This is, quite honestly, the first semi-sane thing I have seen written at Red State in several years:
We Lost Because We Suck: There’s no conspiracy, really.
So, we have this great big circular firing squad going about whether to purge moderates, or socons, or fiscons, or libertarians, or Methodists, whatever. No, Virginia, there isn’t a smoke filled room somewhere where a bunch of Ivy League, Wall Street, K Street elitists conspired to deprive the Republican Party of a victory in the last two elections. We lost because nobody in their right mind would trust us to run a government. That we did as well as we did is a tribute to the fact that they don’t trust the Democrats much either.
***In seven years we demonstrated to the American people that we really didn’t mean what we’d said for all those years; we weren’t against spending, we were against Democrat spending. We weren’t against big government, we just wanted it big in the places we like. The people caught us in the lie and held us responsible for it.
I am kind of gobsmacked atm. Sure, there is some spin and nonsense in there, but there was no tribute to Palin, no calling Democrats terrorists or terrorist-enablers, and no questions about Obama’s birth certificate. What is going on? Why hasn’t Moe banned this guy yet then issued a non-apology apology the next day and mumbled something about being cranky?
r€nato
Achance is clearly a liberal. His/her views can be safely dismissed and ignored, and he/she must immediately be purged for the sake of ideological purity and LALALALALALALALAICAN’THEARYOULALALALALALALALALALA
r€nato
your trailing comment got caught up in the blockquote tag, JC.
blogenfreude
Don’t worry – they’ll be on to the next Jamil Hussein or Green Helmet Guy bright shiny object no time.
NonyNony
Holy carp – that comment thread is full of nuggets like this one:
Muh? Now they figure it out?
dmsilev
Has the poster been "blammed" yet?
-dms
Comrade Stuck
Moe’s busy building a better wingnut is all. This guy must have slipped by during Palin Doll Play Time, and will be dealt with in the usual manner. Then the non-apology apology followed by self grats that he banned the poor slob because, well, just because.
The Grand Panjandrum
I’m pretty sure Lucifer’s teeth aren’t chattering but at least one sane person has admitted the truth.
MikeL
I read that yesterday, and had the same reaction as John. If you look at the responses to it, no one else is really listening, so the effort is probably wasted.
I almost made a response to the effect that if they are serious, they have to start appealing to people like John again. Then, I realized they just might take that advice, so I kept my mouth shut.
Quaker in a Basement
Don’t interrupt, John. This one is clearly taking a tentative step to follow in your path to awakening.
Ned R.
Achance is an interesting character over there, actually — an Alaskan and one with tart things to say to many characters over at RedState on Alaskan politics and how little those not from Alaska know about the place. He seems to have had little patience with the general meme constructing ‘Alaska’ via Palin as a fantasy land of little sparkles etc.
Hedley Lamarr
Compare and Contrast: Kerry in 2004 vs McCain in 2008. Who was worse? The stiff or the damaged?
Zifnab
I don’t think I’d get too worked up. They’re getting a little passed the "blame the X-con" game and moving on to "blame the leadership". It’s DeLay’s fault and Army’s fault and even George Bush’s fault.
But they keep railing against national health insurance and high taxes, which seems to indicate that they still don’t quite get it. So long as they cling to the "Us vs Them" "Obama is the enemy!" mentality, I’m not about to start holding out any hope.
The Moar You Know
BLAM
Krista
Gobsmacked is about right. Never did I think I’d see the day when something with that much…honesty…would come out of RedState.
Gunner
This cannot stand. I go to Red State to laugh at the mind-numbing stupidity of Erick Erickson and Pejman Yousefzadeh, not read stuff like that. I’m sure they’ll pounce on Achance, brand him or her a leper, and go back to the normal program of Palin worship/stalking and imaginary party purges ("Behold the mighty power of Red State as we attempt to rid the Republican party of people we don’t like, and are ignored by everyone except our own little circle jerk").
Comrade Stuck
And from the comments of the brave Adchance diary.
Are the bulbs burning a little brighter in Greater Wingnuttia, or did someone set fire to a brain fart?
John Cole
Never going back to the Republicans- look how bad it had to get before I left the GOP, and if the Democrats fail that bad, and believe me, the potential is there, I will just become unaffiliated and either move off the grid or stay in Krista’s guest house in the Great White North and turn Balloon Juice into a full on booze and pet blog.
And totally off topic- ret paladins are retarded OP.
Laura W
@John Cole:
Dibs on the wine column! I gots clips!!
Tsulagi
And likely not going to get one from the Alaskan guy, Achance, who wrote that RS diary. He’s already been chastised by the faithful there for not being on Palin message.
Cracked me up after one idiot RS front pager wrote some Ode to Palin pabulum after the election. Ended saying those in the lower 48 hated to see her leave and return to Alaska. Achance wrote a comment saying a lot of Alaskans felt the same way.
Of course he doesn’t see the big picture. Being involved in Alaskan Republican politics and seeing Palin up close in the same room and how she works doesn’t compare to the insight and expertise they’ve gained in seeing her from the window of their teevee. His take on Winky isn’t very flattering.
Krista
No guest house, but we do have two spare rooms. Just keep Tunch inside, as we have a fox hanging around and I’d hate for Tunch to become a snack pack.
Besides, you could always start blogging about Canadian politics. Goodness knows there’s enough going on right now to fill a few posts.
Jay C
Yes, this was about as thoughtful a post as ever evaded the blamstick at RS – and I noticed also that the comment thread was relatively free, for RedState, of spittle, bile, and self-righteous whining. Of course, it seemed like there were only the same five commenters going back and forth with each other, but still…
But the best comment there was the first one:
An apt diagnosis: but most of the RSers will probably just opt for faith-healing instead.
Genine
Though the post did have some nonsense, I must give the writer kudos for acknowledging some reality. That’s really wonderful.
Remember, folks: there is always hope.
If McCain had been elected, I would have tried to weedle my way into one of those rooms. ;-)
Comrade Stuck
If that happens, I’m planning to illegally immigrate myself to Mexico and foment a revolucion against the Norte Americanos. Then convince the Mexican Government they need to build a BFW to keep out the wetback Gringoes.
ninerdave
Sanity from the wingnut blogs is no fun. I like them better when they are blaming the media.
Rainy
When you talk to a conservative, all you have to do is ask them what Republican president balanced the budget in the last 30 years? No Republican has balanced the budget, since what, Eisenhower? Everytime I heard them calling themselves fiscally conservative, I laugh. The only president who balanced the budget in the last 30 was Bill Clinton.
Zifnab
@Krista:
Fix’d. Honestly, I’d be more worried for the fox.
Tom Hilton
I wish they would purge [United] Methodists. I was raised UM, and it pains me to think of any of us being in the Republican party.
(Actually, the UMs do have a lot of appalling retro douchebags. To understand the UM church, think Democratic party ca. 1972–as in, both George McGovern and George Wallace were UM. There’s a strong social action wing (my late parents were both UM ministers, and spent their whole lives crusading for all flavors of civil rights), and there’s an equally strong pro-stupidity anti-tolerance wing.)
blogenfreude
@ninerdave: Go read about Pammy’s latest jihad – you’ll feel better.
Laura W
@Zifnab: Copy. Cut. Paste.
I’ve almost got my Top Ten Funniest Fat Cat Jokes At Tunch’s Expense list all filled in.
I’m thinking I might do a Cafe Press or Snapfish Calendar.
Edit: In which case I’ll need two more.
Si se puede!
amocz
This guy is trying to do something very difficult: to speak as an adult (one who is still wrong, imho, but at least trying to be grown-up about it) to a party that by now consists largely of entitled WATB’s, feral paranoid tribesmen, quaking god-fearers, and bloodthirsty Chuckie-wannabes.
He is unlikely to find a sympathetic audience in the Movement-ridden GOP, which is too bad (for them).
Give AChance peace.
John O
Well, if that’s the sanest one you’ve seen, color me glad I stay out of the swamp.
It’s weird for me, because not only do I want a sane and viable opposition party, I’m so old I can remember just a boatload of (ancient and long-lost) conservative principles I could get behind.
Sure, everyone, even Democrats think that we should in general only spend what we earn, including government, but the unrelenting assault on gays, atheists, the poor and middle class, and brown people in general just makes me want to puke.
I would like a cautious and careful, long-term approach to foreign policy matters, and I want the government off my friggin’ back on ALL matters personal, including what I put in my body, and when I decide to die.
Go, Sarah! The GOP has a long way to go before I do anything but laugh at them, and think they’re bigoted, homophobic, provincial, nationalistic, xenophobic, uneducated morons.
(This description only applies to the wad; there are plenty of decent conservatives who do not share these views. But the party’s views do, so until that changes, wear your proverbial shoe, or change yourself or your party.)
Jon H
One of the commenters has a woefully mistaken concept of the Democratic party:
"The Dems know they have to run conservative candidates in red states…and they do…but they make it clear that those conservatives will tow the party line or else…thy fire them if they can…they keep them off the plum committees…they throw them out of the party…and they are never…ever allowed in leadership…"
(my emphasis)
I guess the example of Joe Lieberman was lost on this guy. There’s nothing a Democrat in Congress can do that will have negative consequences.
El Cid
So, if you do all the things he decries and you win, it means you were right to do all those things. But if you do all those things and you lose, it means you were wrong.
That’s what you call principles.
Tsulagi
@ninerdave:
Not to worry. On one like RedState the ratio of goofy retarded to intelligent sane like the guy who wrote this “We Suck” diary is still like 100:1.
As an example, one of the faithful, no doubt with tears welling in his eyes, took exception to this Achance guy not singing the Palin praise. Sync up the bobbleheads, Swamp Yankee…
The comedy is strong in these wingnuts.
JL
Somebody needs to explain to Red State that the dems did pretty good. Of course they did not pick up the Georgia Senate seat but did they really want it. It would probably cost a lot of time and effort explaining to those folks why a tax cut for them is good and Wall Street types bad. We are scared about Socialism and Communism down here.
Professor Kum'n'go
Somewhat OT, but I just gotta share it.
Politico: Palin allowed us to peak
…
Ewwwwwwwwwwwww
Also, the comments on that article are remarkably homogeneous. 2012 might be another good year.
libarbarian
My Favorite is this one
Shorter Version: We lost because we failed to stress how scary Muslims are.
Geoduck
"I want rustlers… cut-throats… murderers, bounty hunters, desperadoes, mugs, pugs, thugs, nit-wits, half-wits, dim-wits… vipers, snipers, con men, Indian Agents, Mexican bandits… muggers, buggerers… bushwhackers, hornswagglers, horse thieves, bull dykes, train robbers, bank robbers, ass-kickers, shit-kickers, and Methodists!"
Jody
I wouldn’t worry about RedState too much, John. That thread has devolved into blaming the media and bipartisanship.
What I wouldn’t give for a real opposition party instead of the delusional degenerates we’re stuck with.
Mr. Poppinfresh
@Krista:
Oh man, our country has truly gone insane, hasn’t it? I work as a policy analyst about two blocks away from the Hill, and this week I’ve been feeling like I should hold my breath on the way to work lest I catch a terminal case of Stupid.
All our lobbying meetings w/ MPs got cancelled this week, so this has gone from abstract clusterfuck to a personal fuck-you: thanks to the reigning idiots of Canadian politics, I am now out several tasty, expensed lunches.
Comrade Stuck
@Mr. Poppinfresh:
Sounds like you polite folk up there are finally getting it right. I have some Tom Delay inspirational tapes I could send to get your mind right on how to do proper scorched earth politics.
jnfr
@Krista:
Canadian politics are much more interesting than ours down in the US these days.
Mr. Poppinfresh
@Comrade Stuck:
Just don’t fall into the trap of blaming this on the Conservative party like the hack partisans at Kos seem to be. This is an all-party shit show that started with Harper being an asshole and has continued long past his initial mistake (now retracted) thanks to the venality of the Opposition. Last I checked, the whole "minority government makes a bad suggestion, everyone yells, minority gov reverses course, people win" was how things were SUPPOSED to work, but what do I know, I just do this for a living…
Honestly, it has become readily apparent from this that the Liberals aren’t ready to govern yet. So, while Harper is a Delay-style ass, he will likely be thrown out of the party in a few months as a reward for this clusterfuck, and the Conservatives will hopefully continue prudent governance while the Liberals remember how to be people.
phobos
That diary was at the top of the RS recco list for several days with a few tentative comments. Now there are over 180.
Achance is one of those "respected" RS regulars from whom I would have least expected the ultimate moment of clarity.
It will be interesting to see how this plays out, what with Erick relentlessly claiming to be srsly "influential" among the GOP inner circle.
demimondian
@Krista: I’m still marveling at Les Separatistes joining the government.
@Mr. Poppinfresh: When has Canada not has crazy politics? I -did- spent some time teaching there. In 1984. When the Progressive Conservatives took over the government. How much crazier is a separatist party holding portfolios in a de facto government of national unity than a majority government led by an oxymoron?
Dennis - SGMM
This moment of clarity will pass. The wingers are already making noises about Bush not being a true conservative. This will take hold and grow to include everyone not actively prostrate before the wonderfulness of Sarah Palin. They are already well along in the process of convincing themselves that she’s the magic that will restore them to their old heights of power. Look at Chambliss, who overlooks the fact that he was forced onto a run off in what was a reliably red state, slobbering out encomiums to Palin. She’s their future and they know it – or they’d better know it.
Laura W
I am glad that Rachel is a lesbian because she has spoken of "massage" twice already with my imaginary BF, Lawrence O’Donnell, and then they laughed about making babies. Lots of babies.
I am not sure how I feel about this.
Calouste
@Zifnab:
I don’t think salad comes into it much when Tunch is involved.
Laura W
@Calouste: Haaaaaaaaa!
I’ve had just enough wine to be wetting the couch now.
Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
(Copy, cut, paste.)
Calouste
@Tsulagi:
So the writer thinks that Palin is neither beautiful nor intelligent. She also missed out on the fact that Palin didn’t have anywhere near a full-time job for three of the last five years, and that for the job she had for six years before that, she basically hired someone else to do the actual work for her (the Wasilla city administrator). Really hard to raise kids under those circumstances.
Uli Kunkel
@Zifnab: agree. Scanning as much as I could while stifling dry heaves, I don’t think I came across one post that recognized GOP hostility to responsible governance as their major problem.
DougJ
if the Democrats fail that bad, and believe me, the potential is there
You sound like one of those fanboys who says Reggie Bush has the potential to be the next Barry Sanders or Gayle Sayers.
Democrats have the potential to suck in a few areas — free trade, for example — the same way that Reggie Bush has the potential to be a superlative punt returner. But until the Democrats demonstrate the ability to suck day-in, day-out — I’m talking Katrina-level collapses, Monica Goodling/Alberto Gonzales type corruption — you’d be nuts to think they can achieve anything remotely like what Bush has achieved, the same way we can’t put Bush in a league with Sayers and Sanders until he becomes a solid every-down back.
Chris
@Tom Hilton: I was raised UM in the south and while there are individually some douchier elements present in the lay, the sermons all were about self-betterment, private faith, and helping others publicly. I moved on, but I have no bad feelings.
Comrade Desert Hussein Rat
Take a screenshot. It’s only a matter of hours before Achance is banned, and every word he has ever written on RedState flushed down the memory hole.
He’ll be like those old Soviet apparatchiks whose pictures were taken with Stalin, only to see his image removed as soon as the apparatchik is purged.
South of I-10
This is entirely too reasonable. He will be banned from Red State and banished to Alaska until he comes to his senses.
Comrade grumpy realist
It’s not the Methodists we have to worry about; it’s the Anglicans going through a schism over gay priests. (And female priests. And gay marriages. And whatever.)
(If religious history holds true, the bunch that split off will schism again…and again…and again.)
Funniest set of religious denunciations I ever read were from two tiny totally-off-the-deep-end Protestant sects who ended up excommunicating each other….
The Truffle
Ahem. Someone explain to the poster that it’s DEMOCRATIC spending, not "Democrat" spending.
Llelldorin
DougJ–I think you’re underrating the Democratic potential for suckage. We wouldn’t suck in the same way that the Republicans suck, though; we’d suck in the opposite way.
Republicans excel at synchronized suckage, as we’ve seen. When Republicans suck (and BOY do they ever suck right now), they do it by forming a wingnut Voltron, as John Cole has pointed out in the past. In perfect sync, they all simultaneously do exactly the wrong thing, insist that anyone who doesn’t accept that their actions were PERFECT is a traitor, and celebrate their moral superiority for not succumbing to the siren song of sanity.
Democrats go for "herds of cats" suckage, instead. At our worst, we spend all our time and effort figuring out ways to undermine our worst enemies–other Democrats whose political beliefs diverge marginally from our own. At our very worst, we’ll let the country go to pot to prevent a rival faction from scoring political points.
So far, we haven’t seen that from Obama’s group–so far, he hasn’t sucked even slightly. Still, the potential is there. Just remember the clusterfuck in 1993-1994 when we controlled the entire government, and pissed it away while every single Democrat in Congress threw a hissyfit because their pet issues weren’t being addressed RIGHT FUCKING NOW AND NOT ONE SECOND LATER!
(edited to remove some stupidity)
John Cole
Efforts for this are underway as we speak. OMG, Larry SUMMERS, Obama hates women!
OMG, he won’t repeal DADT on the first day. Obama hates gays!
OMG, he has not appointed enough Hispanics! Obama hates Hispanics!
OMG, he may not roll back the tax cuts and instead just let them expire! Obama hates progressives and is a Republican in disguise!
OMG, the an unnamed source in the WSJ says he might appoint Brennan to the CIA! Obama supports torture!
Wankers. And this is 48 days BEFORE he takes office.
Matthew Hooper
…I think I want to have this quote framed in gold somewhere.
Comrade Stuck
@Llelldorin:
I suspect this is why Obama hired Rahm Emmanuel for his CofS/ He’s the best Cat Wrangler the dems have and might be able to prod the restless natives long enough to get something done. We’ll see
DougJ
DougJ—I think you’re underrating the Democratic potential for suckage. We wouldn’t suck in the same way that the Republicans suck, though; we’d suck in the opposite way.
Just like Reggie Bush will be a superstar just like Barry Sanders only in the opposite way.
I just don’t buy it. You’re *way* underestimating just how fucked up the Republican party is. Sometimes I like to think that the Bush-owns-all-of-Paraguay and vaccines-cause-autism crowds are just as nutty as the Palinistas and Keyboard Commandos, but the reality is that they’re not. There’s just no way that the Democratic circular firing squad can fuck things up as badly as the Republican circle jerk did.
The thing about the Bush administration is that, to use that old cliche, we’re only seeing the 1/10 of the iceberg that’s above the water. We know what they’ve done to FEMA, to the DOJ, and to the military. What makes us think that they’ve done any less damage to the other departments that we haven’t been paying attention to? And what makes you think that, when more investigations come out, their culpability in the subprime meltdown won’t be just as great as their culpability in the intelligence and planning failures of the Iraq war?
Maybe I’m underestimating the Democratic party. Maybe in eight years they’ll be able to cause the greatest American military failure since the War of 1812, the deepest recession since the 1930s, and the worst corruption scandal since Watergate. But the odds are against them.
At the beginning of every sports season, fans look at their team and imagine all the great as yet untapped talent there translating into an undefeated season. But, aside from the ’72 Dolphis, it never actually happens. The modern Republican party is the ’72 Dolphins of political suckitude. Even if the Democrats assemble a dream team of fuck-ups — the Randy Moss, Tom Brady, and Adalius Thomas of fuck-ups — they’re unlikely to match what the Republicans have done.
Llelldorin
Fair enough, DougJ, and point well taken. At least for the moment, Democratic suckiness tends to lock us into stasis where we don’t do a damned thing except blame one another for the gridlock. That, by its very nature, sucks less than the suckage-in-motion that the Republicans can do.
You’re also right that Democratic embarrassments like creating NCCAM don’t hold a candle to Republican accomplishments like simultaneously destroying the economy and our geopolitical position.
Still, inaction can be its own disaster. The side-sniping that killed healthcare reform in 1993 cost us a bulwark against the current economic mess. Stasis in the face of our current problems would be a catastrophe.
DougJ
Llelldorin: we’re living through something truly historic. It’s very unlikely that we’ll see an administration incompetent as Bush’s again in our lifetimes. This is something to tell our great-grandchildren about. I don’t like to see it diminished by comparisons with what will be at worst run-of-the mill incompetence.
Brian J
There’s so much to like in this thread.
Llelldorin
No, you’re right. I take back my original point. Democrats are capable of individual acts of mighty suckage, but they won’t be able to match the Bush administration for years, if ever. We fundamentally lack the ability to suck as a team, and you simply can’t match coordinated suckage with heroic acts of individual stupidity.
Comrade Stuck
@Llelldorin:
Yes, yes, very much so. Individual suckage really sucks, but such suckage cannot suck an entire country down the suck hole in one big sucking suck.
Llelldorin
Go linguistics. One word plus grammar equals communication.
This is why I fundamentally don’t believe that any program like NewSpeak could work. If people were forced to adopt a language with no word to express the concept of freedom, I give you two generations tops before people start demanding double-plus good peanut butter sandwich, which everyone will understand as "freedom."
Comrade Stuck
@Llelldorin:
That would be nutty, if true.
Calouste
@Comrade Stuck:
I think you should rename yourself to Comrade Suck, in homage to the sentence you have just written.
Comrade Stuck
@Calouste:
That sucks.
DougJ
Democrats are capable of individual acts of mighty suckage, but they won’t be able to match the Bush administration for years, if ever.
Some of it’s the team versus individual thing, but some of it is that not all records are made to be broken. Look at Babe Ruth’s home run record. It was eventually broken, but not overnight. It took 35 years. And it’s not clear to me that we’ll ever see another undefeated season in the NFL.
If our nation lasts another 1000 years, then, yes, we’re likely to see another administration as bad as George W. Bush’s. But can we expect one in the next hundred years? I think it’s doubtful. This isn’t like sports, in the sense that there’s no reason to think that things like new training techniques, a juiced up ball, lasiks eye surgery, or steroids will somehow improve future administrations’ abilities to fuck things up. Realistically, it took over 200 years to produce a president as bad as Bush, it will probably take another 200 years to produce another one.
Dennis - SGMM
My hat’s off to those Republicans who are already building up a huge suck bank by sucking Sarah Palin’s dick in advance.
Tattoosydney
Oh noes. Someone read the post and has taken the nucular option.
DougJ
My hat’s off to those Republicans who are already building up a huge suck bank by sucking Sarah Palin’s dick in advance.
True, but there’s so many things that can go wrong and stop Palin from getting in and breaking Bush’s record. First of all, she’s got to wait four more years to run again. Who knows how many unwanted Palin family pregnancies, six figure Neiman Marcus shopping sprees, and borderline illegal vendettas against in-laws we might see over that period? I’m not even confident Levi can stay out of jail for four years.
And then in four years, she’ll be running against an incumbent so she’ll probably lose if she gets the nomination. So she’s probably better off waiting eight years and that just doubles the odds of her getting impeached as governor, or another one of her daughters getting pregnant, or Levi opening up a meth lab in the meantime.
And who knows how things will look in eight years. Will the Republican party be as batshit crazy in eight years as it is now? Will nitwits like David Broder and Cokie Roberts still be around to fill voters’ brains with the type of idiocy it takes to pull the lever for someone who thinks Africa is a country (I know, I know)? Things have to line up perfectly to get Palin in.
Obviously, you’ve got to give Republicans credit for creating the possibility of a presidency even worse than Bush’s. But many’s the slip ‘tween the cup and lip.
DougJ
I hate to bring this up but you’re looking at a guy (as Dan Dierdorff might say) who thought that Bo Jackson was on his way to being one of the best two or three running backs in football history before he broke his hip. The same kind of thing could happen to Sarah Palin at any time. On paper, she has the ability to be the worst president we’ve ever had — worse than Bush — but the country isn’t run into the ground on paper. You’ve got show up, get elected, hire a bunch of incompetent cronies, start a few poorly-planned, unnecessary wars, and look the other way while a 63 trillion dollar CDS market fucks the economy in ways no one can understand. *That’s* how you run the country into the ground.
Jess
I’m copying the last 50 comments or so and framing them in gold and hanging them over the mantle. You guys rock at suck.
JGabriel
So they finally got that hundred grand?
I’m surprised. I didn’t think they’d ever get that money. Must be some kind of conservative, post-election, "let’s start re-seeding the farm team" kind of deal.
.
ninerdave
@DougJ:
Ah, but these are pluses in her favor. Remember the fact that she chose to have Trig was a miracle of life and the bling stuff…well IOKIYAR.
Polish the Guillotines
@Mr. Poppinfresh:
I caught some of the Canadian Parliment action on CSPAN.
One thing I want to know: When the ministers from Quebec talk, does the sign-language lady start waving her arms in French?
Calouste
@DougJ:
Considering Palin uses the Wasilla high school year book as her recruitment list, I think she got that covered.
Calouste
@DougJ:
And then there’s the minor issue of running the socialist welfare state of Alaskarabia without Ted "Porkie-pork" Stevens to slush the millions from Washington and oil prices at half of what they were 6 months ago. How popular is the governor going to be in Alaska when the locals get a check from the state that is considerably less than the $3500 each (Yes that includes children, so 14K for a family of four…) they got this year, if they get one at all?
MarkusB
And yet, in the end, this will just subsume into the "we lost because Bush wasn’t a real conservative" meme. Wanna bet?
we weren’t against spending, we were against Democrat spending. We weren’t against big government, we just wanted it big in the places we like … that part’ll stick around. All the rest, about "our" lie, etc – down the memory hole. It’ll be Bush’s lies, baby. Why, he wasn’t even a real conservative; practically a socialist, by cracky.
Obama will just be a third Bush term, you see, because it’s just a continuation of the same old liberalism, just cranked up a notch, and scarier, because, well, shut up if you have to ask why.
It sounds nuts, reading back over it. Wingnutty, even.
ninerdave
@Calouste:
Or I’m sure there wil be plenty of Bush sycophants that need a gig.
OriGuy
Actually, in Quebec Sign Language. American Sign Language is derived from French Sign Language and QSL or LSQ [Langue des signes québécoise ] is related to both. Wikipedia says: During televised proceedings of the Canadian House of Commons, an LSQ interpretation of what is being said can usually be seen at the top-right corner of the screen.
Deaf Canadians in the Anglophone areas use ASL. British Sign Language is very different.
bago
I’ll take that with a side of double-plus good fries please.
harlana pepper
Despite a few lone voices crying in the wildernes, in the end, no matter how hard he tries, republicans will place all the blame on Obama for the epic suck. They had absolutely nothing to do with enabling Bush to destroy this country and the destruction began with an Obama presidency and a Democratic-controlled Congress. Either that, or it’s still all Bill’s fault.
Unless they somehow develop a sense of self-awareness, which they have shown no propensity or desire to do thus far, they will continue to create their own Palin-starburst reality where they feel all warm and fuzzy inside about fucking over everyone who is less fortunate than them and then kicking their asses to the curb because they think they deserved it.
Rick Taylor
Nah, this diary won’t be banned, and isn’t as radical as you’d said. It’s acceptable for right wingers to condemn the excessive spending of the past. He doesn’t go after any of the sacred cows, and his calls to end the blaming includes ending talking about Palin. Now if he’d suggested that there was no way to balance the budget while maintaining conservative spending priorities, particularly on defense, that might require roasting.
Dennis - SGMM
@DougJ:
To be sure Palin faces many obstacles. There’s the little problem of keeping herself in front of the public now that the elections (Save Minnesota) are finally over. She may also have to start actually governing Alaska now that the money supply is declining and she will definitely be found wanting. That there are a number of voices clamoring for "more Palin" as a cure for the Republicans’ ills is a source of much amusement to me. The "more Palin" faction is symptomatic of the Repubs’ burning desire for a quick fix (viz, rebranding) rather than an overhaul of their party.
Kirk
re the suckage subthread going on here, a bit of seriousness I first encountered in the military.
Draw a 2×2 table. Column labels are Competent and Incompetent. Row labels are Active and Inactive.
The ideal is Active/Competent. Inactive Competent is next – you don’t get much, but what you get is better than nothing. If they must be incompetent, inactive is best as at least only some things are screwed up. The active incompetent is to be dreaded.
Democrats have this habit of being inactive and Republicans active. While individuals may fit the other line, the Dem habit of individualism is significantly less focused than the general Republican lockstep progress.
If modern Republicans could do competent government, they’d be the best choice. Unfortunately they do not believe in competent government; it is, to them, an oxymoron as government doesn’t work. Therefore "active competent" is at this time an impossibility. We have just experienced eight years of active incompetence. Even if the Dems are incompetent, it’ll be an improvement. I do not expect full activity from the upcoming Democratic majority, but I do expect competence. After the active incompetence, it’ll be a great joy for us all.
Trinity
@Kirk:
Well stated and spot on!
Barry
"We’ve long been the Party of smaller government, yet we let the government grow like Topsy and added new intrusive, expensive programs such as NCLB and Prescription Drug coverage. "
Interesting examples of large government she chooses – and which she leaves out. In the end, she just hopes for a *bit* less corruption and incompetance.
DougJ
If modern Republicans could do competent government, they’d be the best choice.
That’s only if you think government should be active. I prefer a mostly inactive government. I realize that sounds a bit conservative, but honestly, how many successful active governments can you name?
I would argue that activity and incompetence go hand in hand when it comes to running a federal government.
Kirk
Dougj, naming successful active governments requires a bit of clarification. Not least are we talking requiring them to be active their whole existence, or am I allowed to state periods when a normally inactive government was both active and successful? If the latter is proposed, I would say FDR’s third term met that standard.
At another level, are you requiring us to remain US only, or international? And must it be national, or can smaller governments be considered?
There have been occurrences of successful active governance. Our national political structure works against being active and it usually takes something extraordinary to overcome that design. The reason it works against it is that the core of your thought is in line with not only mine but the experiences of those who designed our nation. Active competent is good. Unfortunately, active tends to be incompetent (for the benefit of the majority, anyway.) So, structure to make it hard. And hope that some of the oppositional tethers don’t move into synchronicity.
DougJ
Kirk, my take is that government should only be active insofar as it is able to identify actual problems that it has a plan to deal with. Republicans are active in large part because they invent problems, the War On Christmas, etc.
I will grant you that Sweden has an competent, active government. But I think that competent, active governments can only exist in the context of socialist philosophies and/or extended periods of real crisis (e.g., the Great Depression).
Jon H
"The ideal is Active/Competent."
I’d want a three-axis chart, with the ideal being Active/Competent/Wise.
I don’t really want a government actively and competently enacting unwise policies.
"Wise" could also be replaced with "Moral" or "Ethical", or those could be added on as additional axes.
DougJ
Why did my last comment go into moderation?
blogenfreude
Don’t forget letting your vice president torture Pakistani cabdrivers.
RememberNovember
The GOP has become a sisyphian inverse snowball of suck- who started the ball rolling downhill? Don’t know, but I know the people on the sidelines are named Rove, Limbaugh, Savage, Coulter et al. Those who say a lot but do very little.
Not enough duct tape in the world to clamp those yaps shut unfortunately.
DougJ
Don’t forget letting your vice president torture Pakistani cabdrivers.
This brings us to another thing that Palin has going against her…
Tom Brady is a great QB. But would he have smashed the single season TD record without Wes Welker and Randy Moss? It’s doubtful. And what if Spygate hadn’t happened and Belichik hadn’t been running up the score all season?
By the same token, Bush is a truly terrible president on his own. But he also had a great supporting cast and a bit of luck on his side when it came to creating the worst record in American presidential history. Who’s to say Palin will have the same good fortune? Let’s say she doesn’t select a vice-president who spends most of his time masturbating to torture videos in a bunker in an disclosed location. Okay, you say, but part of what makes her bad is that she would likely select such a VP. But Bush had Greenspan and Tenet, too, whom he didn’t select. Who’s to say that Palin would inherit an Ayn Rand-reading moron as Fed Chairman? How do we know her CIA Chief will say it’s a "slam dunk" that Cuba or Venezuala or Syria has WMD? And suppose that the country she invades lacks the rich history of ethnic conflict necessary to ignite a near civil war.
stickler
Kirk is channeling either the ghost of Napoleon, or Kurt von Hammerstein-Equord, chief of the German General Staff in the 1930s. The latter said:
"I divide officers into four classes — the clever, the lazy, the stupid and the industrious. Each officer possesses at least two of these qualities. Those who are clever and industrious are fitted for the high staff appointments. Use can be made of those who are stupid and lazy. The man who is clever and lazy is fit for the very highest commands. He has the temperament and the requisite nerves to deal with all situations. But whoever is stupid and industrious must be removed immediately."
CIRCVS MAXIMVS MMVIII
I say we consider the criminal colonization method of Australia again, bring those good descendants of the former crooks here and ship off the worthless pubbies down under. I’m sure they’ll be very happy to fuck up things royally with no opposition around. ;)
CIRCVS MAXIMVS MMVIII
I hate to admit it, but I’m currently torturing* a Pakistani who left his family several years ago to come to America, and since I refuse to date him, he sends me letters, gifts, and won’t take NO for answer. Sorry, I’m not going to stop either, because I refuse to become Muslim for any man!
*[Note: torturing in this sense only requires that I do nothing and am not responsible for his desires or lack of ability to attain what he wants]
DougJ
I say we consider the criminal colonization method of Australia again
Why Australia? I think Alaska would make a much better penal colony.
CIRCVS MAXIMVS MMVIII
Ah, maybe you’re right, we’d lose the Opera House otherwise. Okay, Alaska it is. They can secede and Sarah can be their president after all.
Cyrus
@DougJ:
I don’t think we need to worry about that. Given her concern about Alaska’s neighbors, if she invades anyone it’s likely to be either Russia or Canada. They both have rich histories of ethnic conflicts.
Incidentally, my family name is Levesque, by the way. This seems like a good time to announce that I’m founding the Canadian National Congress to liberate my Quebecois brethren from Ottowa-based oppression. American forces would be greeted as liberators with flowers and maple sugar.
CIRCVS MAXIMVS MMVIII
Yeah, we’ve heard THAT one before. ::rolls eyes::
Ha! Just kidding Cyrus. :)
Gus
Looks like he’s reached stage 5 of the Kubler-Ross scale, acceptance.
Capelza Gradenko
No!!!! Alaska can not secede….make the fundie/whack jobs move to South Carolina (it would only be 300K)…without them, AK would be paradise. It’s Beautiful there. :(
TheAssInTheHatOnMyCat(Formerly Comrade Tax Analyst)
I’m confused. When did Reggie Bush become President?
But you’re right, George Bush will never be a good every-down back. He’s fumbled almost everything that’s ever been handed to him and they few times he hasn’t he has proceeded to run towards the wrong goal. The only times he holds his blocks are on screen passes when you want the guy to get past you.
However, he’s a good Fantasy-League pick, because he’s totally immersed in it.
Llelldorin
DougJ, YES. Bush also had a superlative OL for most of the season in the form of a Republican Congress that gave him all the time in the world to screw up. Palin would have the potential to be worse, but without guys like DeLay, Frist, and Lott blocking for her, I have trouble believing that she’d get as much done.
Emma Anne
I would say FDR’s third term met that standard[active and successful].
LBJ, too. Some of his activities were disasters but some were inspired.