Is it just me or is this whole debt-ceiling/credit-rating crisis just another in a long history of GOP antics during the hot summer months. Is this the GOP’s version of summer camp? Hi Kids! Welcome to Camp GOPWannaFuckUs! And the “talent” at the end-of-summer show is who was the most convincing boogey man? Who got the highest Q rating in their quest to frame the other side as [pick all that apply: elitist, out-of-touch, et al]. This is not to say that I don’t think the debt ceiling crisis is real or important. Because it is very real. And it is important. Especially to women.

But there’s something about how this is all playing out that seems so … familiar… Wasn’t there something last year about funding state Medicaid funds and preventing massive teacher layoffs? It takes me back to the summer of 2009 when angry right-wing plants were raising hell at healthcare town-hall meetings… Or the summer of 2004 when President Bush trotted out the Federal Marriage Amendment… And if I remember right, didn’t DOMA start getting spin in the summer of 1996? (Gosh, the LGBT community is really popular with the GOP douchey idea factory.) The air-traffic controllers went on strike in August 1981 under Reagan’s watch. But I guess the GOP can get burned by summer-time scandals, too. Watergate, anyone?

It seems I’m not the only one who’s sensing a pattern. Yesterday morning, NPR posted the following on Facebook:

NPR is working on a story on the current debt-ceiling crisis and wants to hear from you on one particular angle. Is the debt crisis a massive, psychological game of chicken? If so, how?

Can we really afford these same, old antics — from the GOP (or Democrats, for that matter)? I, for one, don’t need any more summer camp. It’s time to get back to reality and creating real solutions for real problems!