliances, and they were too busy destroying their coalition to find hope and opportunity.

The Democrats promised to change all that. But when they got in they went too far left. They refused to work for progress over purity. They attacked anyone who dared to strike a compromise. And they refused to see the potential upside of the changes in Iraq. The Dems have been too busy obsessing about, actually hoping for, American defeat against al-Qaeda that they have not found any hope or opportunity in uniting the country.

Hyper-partisanship has destroyed the fortunes of two Congresses in a row. When do you think the pols in DC will wake up? I fear never – which is why it will take a few rounds of house cleaning to get some new blood in the Congress before it becomes functional again.