The idea of an Obama landslide must torture the old guy for any number of reasons, but once in a while he looks over the table at his erstwhile party and speaks truth to morons.
The GOP needs to confront the truth: The failure of the Bush presidency lies not in a failed execution of policy but in the policies themselves and the neoconservative ideology that informed them.
Yet, still, the party remains in denial, refusing to come to terms with the causes of its misfortune. One expects they will be given the time and opportunity for reflection soon.
Obama earned his dominance in this contest, but it is impossible to deny the healthy assist that he got from the GOP. Nominating a candidate as awful as McCain only caps a series of unforced errors that has no parallel in history. If they will not learn from well-meaning critics, and let’s not fool ourselves in thinking that might happen, the GOP can look forward to a long spell of national relevance like a somewhat dangerous bug pinned to cardboard backing in a glass box.
r€nato
That "Hugh News with Hugh Hewitt" ad makes me want to claw my eyes out.
Today we make history, comrades!
Josh Hueco
I love Pat Buchanan. It takes either an epic lack of self-awareness or an awesome sense of irony to be a childless, unmarried Irish Catholic who bitches constantly about them baby-spewing imgrint criminals who cling to their seditious Unmurkin religions.
JGabriel
Tim F.:
Even more pathetic: McCain probably was their best choice, which says a lot about how debased the quality and options of the GOP have become.
.
Paulie Chestnuts
I wish I could be that optimistic, but if society continues its Idiocracy-style dumbing down, those demographic trends should be favoring the wingnuts.
I mean, come ON — do you really think thoughtfulness and nuance are going to be in abundant supply down the road?
r€nato
I would never have voted for him, but Huckabee was probably their best candidate of the awful crop they had to choose from earlier this year.
I know, I know, he was a Bible-thumper. But he could really connect with people. His folksiness was real, not that canned, squeaky, forced folksiness from You Betcha. And he really believed in that social justice stuff in the Bible, which was his ultimate undoing – the GOP Qaeda could not tolerate an evangelical who did not wish to punish the poor for being poor, and the economic conservatives were not about to allow a social conservative to head the ticket.
Got popcorn? It’s going to be a long, bitter, ugly four years for Republicans.
r€nato
Actually I think those qualities are going to make a comeback. We’re going to shake off the dumbing-down of the last 8 years under a president who can hardly articulate what he had for breakfast, when we trade his sorry ass in for a highly articulate former constitutional law professor.
It’s going to be so nice to not be ashamed of my president any longer.
Charity
@r€nato: Governor Huckabee strikes me as an actually good man.
A wingnut, according to some of the stuff I’ve read he says on his Fox Not-Necessarily-the-News show. But a legitimately good man.
Steve
@r€nato:
A-fucking-men.
Dennis - SGMM
If McCain hadn’t been such an ass bite this would be sad. As it is, it’s funny. Wapo’s Dana Milbank on the trail with McCain last night:
Where’s Whatshisname the Electrician?
Kathy
Total O/T but hear is some sports crack especially for John from my old home-town paper, The Detroit Free Press:
Happy Election Day all, I am off to vote then work the phones. I hope you are all doing the same.
Change is coming!
jrg
How many people have been called "traitor" over the past couple of years? If I were on the right, I’d be more concerned about moderates leaving the GOP and never coming back than about the outcome of this election.
Next presidential election, fake right-wingers (internet sock puppets) and very stupid real right-wingers will be out in force calling moderates traitors. Unless the GOP reverses this trend, they’re in trouble.
Dennis - SGMM
They’ve already done a pretty thorough job of purging moderates. I look for them to start driving American flag lapel pins into their own foreheads to prove who’s the most loyal to the "real" Republican party.
r€nato
I heartily encourage the GOP true-believers to complete the purification of their party and eliminate all traces of moderate thinking.
Only then can the Republican party
be consigned to the dustbin of historystart winning elections again.MattF
I’ve got very mixed feelings about Buchanan– but he can be worth listening to when he’s not doing his "the Fascists were right" thing.
Laura W
Peggy Noonan never ceases to impress me with her amazing grasp of the obvious.
Stellar.
NonyNony
I really hope that the GOP has to reverse course and start courting moderates again. More than that – I want them to do some soul searching and figure out exactly what they stand for. This has been a criticism of Democrats for as long as I can remember – that they don’t know what they stand for – but it seems that the Republicans are now the ones who really don’t stand for much of anything.
On the whole they seem to only stand for 1) cutting taxes on the top earners no matter what and 2) reactionary social policy. Those are not winning platforms to build a viable national party on. Especially when the people who want (1) don’t give a rat’s ass about (2) and the people who want (2) are starting to resent the money being handed out to the folks demanding (1).
I don’t know what is going to happen to the GOP in the near term, but their economic policies have been shown to be garbage, their party is riddled with corruption, their social agenda is about a decade out of date, and they don’t care about governing. They need a serious revamp. But that will require serious leadership interested in changing the direction of the party, and I don’t see that showing up any time soon – unless Huckabee takes the helm. I could see him turning the party into something new (not something I’d want to vote for, mind you, but something that might actually present a vision that a chunk of the electorate might want to vote for).
Comrade Mary, Would-Be Minion Of Bad Horse
You’re listening to MSNBC, too, eh? I’m upstairs and the tv is downstairs (so I can at least pretend to be getting some work done today), but I just heard Palin squeaking and gasping and pleading for voters in Missour-eeeee to hire her and John McCain. God, she sounds like the world’s folksiest kneecapping mouse.
JL
Last night on ESPN McCain spoke about the importance of always being honorable. It’s tempting to send the man a dictionary.
bago
I heartily endorse forehead trauma based mechanisms for binding American flair.
Dennis - SGMM
Paul Krugman says, Not Going to Happen
Brian J
I’m assuming the first line refers to his, shall we say, less-than-stellar Rainbow Coalition credentials. That reminds me, last week or this past weekend, Chris Matthews had on the black MSNBC political analyst Michelle Bernard and the executive director of Vote Latino, María Teresa Petersen. I believe it was when they talked about a potential explosion of black and Hispanic voters this year, or something very similar, that Matthews said something like, "And in the next room, Pat Buchanan’s ears are burning." Whatever it was, it got big laughs from both women and the set crew in the background. I certainly found it pretty funny.
I think the people at MSNBC know exactly what he represents. No matter what his social or economic views are, he actually knows a thing or two about politics because he’s been in the business for so long. He has so much more reason to be on television talking about this stuff than a lot of the people I see, even if I think his positions are pretty crazy.
jrg
No doubt, but before the internet, right-wing politicians and shock-jocks had more exclusive control over the GOP media message.
Now that the GOP base can reach a mass audience with their misguided filth, more people will be turned off by it, and it will be harder to stop.
There is a strong correlation between people that support the GOP, and people who are too stupid to realize that calling 51%+ of Americans "Marxists, Terrorists, and America-haters" is a bad idea.
Reason did not figure into their decision to board the Bush/Fox News/GOP hate train and It won’t figure into their decision to get off.
Dennis - SGMM
Hate, suspicion and division worked well for the Republicans for three decades. They are now like lab rats who have been conditioned to push a button with their snouts to get a food pellet. The first reaction of most lab rats when they stop getting the food pellet is to push the button harder and faster.
The only difference between Republicans and lab rats at this point is that there are some things that lab rats just won’t do.
Conservatively Liberal
I don’t see them at all. Selective image blocking in SeaMonkey and the FlashBlock plugin make life online easy on the eyes.
Try it some time. ;)
Pat is one crazy mofo but every once in awhile he actually makes sense. Something like that stopped clock being right twice a day stuff.
gex
@Charity: A legitimately good man? Does no one remember him leaning on police to drop investigations into his son torturing and killing a stray dog? Sure, not as bad as torturing random brown people like the current administration, but there’s nothing in that story that leads me to believe that Huckabee is a good man. Or that the Christian values he raised his son with should be a guiding principle for anyone.
Will Hunting
Kathy – I am no fan of rich rod but I think you are missing the point. Rodiguez is playing with Carr’s players. The fact that he did as well as he did at WVU (given the budget and recruiting limitations) bodes well for UM in about 3 years when he recruits his type of player for his offense.
MattF
@Brian J: Uh, yeah. On the other hand, his cardiologist is jewish.
Comrade Baron Elmo
Editorials like this are why I’ll always have a modicum of respect for Pat Buchanan… even though I disagree with damn near all of his politics, except for his visceral loathing of neocons and his disdain for NAFTA. Compared to a hack like Sean Hannity – who’s such a kneejerk that I’m surprised he can walk without kicking himself in the balls – Pat’s brutal honesty can be fairly bracing stuff for a conservative.
kommrade jakevich
A Biblical passage comes to mind: As ye sow, so shall ye reap. Jackass.
That fucking hypocrite. He’s the one scared me into full political awareness with his Culture War speech. Any Republicans and Conservatives (real ones) who do possess the wit to realize the cause of the current state of the Republican should take it up with that fat blister of a bigot.
Of course we all know that if McPalin pull out a win he’ll be doing the victory dance and chattering about a mandate to make America into a Christian Society.
@Josh Hueco: Don’t forget the rants about the homusectuals!
Conservatively Liberal
Hannity doesn’t have any balls. If I ever saw that fuckfaced mealy-mouthed soulless twat in person, I would jump at the chance to punch the bastard.
Repeatedly.
Josh Hueco
@kommrade jakevich:
Haha…true dat. BTW, is Pat still living with his sister? Just askin’.
Marlowe
You can argue about how "awful" a candidate McSame is, but he was clearly the Republicans’ strongest candidate given his (undeservedly) press bestowed maverick persona. (OK, one caveat–Huckabee may have been a wildcard, though I think he would ultimately have crashed and burned. And he is not a "good man", just a perfumed wingnut theocrat.) Romney and Giuliani, and I was rooting hard for either, would have been lucky to hit 40% in any non-partisan poll.
Conservatively Liberal
They (Virginia law enforcement) found the people responsible for the Virginia flyer that told Democrats to vote November 5th. They are declining prosecution because it "was a joke that got out of control".
No. They are declining to prosecute because the offenders are Republican (and white I bet), and the real joke is Virginia "law enforcement". They define oxymoron.
par4
As Wolcott points out I’d like to see them go the same way as the Whigs. Gone baby gone.
ppcli
Kathy –
I doubt that Lloyd would have done any better. He retired at just the right time before the gradual decay in the program became obvious. Offensive line recruiting has been atrocious for the past six or seven years, and O-line development has been terrible. This was masked by the fact that the team had Jake Long, a spectacular physical specimen and workout warrior at left tackle. An overall first draft pick can cover up a lot of glaring flaws. Rodriguez is left with an offense that has only one experienced O-lineman and only a handful of linemen overall, graduated its starting QB and lost its backup, lost its top two wide receivers to the pros, graduated its workhorse running back, etc. Rodriguez is trying to run a run-based spread with a choice between an erratic passer that can’t run and a walk-on that can’t pass.
.
He does seem to be a jerk, and he may well be a bad coach too, but I don’t think we will know the second part until he’s had a recruiting class or two to work with.
Graeme
If the Obama Administration shuts Gitmo and deals with the cases against the folks held there honestly and transparently, the GOP is in for a world of hurt.
Torture and show trials will be a bludgeon used against the Republicans in 2010 and 2012. Possibly beyond. They won’t know what hit ’em today, but it’s going to get EVEN WORSE.
Svensker
The tails, also.
Kathy
Will and ppcli, your points are well taken, and clearly App State was an early warning, however, I am pretty sure that Carr would have done better with his own players than 2 and 6.
I hope that they will turn things around in the next few years and certainly recruiting looks good. However, this is the first losing season for Michigan in 40 years. To think it would pass unnoticed and unlamented isn’t realistic.
Oh well, this is all trivial compared to the real contest today. VOTE, VOTE, VOTE
Charity
This is the first I’m hearing about Huckabee’s son and alleged bad doings with a stray dog. Ewwwwwwww.
eyelessgame
Stopped clocks, two wrongs, and all that. Keep in mind Buchanan was against the Iraq war mostly because he agreed with the neocon position that a war in Iraq would be a good thing for Israel. Buchanan doesn’t want constructive engagement with the rest of the world. He just doesn’t think we should raise a finger on behalf of swarthy or dark people.
(And R*n Pa*l was against the Iraq war because it would involve the government.) These are what pass for "thoughtful" conservatives now.
jcricket
I don’t disagree with this. Huckabee wraps his horribly right-wing policies in a veneer of nice-itude that makes it palatable for a wider range of people than would normally sign on for this stuff.
Of course he’s also not a tax cutter, which makes him an apostate for the other big segment of loyal GOP voters these days.
But regardless, Huckabee’s rep is that he’s likable and "real". Of course, like McCain’s "maverick" and "independent" reputation, it’s pretty easy for that rep to be tarnished if he runs the scorched earth campaign he’ll need to in order to keep the teeming masses of wingnuts together.
I think the glue is resentment for the GOP, but the problem is there are different resentments.
Xecky Gilchrist
I imagine Buchanan had a lot to say about how horrible race-baiting is, too.
Svensker
Um, Pat is married, since 1971. No kids, tho.
jcricket
No, they have those. It’s really just the limits to what they’ll do for money.
Keith
Don’t worry, your eyes will be clawed out by the metallic, bladed orbs he’s going to send flying your way way before that point.
Tsulagi
Showtime! I have been looking forward to this day for a long time.
2008 McCain, and the campaign he ran particularly after getting the nomination. The version that after losing in 2000 later went on trying to get the wingnut love. Capped with a winking cherry on top in Palin.
Don’t think there’s any possibility for Peak Wingnut. Amazingly they’ve shown an unlimited capacity for stupid and to bring it. But would like to think maybe they already hit Peak Relevance and are in serious decline. That this election with the expected presidential and congressional results will underline it. And when Bush and Cheney leave town, it won’t be to accolades and fanfare while walking on rose petals, but rather they’ll keep their heads down looking for the rotten tomato being thrown their way.
Josh Hueco
@Svensker:
My bad. I thought I read somewhere that he was a lifelong bachelor. Thanks for the correction.
Richardson
I wouldn’t be too naive here – this is just Pat’s way of saying the (Neocons =Jews) have brought the GOP to ruin. He would never of course blame the crazed Christian fundy culture warriors like Palin. The fight the morning after (the Buchanan v. Kristol v. Romney factions) has already begun.
Lesley
Nominating a candidate as awful as McCain
and he was the best of the lot! Can you imagine how godawful the contest would have been with Rudy, Fred-basset or, God help us, Mitt?
McCain rode in on his POW record and then he shot his chances all to hell by picking Palin and aligning himself with the neocon sleaze machine. Let’s face it, he might have had a shot if he’d distanced himself from the Bushies and bible thumpers and shown a modicum of integrity. He didn’t. (Personally, I’m thankful for that.)
binzinerator
Nope. They got ’em. The double wetsuits do an admirable job of keeping them tucked out of sight.
Calouste
@Lesley:
McCain never had any integrity. It was all faked, or forced as part of his military upbringing, but he never was an integer person on the inside. See POW-gloating, his divorce, Keating, Abramoff, etc.
Gay Veteran
James Howard Kunstler: "…the Republican Party needs to crawl off to a dark hole somewhere and either pupate into something better or die — as the Whigs did in 1856…."
darkness
Whoever here described huckabee as ‘perfumed’ nailed it. The stuff he got away with saying because of his demeanor…whoa.
dj spellchecka
quote : "Nominating a candidate as awful as McCain"
i have to disagree, too…. candidate mccain… not so bad…campaigner mccain…trainwreck…. he engaged obama like a coward, too… dishonorable and dishonest…
i’m tempted to go so far as to say that mccain campaigned like a p*ssy…but that may offend certain sensitivities so i won’t…
as for buchanan….lots of the xenophobia on display at various palin pep-rallies are on him….and i suspect his disagreement with the neo-cons is tied to his latent anti-semitism…
as for the gop…i want the dinosaurs-walked-with-man crowd TOTALLY in charge …for good….they’ll soon be small enough to drown in a bathtub…without anybody’s help….