Trump tries to woo moderate Democrats. This one's telling him to get bent

Now that the White House realizes it’s bound to a suicide vest known as the "Freedom Caucus," Donald Trump’s aides are on the hunt for Democrats who will help the popular vote loser bring his legislative agenda to fruition.

Under normal circumstances, building a relationship with a Republican president in order to influence legislation might make sense. But these are not normal times. To negotiate with Trump would be to lend credibility to someone who is quite possibly an illegitimate occupant of the Oval Office, has stacked his cabinet with unqualified hacks intended to undercut the very foundation of the federal government, tests the Constitutional limitations of his office at every turn, and who, as our own Laura Clawson pointed out, can't go two sentences without expelling a lie.

Massachusetts Rep. Stephen Lynch gets that, which is why he refused a White House invitation to meet next week with Trump's top legislative aides, writes Matt Viser:

“I was asked if I would be interested in going over to the White House for a meeting,” Lynch said in a statement to the [Boston] Globe. “They said they were looking for ‘moderate’ Democrats – which I am. But under the circumstances I felt like they were trying to divide our party so I declined the invitation.”

“My feeling is that the Trump White House has taken a ‘scorched earth’ approach so far,” he added. “I am usually someone who looks for middle ground, but Mr. Trump’s opening position, especially as reflected in his budget, has been so extreme that there is no middle ground. It’s a non-starter for me.”

Here, here, Mr. Lynch.

And by the way, any Democrat who attends that meeting better be ready for a reckoning on the other side of the White House doors.