Our opponents don't think we have the right to make decisions

In a piece about a dubious interpretation that that filibuster is unconstitutional that he's received emails from conservatives that

convince me that the perception that the Obama administration isn't just liberal, but is unconstitutional in a way that's actively dangerous, has more traction on the right than I'd realized.

This is actually a fairly critical insight that I don't think get pointed out enough in liberal political circles. What Ezra is writing is that he is hearing from conservatives who don't just disagree with Obama and liberals and Democrats, but think that they don't have a right to be a position to make decisions for the country.

Fundamentally, we are illegitimate, and therefore nothing is off-limits in the effort to stop us.

Seen through this prism, Two-Time Car Thief Darrel Issa's attack the Obama administration as "corrupt" because of government spending on TARP, the stimulus, and health care reform, makes sense. The policies that the Democrats and Obama support are inherently corrupt because the people who hold those position are allowed to be in a position to act on them. Its a clever maneuver because it both makes compromise impossible, while insulating those Republicans who suddenly find themselves opposing the exact positions they supported before the Democrats took over from the charges of hypocrisy.

Understanding this is the first step to understanding how to change the way we fight them. When we try and fight these attacks on the basis of assuming our opponents goodwill, we inevitably lose. We need to understand that when the other side doesn't grant you standing to even be involved in an argument, you can't grant them an assumption good faith. We need to understand the contempt in which they hold us - and react accordingly.