Ended not with a bang, but with whimpering chickenhawks, too afraid of terrorists to enlist in their own conservative crusade against liberal John McCain. Just a few hours ago, this comment at Malkin’s seemed to sum up the general consensus of our brave patriots who simply could not tolerate a liberal McCain presidency:
I would not boo, I would stand up and turn my back on him the same way he has turned his back on the party so many times. I would also put some black tape over my mouth to fufill his wish of keeping the detractors silent.
Turn around they did, exposing their backside, at which point they promptly bent over and grabbed their ankles:
The conservative reviews are in and virtually everyone shares John and my view: it was outstanding. That take comes from the most loyal Romney supporters to a wide array of conservative voices. The “We’ll take Hillary” view is clearly out of fashion. One speech a reconciliation does not make, but realistically there is only one way forward now for former McCain critics: take credit and make the most of it.
I am sure you are all shocked to know that the wingnuts whinged and moaned and wailed, and in the end sucked it up and embraced their irrelevance. Months of calling him Juan McCain and worse were swept aside, “shamnesty” is but a memory, and all it took was one chorus of the “democrats are worse” and our brave patriots came to their senses. And now, magically, the right-wing blabosphere and John McCain are united and go together like Cheetos and Mountain Dew. Before long, our independent bloggers and right-wing bloviators will be back to doing what they do best- regurgitating the party line.
As we close out the great wingnut “conservative” rebellion, which is winding down before it started, we should probably note this thing of beauty from K-Lo (via Sullivan):
This McCain speech would not have been given today, if it weren’t for folks like Mark Levin, Rush Limbaugh, Andy McCarthy, Sean Hannity, and Laura Ingraham. Can I thank them on behalf of America?
Precious. They threaten, they scream, they smear, and they are summarily ignored, and yet still they try to take credit for the outcome they didn’t like. The wingnut is a curious beast, indeed.
Dennis - SGMM
I think that it is shameful of you, John, to in any way disparage those patriots who realized that it was either fellate McCain or surrender to the terrorists.
Ninerdave
Hmmm…I thought booing a war hero was sort of frowned upon.
Dennis - SGMM
After the 2004 election? Booing a hero is okay, electing a draft dodger is even better. Letting others do the killing and dying while acting tough around the mouth is the best.
Bubblegum Tate
If you want to do something to them on behalf of America, make them shut up and/or go away. You too, K-Lo.
Conservatively Liberal
I am sad to see that this is over already, damn! They folded like a house of cards and now they is lovin’ them some McCain. RedState has been a blast to read lately, and I am going to miss all of the roasting, spinning and dishing out heaping servings of crow between members there.
Reading RedState and other conservative(?) blogs, it is clear that they thought they could run the show, and now that they know the people are back in charge they are working up a way to make it sound good to themselves.
*barf*
maxbaer (not the original)
My favorite comment over at Malkin’s:
I don’t think any of them know who they’re for or against.
SmilingPolitely
The corporate establishment is a flip-flopper.
“I hated McCain before I loved him and wanted to suck his dick!”
myiq2xu
We should call K-Lo the “Red(state) Queen”
Scott H
The saddest thing is that McCain will suck up to these people. This is not the John McCain I supported in 2000. Whoever is in that suit is running on the record of a dead man.
But! Up Side #1: Mitten’s kittens are free to continue serving their country by enlisting.
Up Side #2: A Clinton versus McCain election campaign will be a mudslingin’ cage match that only Jerry Springer and Vince McMahon together could moderate.
myiq2xu
Fixt
(After all, Incurious George is their leader.)
The Grand Panjandrum
So I wonder what its like being McCain’s bitch? Is he going to make them wear doggie collars and whip them with a riding crop? Damn. All the possibilities.
Rick Massimo
Amazing. Even I thought it was gonna last a month or so. What was that, three days?
myiq2xu
McCain defeated the GOP establishment faster than Chimpy beat Saddam.
Maybe he would be a good Commander-in-Chief.
Naw.
Jake
If you are genuinely surprised by this turn of events please contact me immediately. I have a once in a life-time deal on a bridge that might interest you.
Wilfred
With apologies to women:
I am wingnut, hear me whine
In numbers too small to decline
And I pissed so much that now I’m on Depends
’cause I’ve said it all before
And I’ve been kicked right out the door
No one’s ever gonna let me in again
CHORUS
Oh yes I am blind
But it’s blindness born of shame
Yes, I’m left behind
But look how much I framed
If I have to, I can say anything
I am lame
I’m expendable
I am wingnut
Xenos
In case nobody has mentioned it yet, there is a Hunter S. Thompson style liveblogging of CPAC over at Sadlyno.
Not to be missed.
libarbarian
I know you’re critiquing the wingnuts ability to go from outraged to obedient in 1.2 second and not saying that you agree with their former criticisms of McCain.
But seriously though, if, for some unpredictable reason, the Dems manage to snatch Defeat from the jaws of Victory and blow this election, I am much more comfortable with the idea of McCain being the president than any of the other republicans who began this primary season.
Huckabee: Worse. As bad or worse on economics. Much worse on the role of religion in the government and pushing the pet causes of fundamentalists on the country. Worse on foreign policy.
Romney: I think worse. He is more moderate at heart but I think he honestly committed to the role of right-wing partisan when he decided to run and I don’t believe he would have shrugged it off after election (got get reelected). I believe he would have maintained the “Republican line” on executive authority, the GWOT, and Iraq for political reasons if not always from conviction. I could be wrong and I understand why some people might have prefered him to McCain.
Ron Paul: Quite worse. Gold Standard? WTF? Eliminate the FDA? Do we really want to return to the era of “snake oil” charms that were 50% morphine (they sure as hell made you feel cured of “whatever ails you” while leaving you uncured and a drug addict to boot)? Maybe some Paulite will try and tear me a new one, but I don’t think I have to explain this to most people here.
Tancredo:
Guiliani: FAR WORSE! Probably better economically. On foreign policy – He had a retinue of unrepentent neocons as his closest advisors, is more of a “warmonger” than McCain possibly will be, AND has no military experience to temper his illusions. Also he was radically pro-torture and pro-JackBauer approach to the GWOT. On Domestic policy – FAR more willing to abuse executive power at home when it comes to domestic surveillance and the authority to detain citizens without rights. Hands down the most dangerous GOP candidate.
Thompson: Who the fuck knows? Comparing him to McCain is like comparing the new set of golf clubs to the “mystery prize” behind door #3. Some liberals might hate McCain so much they “prefer” a complete gamble to him I but the guy was a Republican and if he won he would have won based on the support of the conservative wing of the party so I dont think the odds of him being better on key issues is high… but who knows? Maybe he would have been better.
All things considered, I think most of us should breath a sigh of relief that, given the field of possible candidates, we ended up with McCain as the Republican nominee and not one of the others. Bash him for his differences but at least the guy is with us on a few, but very important, issues including immigration and torture – which is a BIG one for me. In a field of warmongers, I’ll take the warmonger who doesn’t torture captives any day of the week. Furthermore, he’s the one candidate that owes NOTHING to the identity-conservative wingnuts … other than a good beating.
I’ll probably get a few flames for this, and I’m not voting for McCain, but I’m glad that if everything goes wrong it’s going to be McCain and not one of the others.
libarbarian
Tancredo: Worse. I’m not sure where he stood on anything but immigration, but his stance on that spoke loud enough.
vg
Hey, what’s the deal with all the Cheetos references in connection with right wing bloggers? I seem to have missed the memo.
The Grand Panjandrum
I guess we can now conclude that Saddam was tougher than a bag of Cheetos and Mountain Dew.
Rick Massimo
Oh, I agree: Given the GOP choices, McCain is head-and-shoulders the best. He’s like a broken calendar – right twice a year.
Elvis Elvisberg
clearly out of fashion.
Perfect.
Not that there’s any principled reason for the before or after view.
One view used to be politically correct; now, word has come down from the Politburo that a different view is the one true opinion.
Either way, we get to call everyone who disagrees a traitor! Wheeee!
Dug Jay
You fools are obviously scared shitless by the thought of a McCain candidacy. As the Obama campaign slowly morphs into something just a tad short of mass messianism, the Clinton campaign falters amid new scandals.
This could be a very interesting Fall.
Ted
John, your level of schadenfreude is becoming alarming. The spectacle of the right-wing convulsions seems to have you rolling like a raver.
Not that I don’t enjoy it…
ladonne
I don’t know about you all, but I am having fun poking at the bloggers who supported McCain until Fred got into the race and then switched back to McCain when Fred dropped out and McCain started winning.
In other words, the same superficial types that make up the vocal “conservatives.”
It’s fun.
Caidence (fmr. Chris)
I loved that line. LOVED IT.
It says EVERYTHING you ever needed to know about the social hierarchy in their heads.
1.) Politicians have no control over their own agendas. They can choose from the left side of the menu or the right side of the menu.
2.) The ones that yell the loudest are directing the show (this is partially true, depending on the size of your radio transmitter)
3.) The louder you yell, the more people (not already in your fanbase) can hear you.
4.) Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc: If I said it better happen, and it happened, then they read me daily and Cheetos does make me a smarter commentatetor.
They just proved themselves perfectly irrelevant.
NEVER McCAIN! ROMNEY INSTEAD! NEVER McCAIN! ROMNEY INSTEAD! NEVER McCAIN! ROMNEY INSTEAD! NEVER McCA– er ALWAYS McCAIN! ALWAYS McCAIN!
love it. awesome. great awesome days of awesomeness.
Caidence (fmr. Chris)
Is he spoofing? Really?
When the DOWNSIDE is McCain, we’re doing OK, dude. I’m freakin’ happy.
myiq2xu
Was it a “wide stance?”
myiq2xu
It’s based on the motto of the 101st Keyboard Kommandos:
“You can have my keyboard when you pry it from my Cheeto stained fingers”
Ned R.
Eh, I don’t know if you’d want to say it’s to her ‘credit’ per se, but Malkin herself ain’t buying yet (key word being ‘yet’):
On the one hand, typical; on the other, it does seem like the one overarching issue she cares about above all else, so why not stand or fall by it?
Delia
McCain! McCain! McCain!
Three Cheers for the Hundred Years’ War!
Caidence (fmr. Chris)
Awesome! It seems we get to be France in this particular Hundred Years’ War. I’m sure the wingnuts will find this a thought-provoking similarity.
ha.
Caidence (fmr. Chris)
Caidence (fmr. Chris) has overrun his limit on repeated usage of inane words and has been banned until he reads a thesaurus.
Rick Taylor
That sure didn’t take long. I’m obviously not nearly cynical enough, I thought there’d be at least a few weeks of soul searching and such before they embraced him, if they ever did.
On the other hand, it looks like Anne Coulter is sticking to her guns. No water board hating global-warming-alarmist swift-boat-criticizing pseudo-conservative for her! I admire her sticking to her guns, in a warped sort of way.
myiq2xu
Awesome!
Caidence (fmr. Chris)
Found one!
/hits myiq with the thesaurus.
You’ll need this. You caught teh dumb from me.
Stupendous!
Xanthippas
It is amusing to think that for all their blovitating, they’ll line up to kiss his ass…and he’ll lose anyway.
Jake
Shorter: OMG, he winked at us! I can’t believe he noticed us! That is sooooo coool!1
Pathetic.
Sorry, that should be: “Par for the course.”
Caidence (fmr. Chris)
Easy there. You’re speaking in a thread where the topic is how utterly shameless the nuts just proved themselves.
Now anything is possible.
Obama: they’ll secretly kidnap one of the girls, give them cocaine, take a video of it, and then use it against him
Clinton: probably find a full motion porno and paste Chelsea’s head in every frame of the girl, with top-notch work. BONUS: NOW will still support Hillary after that. “If a woman has to sell her kid into slavery to get ahead… well that’s a man’s world for you”
myiq2xu
Fixt
Conservatively Liberal
I have to laugh my ass off at the fact that the Republican party members are not marching to the orders of talk radio and right wing commentary. They are not going to take their ‘orders’ from the DittoMasters any more. They have had it with Bush and what the party has become, and I think they are voting for McCain because he has poked the party in the eye many times. They may simply interpret that to mean that he disagrees with the party, and it it is in such a mess then maybe he might help to clean it up. Whatever the reasons are, and I am sure that many voters on the right are ‘doing their own thing’ and basically telling the Malkintents, Limpbaughs, insHannitys and other water carriers that they are not worth their weight in dog shit.
The meltdown on the right is beautiful to behold, the same as the lesser meltdown on the left (Obama and the 50 state strategy vs. the Clintons/DLC and the 50%+1 strategy). The parties may not like it, but the public is shaking up the Etch-A-Sketch and they are going to draw a new picture. The public is right on this, the old politics of the past have to change. But the party string pullers are not going to give up power easily, and things are going to get messy on both sides this year.
I do not doubt that if Obama wins the primary, hardliners on the left will continue to attack him mercilessly. They are not going to like the loss of party control to the young upstarts. Same for McCain and the hardliners on the right, he is going to be ripped apart too.
This is going to be one of the most interesting presidential elections in my life, and I don’t think more has been resting on the outcome than what we are facing now.
I have this visual of wailing wingnuts rubbing their Cheetos stained fingers in their bloodshot eyes until their eyelids are bright orange and red from being rubbed sore, snot dripping out of their noses from crying profusely. In fact, I like the visual of them leaking bodily fluids from every orifice at the thought of what they will face if Obama wins the primary and all they have to face him is tired old St. John of McCain.
I can only hope McCain faces Obama, because if he does then politics as we have known it are going to change.
jcricket
Amongst the 9 circles of Hell proffered up by the GOP this election season, McCain is the least brimstone-smelling.
Or, amongst the rotten meat in the garbage can of the GOP, McCain is the one least likely to give you permanent intestinal damage.
Got any more?
And I feel the urge to say “We have always loved John McCain” (a la always being at war with eastasia).
Rick Taylor
My goodness, i just saw Romney’s concession speech, painting his decision as such a noble choice in the fight against terror. If I’d been one of his supporters, I would feel like such a total chump.
Kevin
I’m just a lurker here and not very articulate when it comes to the snark. So I’m counting on you people to come up with the appropriate 1984 reference here. “Greater Wingnutia has always been
at war withallied with McCain” is the best I’ve come up with so far.myiq2xu
John, as an ex-GOPer you should avoid these metaphorical detours into gay fantasyland.
Somebody might think you still crave the kool-aid.
Caidence (fmr. Chris)
Excellent. Me likey.
OMG, like i no, brittany haz gottn sooooooo fat n now she cant dance anymor n stuff isnt that sooooo sad id be soooo ashamed to be seen w/ her n whuts w/ teh hospi--- zOMG a LIMO just pulled up in front of OMGOMGOMGOMG its her! itsher!! omg she looks soooooo pretty!! she must b workin out im so going up to her to say hi!! --- oh. my. god. ohmygod. SHE SMILED AT ME!!!1 This iz teh best day OF MY LIFE(The fact that I took pleasure in writing that is probably indication of a psychotic issue. Probably too many Tears of the Pony)
Conservatively Liberal
and said:
“SIR! MAY I HAVE ANOTHER ONE SIR!”
Digital Amish
Isn’t ‘Red Dawn’ on all the top ten lists of these guys? They like to fantasize about being Wolverines? Shit, they’re just townie collaborators.
Caidence (fmr. Chris)
WTF? Bounded ‘!’ inlines an image? Where’s the user manual? I must try this!
!http://img178.imageshack.us/my.php?image=1169739823358934qw7.jpg” target=”_blank”!
dus it wurk?
Caidence (fmr. Chris)
ok, ignore me. This site’s framework is bonkers.
myiq2xu
Don’t be too sure. Once this internal power struggle is over, they will be marching in lockstep again. Dissenters will be purged.
They are authoritarians, and “follow the leader” is all they know how to do.
Read Altemeyer to understand how they think and act.
crw
Well, the Democratic strategy just got a whole lot more clear. Chant “100 more years!” while playing clips of McCain singing “bomb bomb bomb Iran” over and over. Either Hillary or Barack is going to mop the floor with him during the debates. I can’t wait.
Conservatively Liberal
Nope, but if you figure it out please share… ;)
myiq2xu
Uh, dude? Tears aren’t yellow
Bob In Pacifica
If only they’d spat on McCain. Bring the whole Vietnam vet hate thing to an end.
Conservatively Liberal
‘Will McCain make it through a debate against Obama?‘
Depends
========
They are running a one hour Hillary
specialadvertisement on MSNBC. Nothing like free advertising, eh? GE, I wonder how this happened?;)
Caidence (fmr. Chris)
Oh, BARACK, what a BIG TEAR DUCT you have!
that’s it, now you made me ruin my appetite. Curse you!
Digital Amish
I tend to think that the soul searching in the Romney household lastnight went something like this – “Joseph Smith Dad! You keep this up and inherintance tax is not going to be an issue!”
cbear
That’s hilarious.
How hard can it be to achieve “street cred” with today’s chickenhawk conservatives?
Hell, wiping the Cheetos stains off your dick with your mother’s best hand-towels probably qualifies with this crowd.
GSD
Now they can back to rewriting the history of the last 8 years. The history that says Democrats forced a reluctant Bush to go to war against Saddam. The history that showed the weak and out of power Republicans forced to watch as Democrats shoved pork laden budgets down the pipline only to be signed by ‘liberal’ George W. Bush in order to break the budget against the wishes of the conservatives.
-GSD
UnkyT
Why does every nutter just assume it will be Hillary. Is this wishfull thinking? Its like John Stewart wishing Cheney would shoot someone else in the face. Material for months. While definitely possible, there is at least as much a chance of him dying of a heart attack first.
Caidence (fmr. Chris)
Wishful thinking is the only kind of thinking these cretins do.
Think of how many people stated with certainty that Romney was going to carry on Bush’s “legacy” (torture program) in 2008. Now, look at how they react after Romney is gone. Like nothing ever happened; Savior Limbaugh reached out to the frontrunner and set him straight.
With mental compartmentalization like that, it’s no surprise that these people retain no dissonance when they state Hillary is going to win. They’re incapable of it.
LiberalTarian
According to the thesaurus that makes them “Stoop-End-Us.”
Birdzilla
Conservatives are turning against those who have turned against them Were getting tired of these wishy washy liberals
The Other Steve
Why? McCain is by far the worst candidate the Republicans could pick. I think he’s awesome.
I think it’s funny how the Republicans are nominating someone without putting the spotlight on his failings.
TenguPhule
Time to celebrate.
I was worried that McCoward would develop credibility with gulliable voters who buy the ‘straight talk’ bullshit express.
But the wingnut kiss of death with tongue has been delivered.
Embrace the manly tap dancing love of Conservative Ass with old sagging Prick.
myiq2xu
Because they are not allowed to hate Obama yet.
Which begs the question: Are they really more scared of Hillary or are they just trying to make us think they are more scared of Hillary?
I wouldn’t base my decision on either choice, because I think we’ll win either way.
But if Obama is the nominee they will be showing him the hate before November. It will be very, very ugly.
If they can’t find reasons to hate Obama, they’ll make them up. They’ve done it before.
TenguPhule
Either magical unity pony delivers hope for the future or the Clenis will begin a bloody purge of Republicans into the sea.
Either way, we win.
Tax Analyst
“…Cheetos and Mountain Dew”…
Snork
Nice line, John.
Perry Como
Did you hear Obama had a black baby?
The Other Steve
But they love Clinton! hell Rush Limbaugh has said he’s going to raise money for her, and Ann Coulter is gonna vote for her.
Tehanu
Check out this at Phil Nugent’s blog: http://philnugentexperience.blogspot.com/2008/02/flip-floppin-away.html
A brief excerpt:
Romney wound up providing one important service: by becoming the de facto candidate of the religious right and media dickwads, he gave that two-headed beast a chance to show itself for the narcissistic, thumb-sucking creature of pure self-interest that it is, a thing of no true convictions and a fifteen-second attention span….. [He made] an irresistable offer to the preachers and screamers and Information Age chuckleheads who like to see themselves as kingmakers. Whatever happens from now on, they have made it clear what’s really important to them, and no one should ever forget that.
myiq2xu
Can you tell me more about this bloody purge thing?
It sounds like a lot more fun than that “hope for the future” stuff.
myiq2xu
Shhhhh! I heard he had two of them!
crw
The GOP whisper attacks are all too predictable:
If it’s Obama – ZOMG Manchurian Muslim candidate!
If it’s Hillary – ZOMG Clinton body count! Poor Vince!
Either way, the smear machine is going to be exposed as the rusty, broken down pos it really is. Count on it.
Cain
What are you saying here? He’ll do okay if he wears depends? Bad visual dude, BAD VISUAL. I hope some reporter finds it while rummaging through his trash.
cain
myiq2xu
Dumbass G-Dub not only made it through two debates with Gore, the media declared him the winner.
The media will set the expectations up so that if McCain doesn’t shit himself he wins.
Conservatively Liberal
G-Dub made it through the debates because of the ‘power pack’ he had strapped to his back. It allowed his handlers to program and control him remotely.
myiq2xu
That was Darth Cheney’s hand up G-Dub’s ass pulling the string to make his lips move.
Johnny Pez
With Republicans, the rule is always “watch what they do, not what they say”. What they’re doing is launching a viral email campaign denouncing Obama as a secret Muslim and the second coming of Louis Farrakhan.
So, yes, they are just as scared of Obama as they are of Hillary.
myiq2xu
Oooh yeah! From Rising Hegemon:
LiberalTarian
Heh. Jon Stewart just tore Romney a new asshole. Heh.
jcricket
A-fucking-men to that. If you can get people to believe a lie by repeating it often enough, the truth should be a far easier sell. Democrats just need to get somewhere near the same page (in the same book would be nice) – and not be so afraid of their own shadows.
Yeah, the whole Fox News Obama/Osama thing was just a mix-up. This is not an argument for Hillary, but if you think Obama is any more immune than she is, you are fucking fooling yourself.
I just read a letter to the editor about how we can’t elect Obama because he’s more loyal to Kenya than the USA. These are the same people that can smear John Kerry into the guy who shot himself and McCain into collaborator and adulterer (with a black baby). Max Cleland loves Osama. Michael J. Fox’s Parkinson’s disease is HILARIOUS! Chelsea Clinton’s a dog.
There is fucking nothing they won’t stoop to. And if you think an interracial candidate with a thin record and a multinational background isn’t a rich target, wake the fuck up!
Again, not an argument to vote for Hillary (or against her). Vote for Obama on his merits (or Hillary on hers). But it’s pure cult of personality at this point if you think Obama’s going to ride the magical unity pony to massive electoral victories (i.e. getting large numbers of the Republicans to vote for him). Moreover, he’s not riding said pony into Washington and get any of the wingnut brigade (including the elected GOP officials) on his side, either.
Once again, not a reason to oppose him. No one can work with these ass-hats (not Hillary, not Obama, not Edwards, not Dodd, not even Bush I). Let’s just stop kidding ourselves. Bipartisanship and compromise are no longer goals. They can have those back when they shrug off Rush, Savage, Powerline, RedState, Hewitt, PNAC, etc.
Anne Laurie
Tolja! Except that I thought it would take the Chicken
ShitHawk Brigade a week or more before they could stop wailing about Old John’s betrayal of all that was pure and start cheering for St. Johnny Mack. For a bunch of fat pasty fvckwads who never get any exercise, they sure can move fast… must be the cockroach genes. New moon, new Repub frontrunner: Welcome, everybody, to the Year of the Rat!Beej
Don’t overdose on the schadenfreude too quickly. McCain is going to have this nomination tied up in very short order. For all practical purposes, he has it now. The Dems, on the other hand, are in a two-horse race that may go all the way to the convention. That means McCain has the chance to campaign against the Dems from now until November. Even if one of the Dem candidates has garnered enough delegates before the convention, it’s not going to happen until well into the late spring or early summer. And if they have to go all the way to the convention, well, the convention’s in August.
So, let’s see. McCain gets to bash the Dems from basically now until November. The Democratic candidate only gets to respond from late spring (at best) or late August (at worst). This does not make me happy.
Perry Como
In all fairness, Michelle Malkin never used those words. It was just questionable timing on John F’n Kerry’s part.
Tax Analyst
If you start dealing in unadulterated truth just watch the Republicans suddenly learn to parse meaning. The bloviator’s will have nuance pouring out of their assholes.
It ought to be instructive, if anybody’s actually paying any attention. Guess we’ll find out what is more important to John Q Voting Public…Britney or Lindsay’s latest escapade or America’s future.
Conservatively Liberal
Why is it viewed a negative if the Democrats have not picked a candidate before the Republican? I see it a whole different way. The longer our candidates battle it out, the less time they have to spend on the general and issues vs. McCain. It also forces McCain to campaign against two candidates, which allows them to both go toe to toe with McCain to battle that issue. And it gives more Democrats a say in who is the candidate.
All positives there, IMO.
Sorry Hillary supporters, Barack’s positives easily outweigh her negatives. Also, unrelated to my decision, but just as important, the right are licking their chops to go up against Hillary. No doubt about it, as a recent post by Moe over at RedState shows. If they go up against Obama, the racist side of the party will come out, and that will not be pretty. They will be exposed for exactly what they are. No doubt, they will battle against him just as they would Hillary, just that they have to find issues that do not involve race (or invoke race in subtle ways).
Hillary is a target rich environment for the right, and there is no argument against that. Vetted? Right, then we just move into right wing Clinton redux, wash, rinse and do it again.
Obama is the future, McCain and Hillary are the past. It is time to move forward, IMO.
Psycheout
Can Caidence and myiqiszero be banned? They really suck.
Where’s Darrell? We need some semblance of sanity around here.
Conservatively Liberal
Bwahahahahah! That beats my version: myiqis1/2ofyours
It is kind of interesting though. Evey once in a while there is a glimmer of possibility showing in them, and then WHAM!, reality sets back in. Nope, hopeless at this point.
I agree, where is Darrell when you need to hear the good shit?
Jake
“If you want a picture of the future, imagine Greater Wingnuttia being buggered bloody and calling it true love, forever.”
Conservatively Liberal
I like Gamecock’s latest bloviating diatribe at RedState.
Shorter GC: ‘When the left attacks McCain, we will feel better about defending him because he is being attacked by them like we were by him and thus we will bond as one organism and mind meld once again.’
Ok, I threw in the mind melding part, but it sure fits the rest of the narrative.
John S.
Bzzt. Wrong answer.
Republicans only turn out in strong numbers against someone they really hate and have been demonizing for years.
In 2000, it was Clinton-hate by extension with Gore. In 2004, they didn’t really need to turn out the hate vote against Kerry. They were still in love with Bush, and Democrats weren’t thrilled with Kerry.
In 2008, they will turn out in fucking droves to vote against Hillary because she is poison to them. They won’t come to vote for McCain because they really don’t like him all that much. But they do hate Hillary with the fire of a thousand suns, and nothing she can say or do will change that.
They don’t harbor nearly enough rancor towards Obama right now, and a few months of mudslinging is only going to persuade the most die-hard Republicans to come out against him. The usual lines of attack won’t be very effective on him and some of them may actually backfire. The average GOPer will stay home.
If you think they will turn out in the same numbers to vote against Obama, you’re quite delusional.
John S.
Sorry, but if you haven’t realized by now that the name ‘Clinton’ is more venomous to them than the name ‘Hussein’, you haven’t been paying attention.
grandpa john
Yeah, well as A Clemson alumni (class of 60) I can tell you that we are very familiar with that kind of mental degeneracy and insane blathering from our gamecock mental midgets. I think it may be from too much social life ,too much drugs and booze ,and too little exposure to academics. Or it may just be hereditary
Dennis - SGMM
Bush Signals Support for McCain
Bush applies his Fecal Touch.
Somewhere, John McCain is screaming “Nooooooooo!”
dslak
Bush’s support for McCain is going to be kept low-key, so don’t expect that to hurt him any more than having the (R) next to his name come election day will.
NonyNony
You know, this whole thing would have been more amsuing had the so-called “Movement Conservatives” fielded a candidate. As it is, McCain kinda won by default – he was the relatively mushy candidate that was “least unacceptable” to the majority of the GOP voters.
The “movement” didn’t even try to put one of their own in office. Seriously – Giulianni? Romney? Thompson? WTF? They didn’t unite behind a candidate, they didn’t lavish them with donations, they generally just lolled around waiting for their chosen candidate to say something that made them feel gooey.
I mean, I may knock the hardcore Obama supporters for their belief in pixie dust and magic ponies, but at least they seem to know when to put up or shut up. They want their guy to win so they’re out there banging on doors, making donations, donating time and effort. The “movement” wouldn’t put up – so, really, they should just shut up and get out of the way. They clearly never cared enough to try to stop McCain from getting the nomination because if they had this might have been a competative race.
Steven Hart
Gooble gobble, gooble gobble! One of them!
dslak
I tried to put up a comment last night on how RedState was already knew their role vis-a-vis McCain, since they had a post about his CPAC appearance that only mentioned the clapping and not the boos. WordPress ate it, however, so my genius continues to go unrecognized.
Wilfred
That’s it. Add the fact that McCain has said that if he wins he’ll only be a one term president. They can do 4 years of that easily – 8 years of Clinton is another story.
gypsy howell
The movement conservatives are discovering that old adage “when you’re being run out of town by a mob, get out in front and pretend you’re leading the parade.”
Dennis - SGMM
Being largely in the business of negativity and decrying the latest outrage these “movement” types aren’t really capable of supporting a candidate. They let Sam Brownback sink without a trace. Although I can’t stand Brownback, he seemed like an ideal choice for them. Even if the “movement” had interrupted their ranting long enough to support a candidate it probably would have amounted to the same support that they’ve given to the war: the leaders would exhort others to do the actual work and the followers would have echoed their exhortations while all remained ensconced at their keyboards and/or glued to Fox News and Rushbo.
dslak
Just like he said he didn’t support legalizing torture, or didn’t support Bush’s tax cuts.
Jen
…it’s almost as if they know that NO ONE LIKES THEM. And who has time to sweep Cheeto dust off their porch mat?
Face
More like the Oral Office.
dslak
And they won’t seriously oppose Obama? I’m an Obama supporter myself, but to think they’re going to treat Obama with kid gloves is naive.
Obama’s one strength over Hillary on legislation is that he might be able to peel off some Republican moderates to push through his agenda. Hillary’s approach would probably be similar to Bush’s, in that she would try to browbeat and threaten them into voting along with her agenda.
Even if either of them could succeed in their respective fashions, the Democrats in Congress will turn and devour their own, just like they always do. A lot of hate directed towards Lieberman, despite his liberal positions on domestic policies, has to do with how he went self-righteous on Clinton, apparently for media adulation.
That temptation for Democrats to gain fame and support by bucking the party is always going to be there in a way it’s not for the Republicans, and Democrats would do better to elect better Democrats than worry about how fiercely Republicans will oppose the Democratic agenda if Hillary is president rathe than Obama. They’re just going to oppose it.
The Other Steve
Actually McCain having to campaign against two candidates like that does throw him off balance.
On top of that McCain is going to be out of money by March and will be silent all summer. I think that’s the real reason they asked Romney to step down.
It’s too bad Huckabee didn’t take off more… If he’d dropped out they would have rallied around Romney. I was really looking forward to running a campaign against flip-flop Mittens.
Now all I got is a picture of McCain crying in Bush’s arms.
dslak
If you said it quickly and in the right accent, you could get away with “The Orifice.”
dslak
And depending on how long it takes for the talking heads to get in line, there may be a litany of complainst against him coming out before they begin providing free advertising for him.
The Other Steve
I don’t think they know how to go after Obama. Their attacks will be so over the top it’ll discredit them.
And besides, when they do… all you gotta point out is how they all seemed to like Obama before the nomination was decided. Strange that they’re going after him with so much hate now.
That’s why Hillary would be a terrible President and party leader.
True, but I prefer Democrats who stand up to bullshit. I really don’t want a party that just blindly supports the Presidents agenda no matter how fucked up it is. If I wanted that, I’d vote Republican.
I think it’s better if we have a President who brings the party together and offers a real discussion, and some real ideas. Instead of bullshit pandering like freezing mortgage rates. (She can’t do it. It’s fucking ILLEGAL!)
Which is why I support Obama.
The Other Steve
It also seems to me like the Republicans, and the media has never really turned the full attention on him. He didn’t get very far in 2000, and in 2008 here the media has been more focused on Romney and Huckabee.
There’s a lot of trash to take out on McCain. Keating scandal and so on. I wonder if the media will do their jobs, or if there is an enterprising opposition research team waiting in the wings?
dslak
I expect the racism hiding in portions of the party will have to find an outlet, and this can only hurt them.
No dice. For the GOP and its media enablers (and most Americans, I dare say), there is no past. Maybe Obama could get them to focus on their perfidy, but it might not be worth his effort in this case.
I do, too, but don’t confuse party loyalty with mindless partisanship. It’s simply smart politics not to kick your own guys when they’re down. Lieberman seems unaware of this. McCain is – notice how he got in line behind Bush, even after the shit he pulled on him in South Carolina – but he still gets no credit for it.
Dennis - SGMM
I’d add that Republicans in Congress will have a Pavlovian reflex to oppose anything that a President Clinton would propose, no matter how good or how sensible the proposal. They will lose no cred with their equally Pavlovian supporters for doing so.
President Hillary Clinton could come up with a Cure for Cancer that would cost $50 per citizen and the Republicans would filibuster the funding for it to the applause of the rank and file of their party.
It stinks, but, that’s how it is.
dslak
This is equally true with Obama. The difference is in the framing and how people will perceive it. The GOP base is going to oppose anything a Democratic president tries to do.
If Obama still has popular goodwill once he’s in office, he’ll have more leverage than Hillary on this front.
Jake
Should be interesting either way. Will he send a final and undeniable Fuck You to the Talevangicals by dissing pHuckabee or will he send a final and undeniable Fuck You to McCainiac by endorsing pHuckles?
Jake
Or … wil Ctcheney announce his bid as a third party candidate?
myiq2xu
Do you have some proof to go with that? In 1992 Clinton won, but hadn’t been around for years, four years later in 1996 he won bigger. The hated him both times.
They hadn’t been hating Gore for years, and even though he distanced himself from the Big Dog they came up with brand new reasons to hate Gore. But he still won the popular vote by over a million votes and would have won the electoral vote if SCOTUS hadn’t interfered.
And that whole “purple band-aid” thing in 2004 was a showing of what, love and affection?
I never said they didn’t hate her. But if she is poison to them, wouldn’t that make her an effective weapon?
I never said it would be effective, all I said is they will be showing him the hate and it will be ugly.
It very well could backfire, but the same thing might happen if Hillary is the nominee. For example, look at New Hamster.
Once again, I never said that, you’re putting words in my mouth.
Here is an example of me saying absolutely nothing negative about Obama, just about the GOP, but you have to go and make it personal.
Jamey
Campaign slogan of the year: “I was against McCain before I was for him.”
I just hope Republicans have the fashion sense not to wear socks with all those flip-flops.
Shygetz
Perhaps, but an ineffective President. So long as Hillary is in office, Congressional Republicans will block the Make Everyone Wealthy Act if she endorses it. There is just too much to lose in supporting a Clinton proposal for anyone in a conservative district, no matter how wonderful it might be. Obama doesn’t carry that baggage. Maybe he will at some point in the future, but he doesn’t now.
LiberalTarian
It’s looking like “movement liberal” day here.
That’s pretty depressing.
TenguPhule
Corrected.
The sole virtue of Hillary is that with the powers Bush has seized, she could do whatever the fuck she wants to the Republicans and it would have precedent.
Kidnapping? Already been done and approved.
Torture? Already been done and approved.
Never see the light of day or a trial? Already been done and approved.
myiq2xu
The GOP is already blocking everything the Democrats try to do. It doesn’t matter whether Hillary or Obama wins, they will keep doing the same thing. And they will slime him if he is the nominee, they would slime Jeebus if he ran as a Democrat.
This is not a knock on Obama, it’s a knock on the GOP.
grandpa john
Glad to finally see some Money talk here because that is important. Before we start crowning McCain remember folks, he is practically broke, whereas the Dems are setting records in fund raising, and you don’t win national elections on just rhetoric and platitudes. Plus as we look at the number of people voting in the primaries, it is apparant that the Dems are much more energized than the GOpers making them much more likely to actually go vote in Nov.
And finally remember that we don’t elect our president by popular vote,but wlith the outdated electoral vote system, so the only polls that are really important are those in the swing states. These are the places we need to watch and where to concentrate the main effort
Jamey
And can we please, from now on, refer to “movement conservatism” as “Bowel-movement Conservatism”?
John S.
Whatever, dude.
Enjoy your Oligarchy ’08 ticket.
Conservatively Liberal
Yup, it is clear that myiqetcetcetc wants to luv them some oligarchy and dismiss any possible problems with it. Why deal with reality when you can have your own personal fantasy? I thought broken records went out with turntables, but no, we now have the internet version of one here.
Here is an easy way to understand it:
Clinton = 20th century politician and politics as usual
Obama = 21st century politician and a possible new way
Is Obama perfect? No, but he has far fewer flaws than Clinton, he is not an instant negative like her to the right, and he is not married to Bill.
Perfect enough for me. Will the right attack him? Yes, but he is going to be harder for them to bullseye with, while Clinton is a target as big as a barn. They will be able to fire blindly and almost always hit something with her.
HyperIon
that’s how i always hear it.