From Matt Yglesias, footage of Mike Pence admitting he’s so beholden to Rush Limbaugh that he won’t criticize El Rushbo for saying that “we have to bend over, grab the angles, bend over forward, backward whichever, because his father was black, because he’s the first black president.”
The mistake the Republicans are making here is a basic one: now they’ve admitted that they take orders from Rush, they’re on the hook for all the crazy ass things he says on the show. And that’s not a good place to be.
Yesterday, I was not optimistic about the politics of the stimulus bill. Now I think that it’s a Category Three Schiavo Political Event for Republicans.
Update: A conservative limey titles his column on the stimulus package Hollow Victory: Republicans deliver….wait for it…..SLAP IN THE FACE to Barack Obama. This isn’t really related to the first part of the post, but it didn’t merit a post of its own and I thought you’d all want to know.
El Cid
What they wanna say: ‘Look, why is everybody gettin’ so upset just ’cause some radio guy is pointing out that the President’s a damn n***er and that he just gets what he wants ’cause everyone gives in to the n***ers!’
Rosali
And also the threat level is on Orange.
John Cole
Is it just me, or does Rush look like hell?
Compare 2007 with now.
The Moar You Know
Well, looks like the brakes have failed on the busted-up old truck that is the GOP, and they’re not headed for a cliff, but rather right into a wall.
Comrade Mary, Would-Be Minion Of Bad Horse
But was that really what Rush looked like even in 2007?
Nonetheless, yeah, he looks like hell now.
Laura W
@John Cole: That photo could be a decade old, you know. (See match.com)
debbie
And that Cantor congressman from Virginia is also remarkably dim. After I heard him on public radio this morning, I was tempted to call his office to say, "No one can talk about the importance of bipartisanship when they use the term ‘Democrat party.’" What is it with these people with their refusal to say Democratic party? I really don’t get it.
debbie
Why does Rush look worse than he did just a few years ago?
Rush has put on weight and may be back on the hard stuff.
The Moar You Know
@John Cole: That’s just the concentrated evil emerging. Like in Star Wars with the bad Jedis, but without the cool telekinesis and stuff.
ed
Is it just me, or does Rush look like hell?
Just the other night, National Treasure Jon Stewart asked, "Is Rush Limbaugh molting?" Thank goodness there’s at least one person willing to ask the tough questions.
dr. bloor
@John Cole:
Hard to tell. He’s supposed to look tanned in the ’07 photo, but the overdone effect makes him look like one of the oompa-loompas in the original "Willy Wonka."
sgwhiteinfla
I absolutely love this. Its like they don’t get that they have been exposed. What was there like 130 million people who voted in this last election? And Limbaugh gets like 13 million listeners a week or so? Somebody better tell the GOP that teh math isn’t working in their favor. Actually in all honestly I hope they continue on this self destructive path. Evidently they haven’t seen the poll numbers but nobody wants to hear their bullshit anymore. And the more they are seen as cow towing to Limbaugh, the better chance there is they will see even more losses in the next 2 years. Remember how John McCain cried like a little beyatch over President Obama’s spanish ad linking him to Limbaugh? Expect more of that kind of ad in 2010.
The Populist
Rush is living like the pig he is. He may be rich, but he does not have the audience we constantly hear about. His numbers are really not all that great in a lot of markets. The right prop this fool up with Think Tank funds much the way they buy Mann’s books.
The Moar You Know
What the fuck is up with Pence’s eyebrows? Bad enough that they’re manicured to an extent I’m used to seeing only in young teenage girls; but there’s this motion thing. He moves them all the time. Like bugs flitting near his forehead.
ed
Remember how John McCain cried like a little beyatch over President Obama’s spanish ad linking him to Limbaugh? Expect more of that kind of ad in 2010.
From your blog comment to 2010 NotRepublican candidates.
Any interview of any Republican this week should include some version of this question (i.e., "do you agree with Rush Limbaugh’s latest racist bullshit?").
Walker
You said it yourself during the campaign. Obama plays long ball.
I do think some of the compromises are really about the Senate, however. This bill was never in doubt in the House, but the Senate is close.
Comrade Stuck
@John Cole:
Rush IS Hell.
Gus
Annoying isn’t it? That’s why they do it. They have the mentality of middle schoolers.
Nicole
@sgwhiteinfla: I’m sorry; I’m being that person, but it’s kowtowing.
Though I must admit the mental image produced by "cow towing," especially as said mental image pertains to the Republicans and Rush, made me laugh. Now, if someone would just do a macro of that…
Xanthippas
I thought it was more like they wet their own pants.
Chuck Butcher
Both my OR Senators are Democrats and both know me, so I sent each a letter stressing the R bad faith actions and the need for infrastructure and the pointlessness of R stupidity tax cuts. I’m not a real heavy hitter but my name should at least get them read. I strongly suggest a similar action with your Democratic Senators – if you got any – otherwise Reid might be a target. If nothing else Wyden and Merkley are top notch guys and hit them.
Laura W
Another decade old head shot.
(See plentyoffish.com)
Anton Sirius
Republicans : Preznit Obama :: citizens of Rock Ridge : Sheriff Bart
They’ll be delivering pies to him in the dead of night and swearing him to secrecy about it in no time. Because he is so talented, and they are soooo dumb.
Laura W
@Nicole: "Cow tipping" works nicely too as said mental image.
AnneLaurie
Too much time spent trying to keep them clear of Limbaugh’s pilonoidal sinus. If you thought cleaning out your sink trap was a nasty job…
kay
@Chuck Butcher:
I’m going to continue haranguing my GOP House member. I want him to have to switch sides on the final.
As punishment. But in a nice way.
Nicole
@Laura W: Heh. Now I want two macros.
cosanostradamus
.
Earth to Repukelickin’s:
Wow. Sux to be you, now, hunh?
BWAH-HAW-HAH-HA-HA-HA-HAH!!!!!
.
Rick Taylor
The Republicans tried to hang Michael Moore around the Democrats necks for years, but they were never said anything like, "I cherish his voice in the public debate."
GSD
GOPers are getting slapped in the face by Limbaugh’s saggy ballbag.
Talk about a group of people without a shred of dignity.
Beholden to a man who admitted he was simply Bush’s water carrier.
Pathetic losers.
-GSD
Brick Oven Bill
The text of the Bill is now up here and the links are now working on my computer.
A quick review of one small section of this monster indicates that, in addition to the stated cost, the government is now guaranteeing 95% of small business loans.
Rush does look pretty bad.
KG
I’ve been thinking about this the last few days, mainly because the satellite radio is on the fritz and I’ve been listening to Rush for the first time in years. Here’s my theory:
Rush was such a huge backer of Bush from the beginning (I remember him going crazy after McCain in 2000), and he just can’t admit that he was wrong about Bush because it would force him to admit that conservativism failed. So, instead, he’s lashing out at everyone else. He needs everyone else to fail so that Bush’s failure won’t be a failure of conservativism, it would mean that it was something no one could over come.
This, of course, presupposes that Rush is a conservative, which I don’t really believe he is – he, like Bush, is a reactionary with radical tendencies.
Or, alternatively, Rush is just a gigantic tool. Actually, now that I think about it, those aren’t mutually exclusive options.
Conservatively Liberal
I find it hilarious that Obama ‘calls out’ Rush as the problem, not the solution. This is followed by denial on the right which is then quickly followed by El Rushbo getting his scrotum and sphincter tongue-bathed by Pence and company.
In the absence of any leadership on the right, Rush is the de facto head of the Republican party and Obama is right to hang the oozing corpulent Oxycontin-laden albatross around their necks. If they want to follow Rush then let the public know about it. It could be possible that their constituencies might have other ideas, ones that El Rushbo is against. Of course this depends on how the economy is treating them.
Like the old Fram oil filter commercial; you can pay me now or you can pay me more later. If it ain’t hitting them now you can bet it will be soon. Nobody is going to escape this economic disaster. The more the right obstructs, the closer the train of the economy gets to the brick wall of reality.
jcricket
Much like Republicans are always claiming, appeasement doesn’t work. Containment doesn’t work. The only thing that works with Republicans is crushing them (ok, fine, by electing Democrats, not sending in the armed forces). But the Dems will be fine. Look at the news already:
Swift victory… Democratic-controlled… spending increases + tax cuts…
Yes, all of us political know-it-alls have been obsessed with Republicans scoring points, but they’re losing the war. Frankly, I’m not even convinced they’re winning the battle. They’re just firing pot-shots that put holes in our roads or whatever.
And Obama has political cover that he "tried" to go the bipartisan route. In fact, the stimulus bill even has "reasonable" bipartisan stuff in it.
Yes, I suppose soon enough we should just entirely start ignoring them and put forward Democrat-only bills, but for now, good show Obama.
eyeball
I’m not following all this air-war bleep with the anality of bloggers but i do feel i need to point out something — in case you all have gotten into an endless loop: Nobody cares what Big Talk Radio says. Really. Nobody. They have some hardcore types who love that stuff – racists and right-wing welfare teat suckers and dead-enders. That’s it. This is not Clinton 1994. Obama can snap his fingers on Youtube and raise $2M in a week. Stop worrying about the zombies. Better to think about making things people want to buy … and not just more goddam cell phones either. real shit like electric cars and smart meters and simplified medical software. And something that makes the internet work faster. And it you really need to listen to something in the car get Sirius radio or better some books on CD. Stop fighting yesterday fight, especially since you’ve won.
skippy
i wish someone would point out that the repubbbs genuflecting to limbaugh would be like the dems asking jon stewart for policy advice.
also, i agree, someone ought to start phoning in to these talk shows and say, "listen closely: ‘democrat’ is the noun, ‘democratic’ is the adjective. what were you, home-schooled?"
David
Things to do!
from the desk of BARACK OBAMA
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Swat away Palin √
Trick and steamroll McCain √
Outflank Limbaugh √
Buy off Hillary with cabinet appointment √
Set Republicans off on a path to self destruction √
Get a puppy
The Moar You Know
@eyeball: preach on, eyeball. You’re absolutely right. They’re fighting a 21st century war with 19th century weapons and 18th century tactics.
My local rag, a bastion of right-wing moronism, had the following headline tonight:
You guys see anything about Republicans in that? Nor do I.
We fucking won. We need to realize it and stop fighting yesterday’s war.
Fulcanelli
@David: Ooops, one more thing: Hang back and let groundswell of outraged public opinion force me to sic Justice Dept. on former bush admin officials for torture, wiretapping & war crimes. Flush & wash hands.
MoeLarryAndJesus
Fuck Rush Limbaugh.
Make that evil stupid bastard the face of the Repiglican party. He’s been their guru for at least a decade, so staple his dumb ass to them and hammer at the connection night and day.
He’s a thrice-divorced draft-dodging college dropout drug addict with a criminal record for check fraud. He’s a fat fuck without a single redeeming personal quality.
I can’t think of a better icon for the entirely discredited Repiglican Party. Pump him up. Make him their public face. Do it as incessantly as possible. Most people will hate the fucker on sight.
Drag him out of his studio hole and shine light on the fucking groundhog. Watch him squirm. You know he has an inferiority complex the size of an aircraft carrier. Fucker can’t keep a marriage going and you just know he’s a sexual pervert of immense proportions. Squeeze him into the role of "Repiglican leader" and you just know he’ll fuck it up, because he’s all wind and no ballast, except for the 100 pounds in his ass.
kilo
@debbie: Rush has the perfect face for radio.
Cain
@MoeLarryAndJesus:
I’m fairly sure that if we photograph his ass and compare it to an elephant’s ass we’d find no difference. Better, if we compared their asses with Miss America, the elephant’s ass and Miss America’s ass would have more in common than Rush’s.
cain
Punchy
/looks around furtively….confused
Really? No one is going to do it? On THIS site? Nobody? FINE….it’ll get it.
Getty and Lief are getting up there in age. And Neal has looked like hell for years.
linda
holy shit. what a masterful job of taking out that pigfucking asshole with a bonus of public humiliation for the repukes who grovel at limbaugh’s feet.
first obama has his sit down with leading conservatives — limbaugh not invited; he seethes;
obama calls out the repukes for following limbaugh’s dictates; limbaugh goes off, capping it with a hope for the country’s collapse;
repukes mortified by limbaugh’s rants, denounce him; dittoheads pounce on repuke congressmen who quickly run to prostrate themselves before limbaugh.
public reacts with disgust and mockery…
damn.
Punchy
@kilo: But does it have the spirit of radio?
Bada BING.
Conservatively Liberal
This is what kills me about economic problems like the ones we are confronting. Americans want to work, they have families and/or themselves to support and the better they can do so the better it is for the economy. They want to build stuff, sell stuff, buy stuff, make money and spend money. It is a tried and true formula for success. People design stuff of value and pay people to build it for them. People work at jobs or own their own businesses that support these people, make money and want to spend it on stuff for their homes, hobbies, families or businesses. They want to sell stuff and buy stuff and you need a good wage and good jobs making stuff for it to work.
What the globalists have built is a system here that produces little and consumes a lot. Nothing of value is made, instead we have a web of interrelated minimum paying service jobs that support other minimum paying service jobs. The only people outside of the defense industry who
arewere making moneyarewere the paper pushers. We design stuff and farm it out for production to the nation with the lowest labor cost, thus moving most of the lower education but higher paying manufacturing jobs offshore.The only way the right has been able to hide the fact that job quality is drastically dropping and that pay has been flatlining for years was by allowing the banks to issue easy credit. People could afford to get nice stuff but they were then saddled with the costs of paying for it. With banks charging usury rates, they siphon even more money out of the economy.
The whole system is a mess and it isn’t going to get any better until we get back to basics. The social structure of the country is similar to a pyramid with the distribution of assets and income being a perfectly inverted pyramid. Due to the outsized gains by the bastards in corporate America, our newly minted "Bailout Kings" (as opposed to the old "Welfare Queens" who couldn’t hold a candle to the new royalty on the block), our economy is drastically out of balance and in danger of collapse.
They did this to us, not for us, all in the glorious name of Capitalism (or lining their pockets, same thing). They don’t give a crap about you because they have enough money to buy their own reality while everyone else suffers.
That’s reality.
magisterludi
I picked up Limpy the other day on the car radio. He was railing that it’s a left-wing lie that exercise is important for weight loss. I assume this will be added to the GOP platform by Friday.
Church Lady
A little off topic, but I was a little surprised when I looked at the NY Times map of the roll call vote. Who knew that amost all the Congressional districts in California that aren’t bordering the Pacific Ocean are represented by Republicans. It was strange seeing at all that red on the California map, but it probably helps explain Prop 8 passing.
Fulcanelli
…cheep… …cheep… …cheep…
Hmmmm, quiet tonight, got any troll bait? Maybe we can lure North Dallas Forty a repeat of last evening. Harrrr, me buckos, rum, sodomy & the lash, indeed.
Teeth-gnashing over the perpetual public display of the various personality disorders afflicting what’s left of the GOP is getting so effin’ tedious.
kilo
@Punchy: **tips hat**
Well played, sir. Well played.
Fulcanelli
@Punchy: We are the Priests of the Temple of Syrinx….
Damn, I could dig a Rush show. Saw em’ twice, always great!
gnomedad
#2, meet #46.
Rush is all about assuring the rubes that any bad news from scientists, doctors, accountants, or journalists is a left-wing lie.
Fulcanelli
gwangung
Having a groundswell of support for stuff you want to do anyway. Hm. Conserves political capital; in fact, generates a bit more by doing the will of the people. Gee, is there anything WRONG with that?
Mrs. Peel
That really should have been accompanied by banjo music.
Fulcanelli
@Mrs. Peel: Ewww.
Must. bleach. mind.
Comrade Kevin
Toby oughta go back to polishing David Cameron’s knob. He obviously has no idea what is happening in the US.
The comments on that post are pretty funny, too.
The Populist
Hey righties, explain why Rush is so special?
All I hear is a windbag who shuffles papers way too much in the course of acting like the elitist he is. Yep, you heard me…Rush is the ultimate elitist.
Brick Oven Bill
SEC. 1112. ADDITIONAL ASSURANCE OF APPROPRIATE USE OF FUNDS.
None of the funds provided by this Act may be made available to the State of Illinois, or any agency of the State, unless (1) the use of such funds by the State is approved in legislation enacted by the State after the date of the enactment of this Act, or (2) Rod R. Blagojevich no longer holds the office of Governor of the State of Illinois. The preceding sentence shall not apply to any funds provided directly to a unit of local government (1) by a Federal department or agency, or (2) by an established formula from the State.
This, in my opinion, is a violation of the Tenth Amendment. If Kirk put this in, shame on him. Is Obama trying an end run around the 10th? I don’t know, but I doubt it because he is walking into windows.
Blago had an interview on Glenn Beck, which, I think, airs again in 30 minutes on FOX. This is a very good show. The interview is at the bottom of the hour. It is wrong for the Federal government to establish Section 1112 ahead of any judgment.
This Bill is contributing to the deprivation of Blago’s property without the due process of law, which, by my reading, is a no no.
The Populist
When these assbags talk about "conservative values" what exactly is that?
Voting for stimulus to help the rich when it’s "THEIR" president, but voting it down when it’s NOT their president even if he gave them what they wanted.
Telling the world this bill is full of pork and nonsense YET allowing their president to give Halliburton no-bid, cost-plus contracts?
Saying Obama is a supporter of Terrorists when they let Osama get away time after time.
Saying Obama is a socialist when their poster girl, Sarah Palin hands out checks to the population of Alaska?
Calling Obama a foreign citizen (not true) and calling his election unconstitutional when over the last 8 years, THEIR President wiped his butt with the constitution.
Calling Obama a tax and spend liberal when the right is the party of borrowing and spending. Sorry righties…I’d rather have a tax and spend liberal in office when I can VOTE them out and the taxes can be lowered than have a borrow and spend politician in office borrowing and putting us deeper in debt with interest payments we cannot just wipe out with a stroke of the pen.
cosanostradamus
.
In case you haven’t seen a picture of his Reichsmarshall Goering ass lately, here’s Rush. HEY! Don’t spit on your own monitor!
.
JenJen
As per usual, our Awesome Liberal Media loves a feud, and they’re eating (and feeding) this Rush Limbaugh crap with a spoon.
But who cares? I mean, why would anyone in one’s right mind give a flying flip what Rush Limbaugh thinks about that, or what Mike Pence thinks about this?
Of course I don’t give a crap about the Caylee Anthony story either so who am I?
But really. The whole thing just reeks of a bored media that hates covering policy and is instead always looking for the next faux horse race/public feud/missing child/romantic airplane landing story to chase after.
Fencedude
@Brick Oven Bill:
This, in my opinion, is a violation of the Tenth Amendment.
Thats nice.
That and a buck fifty will get you a coffee.
Darkrose
@Church Lady:
Anyone who lives in California. Once you get east of the Coast Range, it’s a vast sea of red, aside from spots of blue like Davis and Sacramento. Inland California is made up of people whose stance on social issues is closer to Alabama than San Francisco.
OriGuy
I’m thinking Rush is going to end up looking like Baron Harkonnen in the David Lynch version of Dune.
cosanostradamus
.
I love Rush! I just can’t listen to him.
He’s like the Repukelickin’s’ id. He expresses all the sh*t they don’t dare to. He’s letting America know exactly where the Repuke’s stand right now: Outside of the Mainstream, somewhere offshore, where all their money is going. They ought to be telling pork-pie to STFU, before he let’s EVERYbody know where the ‘Pukes are really at. If he keeps talking, there’ll be a backlash.
If a liberal had talked like Rush in the bad old days, he’d’ve been charged with treason. Times have changed. Let’s charge Rush.
Or, better yet, let’s starve the fat pig: Boycott Rush Limbaugh’s advertisers.
.
Johnny Pez
Okay, I’m not ashamed to admit it. Once the stimulus bill is passed I’m going to miss all the jokes about the size of Obama’s package.
Balconespolitics
@Brick Oven Bill:
The stupidest man on television … the most corrupt politician in America … the most partisan network ever.
Sounds like a formula for a very good show to me.
Xenos
Chris Matthews, after dealing with a drunk Dick Armey insulting Joan Walsh, had an interesting talk about Rush. His theory is that Rush’s main constituency is traveling salesmen, implying that the angry army of Willy Lomans supporting Rush are more pathetic than dangerous.
In my experience the biggest Rush fans are retired executives and lower middle-class entrepreneurs. One can appreciate the lower-middle-class guys, as they are trying to apply a fanatical Horatio Algerism to motivate themselves to success.
Why the retired executives? My guess is that after 40 years immersed in a culture of classist entitlement, coded racism and open misogyny, they miss it all when stuck at home with the wife.
Karmakin
The bi-partisanship that Obama is looking for isn’t with House or Senate Republicans. It’s with moderate and slightly-right leaning conservative voters.
They’re going to look at this and say a combination of spending and tax cuts? That sounds about right to me! And Obama has locked up their support just a little bit tighter, increasing the pressure on the GOP to not obstruct. I think Obama realizes this is going to happen anyway, and he’s playing for 2010 by and large to break the fillibuster.
headpan
From the looks of his head and paws here, I can say with certainty that John’s photo of Rush is a tad older than 2007
headpan
I cherish you so much, I’m going to say "fuck you" to my constituents and cast my vote as you will it, Daddy Rush. I sure, eh hee hee, I sure don’t want no spankin’ (eh hee hee) from Daddy Rush. (I’ve been a bad boy, Daddy Rush, a VERY bad boy! A naughty, nasty boy)
headpan
The fact that he can’t even get his dick up without medical help, much less a 5 lb. weight, is prolly pretty depressing for a poorly aging Rush – he’s gotta blame it on somebody!
Josh Hueco
Limbaugh is the quintessential Missouri Puke
Napoleon
For 20 years I have been wondering why Democrats don’t try to do more to wrap people like Rush around the necks of Republicans. Good to see Obama doing some of it.
And I am very glad the Republicans voted to a person against the plan. Every media report I have heard today mentions it. Regardless of how the plan eventually works out the Republicans have now branded themselves the party of obstruction and saying no.
Nicole
Well, in complete fairness, it’s generally thought now that, for weight loss, exercise is considerably less important than diet. It’s still important, but he was twisting a more complicated fact into something else (as usual).
But exercise being important is a "left-wing lie?" Where did he get that? Ohhh… right… reality has a left-wing bias. (Seriously, quip of the century. Thank you, Mr. Colbert)
kay
@Napoleon:
I watched cable and both Rachel Maddow and Marc Halperin think it’s bad, politically, for Obama. That’s comforting, in my non-political professional opinion.
I came to rely on those two during the campaign for consistently wrong political calls. Maddow on the Left and Halperin on the Right: both wrong on political implications, nearly always.
Maddow can discuss policy, particularly foreign policy. I’m not sure why anyone needs Halperin.
Hunter Gathers
Less than 2 weeks into his term, and the GOP have already fucked themselves. The freak show House Republicans will continue to bitch and moan, getting crazier and dumber by the day, for the rest of Obama’s time in office. These fucktards do not matter anymore.
There are at least 4 Senate Republicans that have to support the stimulus and most of the other bills that Obama tries to pass. Senators Snowe and Collins from Maine (which Obama won by 17 points) along with Specter (PA-11 points) and Judd (NH-9 points) and the both of them are vulnerable, especially Specter.
As long as the House GOP continue to act like bat-shit crazy morons, Obama will get most of what he wants through the Senate. Don’t underestimate the fact that he has several good relationships with conservatives in the Senate. I imagine the moderate GOP members will eventually have to go out of thier way to keep thier distance from House members, not wanting to be seen as crazy shitheads.
The stimulus should keeps us out of double-digit unemployment (barely), but the first bill is only the beginning. His big ticket items can also be put in terms of ‘stimulus’. A health care plan that adds jobs, an energy bill that adds jobs, a transportation bill that adds jobs, etc.
Oh they’ll bitch and moan as usual, but in the process they will continue to shrink as a party. The stunt they pulled yesterday cemented it.
Keep acting like assholes and listening to Limbaugh and for God’s sake nominate Sarah Palin in 2012, so I can watch your party wither and die. Times are tough, and I need free entertainment.
cosanostradamus
.
SORTED THROUGH: All the latest lists of Reichsmarshall Limbaugh’s advertisers, with links, in case you want to complain. Or boycott them.
Oh, and by the way, Rush says Obama is black. About a hundred times an hour. Not that it matters to him.
.
Napoleon
@kay:
I think it is a Godsend for Obama. At a certain point the public, in its mind, will free Obama from having to try and deal with the right when they come to the conclusion that they are simply not serious about trying to solve problems. The fact that every last one of them voted against him after a high profile trip to meet them and high profile changes to the plan does much to do that. Another benefit to Obama if the public comes to the conclusion that the Republicans simply are not serious, and that is Obama could fall short of fully solving the ecomomic problems, which frankly is very likely because they are so big, and they will still be willing to keep him on the job and back his policies.
Reverend Dennis
And way closer to "Children of the Corn" than to Woodstock.
gnomedad
AFAIK, Snowe and Collins, both women, are sane and competent as Republicans go. I’d love to be a fly on the wall at home when the subject of Palin comes up.
kay
@Napoleon:
I agree with you. That’s my gut, anyway. I suppose the media chorus matters, and they’re on-board with conservatives on this, it seems to me. They don’t even bother to book a rebuttal any more: it’s GOP Congressman and nodding talking head. I had to turn it off.
Obama has successfully gone around them before. We’ll see if he can do it again. We’re going to call on our small group of local Democratic women, and that’s all we can do. This is a conservative district. Many of them are older and religious, and lean Right on a lot of issues, but they’re Democrats on the economy.
Punchy
Matt Lauer just blamed the Democrats for the fact no Rs voted for the StimPak. Unfuckingbefuckable
El Cid
He’s right. If only the Democrats had allowed the Republicans to write the bill entirely, Republicans would have voted for it.
We’re supposed to see conservatives and Republicans as the ‘natural’ government of the nation, and liberals and Democrats as the occasional and suspicious outside agitators.
Napoleon
David Weigel’s take is interesting.
bago
Ah, I think we may have found our problem.
Ash Can
Taking my own little inventory this morning, I see that the House Republicans have flipped off an unusually popular president in a political stunt, and, in doing so, have reinforced the perception that — by their own choosing — they’re on the outside looking in as the federal government tackles some problems that are rather pressing in the eyes of the electorate — you know, those folks who give these political yahoos their jobs in the first place. On the heels of that, the Republicans in general are reinforcing the idea that Rush Limbaugh is the leader of their party, and they don’t dare cross him.
There will be days (I keep reminding myself) that I’ll be shaking my head and saying, "What the hell was Obama thinking?" This is NOT one of those days.
ChrisNBama
I think the optics on this are very grim for republicans. You have a very popular President reaching out to them, and they bitch slap him for his efforts. The only folks who are happy with the republican intransigence on the stimulus package are the 25% or so who supported Bush through thick and thin. I was listening to C-Span this morning, and conservative caller after conservative caller made comments to the effect that the republican’s are "back", apparently after being missing in action for the past eight years. This strikes me as being very short-sighted. Moreover, American’s realize that government spending, while not perfect, is needed to get ourselves out of the mess we’re in. I don’t think they are going to be very happy at the republican’s reconversion to "conservative principles". It sort of reminds me of when I used to belong to a fundamentalist church. The same people, week after week, went up to the altar to "recommit" themselves to Christ. It’s like the previous weeks commitment didn’t take. Same behavior with the republicans.
Woodrowfan
HEAR! HEAR!
kay
@El Cid:
So did Halperin. He repeated the GOP talking point almost line by line. I’m always left a little stunned by the lock-step nature of the tv media. Whichever moron gets the line out first sets the script for the whole day.
Reverend Dennis
If they continue on their current trajectory, the House Republicans will one day soon show up in blackface and demand that the words to "Barack, the Magic Negro" be read into the record.
Laura W
I like.
CT
@Kay: right on re:Halperin and Maddow. Halperin doesn’t have two brain cells to rub together, so he can be excused. Maddow, with the slightest provocation, channels the most breathless concern troll on Kos-the pure conviction, all evidence to the contrary, that everything the repubs do is part of some brilliant master strategy. I guess in cable TV-land, some are "concerned" that this shows that the House repubs aren’t afraid of Obama, when really it shows that they have no power to affect matters and can only whine.
Xenos
My question is – where the hell are the Democrats to explain, in one pithy sentence, what the stimpack is, why it is structured the way it is, and why it is a good idea?
Nobody is getting the message out. I can understand why the White House is not taking the lead on the messaging front, but all that I see on TV is Steny Hoyer up there being passive and sounding defensive. God I wish there was at least a bit of political organization among the House Democrats.
ksmiami
being of the moderate centrist persuasion with a lightly informed sense of economics, my sense is that the Republicans have just walked off a cliff on this. They want America to fail, people to be unemployed and wages to be deflated. They are so epically stupid as these are not what the American people want and reality has yet to sink in to these fuckers… They will continue to lose elections and be irrelevant because they are just total ASSHOLES and they just walked into a trap… I also think that while recovery may take a year – 1.5 years, it will come and they have added nothing to the conversation
I hope they all fuck off and live in Paraguay
kay
@CT:
Halperin doesn’t have two brain cells to rub together, so he can be excused. Maddow, with the slightest provocation, channels the most breathless concern troll on Kos-the pure conviction, all evidence to the contrary, that everything the repubs do is part of some brilliant master strategy.
Maddow lost some credibility with me during the primary. I’m active in a state Party (only since 2002:I’m by no means an expert) and I was a delegate. Maddow was pushing this ridiculous theme that HRC was going to pull off some sort of coup at the Convention. I’m extrapolating from my state, but that simply was never going to happen. No serious state politico here thought that was even remotely likely, and the State Party and the Obama campaign were doing weekly conference calls with delegates. They were talking to us.
She pulled that out of her ass. It was made-up cable television stuff, as far as I can tell. I don’t think she’s dishonest. I just think she didn’t bother to talk to anyone who might know. Like a Dem governor. Or big city mayor. Or a State Party chair. There was no HRC plot. That never happened. It was never going to happen. I’ve been wary since.
Persia
As a sexual pervert of immense proportions, I’m offended.
Davebo
Rush is the new Joe the Plumber
Screamin' Demon
Reminds me of when I smoked cigarettes with my friends in high school. They’d ask me: "Got a match?" and I’d reply, "Yeah — my ass to your face."
Gregory
What is it with these people with their refusal to say Democratic party? I really don’t get it.
Okay, two can play at that game — we just say "John Boner" all the time.
EEH
So it’s finally come to this: the Republican party taking its marching orders from a bloviating tub of cheap margerine.