I did something today that I’ve never done before. The Department of Justice, which I proudly served for a quarter century as an assistant U.S. attorney and a deputy U.S. marshal, asked me for help, and I declined. Actually, what I declined to do was attend a meeting.
Andrew Sullivan put up this very smart post about the "tea party" flames being fanned by Fox News and Pajamas Media. Sullivan does admit that he might be sympathetic to the cause if it could be pinned down.
As a fiscal conservative who actually believed in those principles when the Republicans were in power, I guess I should be happy at this phenomenon. And I would be if it had any intellectual honesty, any positive proposals, and any recognizable point. What it looks like to me is some kind of amorphous, generalized rage on the part of those who were used to running the country and now don't feel part of the culture at all. But the only word for that is: tantrum.
These are not tea-parties. They are tea-tantrums. And the adolescent, unserious hysteria is a function not of a movement regrouping and refinding itself. It's a function of a movement's intellectual collapse and a party's fast-accelerating nervous breakdown.
Is the Republican party, the party of obstructionist politics? Hilzoy:
I am not, in general, a big fan of saying: Republicans: you lost. Get over it. But in this case, I'm going to make an exception. The Republicans do not seem to be willing to allow the President to do things that are plainly his prerogative: appointing the reasonable, qualified, law-abiding people of his choice, deciding which documents should be declassified, and so forth. Any moment now they'll threaten not to pass the budget unless he sets his air conditioner at their preferred temperature.
Greg Sargent put up this headline today.
House GOP Leaders Leaking On Each Other?
The GOP just leaked its plan for the economy: Bring down the Democrats approval ratings.
If Republicans cannot, or will not, stand up to Rush Limbaugh, how can they ever be trusted to stand up to the terrorists?
Apparently the Republicans have discovered the intertrons and this really cool thing called Twitter. Who knew Twitter would jump the shark this soon?
The Republicans are at it again. This time West Virginia Republicans are going to save the marriages of all us straight folks from the gays. It's worth noting that I do appreciate their efforts because I don't know if I could explain to my wife and kids why I had to leave them for that really cute guy I saw on Facebook. (Via WV Blue)
We are all going to wonder, for a very long time, what really might have happened if Clinton-era fiscal responsibility would have continued and paying down the debt was a matter of policy so that credit became more and more available (in responsible ways) as treasuries were permanently retired (that is, they were no longer rolled over, as they are now), and that money could have flowed freely into a vibrant economy.
Instead, Bush started an unnecessary war in Iraq and we lost the ground we'd gained. I hope my children are around to see what an era of extended debt retirement actually looks like.
With the the Republican Congressional caucus sniffing Rush's panties; they are about to become exactly what Tom Delay dreamed of: an ideologically pure caucus so far out on the fringes of the Right they'll make Newt look like a centrist. They will lose the votes of New England Republicans and possibly Lugar and a few others in the Senate on many important issues. In the House, with so few moderate Republicans left it's hard to say how many will see the light before they go all lemming and run over the cliff with Rush and Gingrey.
If the Republicans were actually arguing the merits of the stimulus program rather than coming up with phony BS from a CBO "report" that did not exist, and just plain lying, they might be a worthy opposition party. Instead they seem content to be villains in a Keystone Cop movie.
(via Balloon Juice)
John Cole wrote this about the EPIC FAIL that is the Republican Party:
None of this matters a whit when you have no message, and that is the unenviable position the Republicans are in right now. What is John McCain’s core message? I will tell you, as it is very simple- “Not Obama.” That is it. That is the sum total of the message. He and the Wasilla Wingnut have done nothing for the past two months but provide weak and ugly reasons why you should not vote for Obama, starting with the sneer de force at the RNC and continuing on to the present, where we learn that we should not vote for Obama because some plumber (but not really) is worried about socialism and because Obama knows a guy named Khalidi who does not agree with everything Bill Kristol says about Israel.
Obama can go on TV for 30 minutes and not mention John McCain even once.No way would the reverse be true.
They will get to know him very well over the next four years. As President he will be on TV every night. Looks like they have some getting used to the idea of Obama as President to do. I plan on interviewing some of the anti-Obama folks after the election for feedback. I wonder if Canada is going to be able to handle the influx of refugees?
Thanks to Blog Interrupted for the video.
Andrew Sullivan writes:
They are a religious and cultural identity party, primed to rally to anything their leaders say and question nothing.
Worth a look at this RedState post by Congressman Blount from the other day:
Anyone who reads RedState on a regular basis knows by now that the contributors who lend content to the site aren’t shills for Republicans in Congress.
And it’s that dogged independence that gives so much credibility to the conservative blogosphere -- credibility that simply doesn't exist on the left, where blogs like the Puffington Host [sic.] and Daily Kos serve as a bulletin board for standard Democratic talking points, and where opposing viewpoints are shouted down from view.
I mean, talk about a direct IV into the vein of your support. It’s a very efficient way to communicate. They regurgitate exactly and put up on their blogs what you said to them. It is something that we’ve cultivated and have really tried to put quite a bit of focus on.
Would the Karl Rove Republican hit machine keep this man from getting elected President?
* He's a Jew
* He's unemployed
* He wanders in the desert and hears voices
* He hangs around with a bunch of attractive young men who live together.
* No military service
* He's trying to overthrow the government
* He has no respect for established religion
What would Republicans do?
With all the Cloture Votes that have failed in the Senate this year you would think the Republicans have always been stalwart supporters of the Minority in the august body. Nothing like getting your ass kicked in an election to have a Come-to-Jesus understanding of the Senate Rules and their inherent value. Apparently the Republicans have found Nuclear Non-Proliferation just about the time they went back into the minority. Let's take a trip back about three years ago.
Sen. Trent Lott (R-MS): “[Filibustering] is wrong. It’s not supportable under the Constitution. And if they insist on persisting with these filibusters, I’m perfectly prepared to blow the place up.”
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) spokesman: “Senator McConnell always has and continues to fully support the use of what has become known as the ‘[nuclear]’ option in order to restore the norms and traditions of the Senate.”
Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX): “I support the [nuclear] option, I support a rule change, I support elimination of the unconstitutional filibuster by any legal means.”
More good and bad news from Iraq.
First the good news: Our military continues to perform with great success! They have accomplished each assigned task with incredible bravery, skill and professionalism. Thanks to everyone who serves.
Now the bad news: The American civilian continues to "under perform." No political progress in sight and Sunnis in some areas may still have links to Al Qaeda in Iraq:
Soldiers from the 4-64th said that the Sunni volunteers rarely offer tips on al Qaida and that they also have doubts about their loyalties.
"I think most of them are al Qaida or at least linked," said 1st Lt. Brendon McGann, 24, of Bethesda, Md. "They only give us Shiite JAM targets," he added, using the acronym for the Mahdi Army's Arabic name.
It's unclear how much the Americans know about their new partners. One volunteer, Maj. Mohammed Khalid, led the Americans to a roadside bomb that was carefully hidden under a blast wall that separates Saidiyah from the Sunni-dominated neighborhood of Dora. Asked how he knew it was there, he responded, "I have my sources."
How will a weak, Shia dominated parliament settle differences with the Sunni parliament members who have no control over Sunni militias run by former Baathist Officers? The former Baathists have zero incentive to do anything. They have not been defeated. Period. Local militias, with the blessing of US military commanders, have routed out most of the AQI elements, but they have not defeated the militias run by former Baathist generals. Therein lies the rub.
Why would these Sunni militias lay down the weapons that have served them so well?
Until the Jordanians, Saudis, and Syrians are brought in to pressure the Sunni militias, and the Iranians pressures its Shia constituency we have zero hope of ever leaving Iraq. Period.
If indeed we get all these parties involved, the US still has no guarantee that the shit won’t hit the fan when we leave.
And … the Kurds. What about our “allies” in Northern Iraq? They exponentially complicate the calculus. Which is unfortunate, because the people currently running the Executive Branch can’t even do simple arithmetic.
I have little faith in the Diplomatic skills of the Former Cheerleader and his Gang of War Criminals. Condi Rice poked her head up from her foxhole recently, but she’s still out gunned by the Twelve Sandwich Eating War Criminal with a Pacemaker. She is no match for him and David Addington. (New England Patriots versus Miami Dolphins,as it were.)
Jesus Babbling Christ! Will somebody please tell these deadenders the military options can go on until Sisyphus pushes that fucking boulder up the hill and we won’t straighten out the Iraq Abortion until we get some competent goddamn diplomats in the mix!
If you want a vision of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face - forever.--George OrwellFrank Rich writes about the fearmongering Imperial President, his consolidation of power, and the cowardly Democrats, afraid of their own shadow and incapable of slowing him down who lack the moral courage to stop his power grab, because they too want maintain their own treacherous hand on the ship of state. The side by side look at Musharraf and Bush is telling.
The Houston Chronicle reports that the rats are still jumping ship. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) will not run for re-election and she could leave the Senate as early as 2009.
Hutchison told Texas Monthly in an interview to be fully published in December that she would end her Senate career in 2012, whether or not she runs for governor.
