THE BURNED OVER DISTRICT

But there is no mistaking the actions of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. When he cancelled the traditional Senate recess in the middle of summer, the most miserable time in DC, he admitted the failure of his Republican Party to govern this country.

Republicans are failing at governance. And they know it.

Their senatorially painful decision announced on Tuesday to sacrifice some of lawmakers’ usually sacrosanct August recess was a public confession that they have not gotten the job done even while controlling the White House, Senate and House of Representatives.

In deciding to forgo at least the first two weeks of their regular summer getaway, Senator Mitch McConnell and his colleagues essentially admitted that they could not afford to go home to face constituents without making a concerted effort to pass contentious health care legislation and put some other points on the board.

“It is time to get results for the American people,” said a group of 10 Republican senators who had pressed Mr. McConnell, the Kentucky Republican and majority leader, to force the Senate to stick around.

Legislative results have been in short supply for unified Republican government as first the House and now the Senate have gotten badly bogged down in trying to overhaul the Obama administration’s health care law — a top priority of Republicans since 2010. The stalemate has been ugly, preventing Republicans from moving ahead on long overdue budget, spending and tax priorities and leaving Mr. McConnell and Senate Republicans frustrated and doubting their abilities.

Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa, was perhaps the most blunt when he said on Twitter over the weekend that the 52 Republican senators should “be ashamed that we have not passed health reform by now.” He added, in all caps for emphasis: “WE WONT BE ASHAMED WE WILL GO FROM MAJORITY TO MINORITY.”

Leadership vows to cut off recess are a staple of congressional theater, used as a ploy to force lawmakers to address an issue or face the prospect of seeing their overseas fact-finding trips canceled. But the threats usually produce some action and are very rarely acted upon. The fact that Mr. McConnell felt compelled to actually abbreviate the recess, just days after Republicans were snickering at the very idea, underscored the seriousness of his party’s plight.

Being a party of a minority of the population, they only know how to act as a minority and obstruct the wishes of the majority of Americans.When they seek to act on their evil agenda, they fall flat on their faces.