Last week, while I was driving to work, I had a premonition that someone would make a weird comment about Bobby Jindal’s Indian heritage. I wasn’t quite sure what it would be — my first thought was that it would be a Politico piece comparing him to Sanjay Gupta — but I knew it was coming. I mulled over a post about this, but before I could write it, Michael Steele had sent some “slum love” to the Rhodes scholar/exorcist/conservative wunderkind and it was too late.
I now have a premonition that Maureen Dowd will write a column about the romantic misadventures of conservatives like Meghan McCain and Dustin Siggins. I just wanted to get that out there so that when it appears you can all see what a genius I am.
But that’s not what this post is about. This post is about the one political theory that I truly believe, the Josh Marshall bitch-slap theory of politics, which asserts that in many political arguments, what matters is who is seen as having delivered the bitch slap and who is seen as having received it. It’s a Republican specialty and the story usually goes like this: Candidate X says some reasonable thing that sounds slightly awkward. The right-wing talk radio crowd jumps all over it and gets its useful idiots (Jake Tapper, Mark Halperin, Marc Ambinder, etc.) all excited about making Candidate X retract it. Finally after about 24 hours, Candidate X does retract it and looks weak for having done so. That sets in motion a Halperin-Politico news cycle about why Candidate X doesn’t appeal to middle Americans who just want to have a beer with a guy who stands up for what he believes in.
We’ve seen it time and time again.
And that’s why it’s so smart to taunt the Republicans about Rush. Some Republicans (to their credit) will chafe against the notion that they orders from an obese oxycontin addict and protest. We all know what happens next. This isn’t just about making it clear that Republicans take orders from El Rushbo, it’s about making them look weak and pathetic. And once it’s all set in motion, it just keeps going — it really is a perpetual bitch-slap machine.
There’s some expression that applies here, like hoisted by their own petards. It’s like when the Jacobins started executing each other (that happened, right?).
What this has to do with my Bobby Jindal and MoDo premonitions is that somebody wrote into TPM with the same idea a few minutes ago. Oh, well.
Update: As long as I’m cribbing from TPM, it sounds like Steele is a goner. So who’s the next head of the RNC: Katon Dawson, Ken Blackwell, or that thirteen year-old kid from CPAC?
Update #2: Plouffe hits Rush in WaPo, it occurs to me that Rush will take credit when Steele is forced out, and TZ has a great idea for an Onion article:
NATION APOLOGIZES TO RUSHBO: WE’RE SORRY FOR ELECTING OBAMA!
The entire country today admitted that it “didn’t mean it” when it elected Barack Obama president, in direct disobeyance of orders from petulant American dictator, Rush Limbaugh.
TR
I’m not sure these idiots deserve the honor of a line from Hamlet.
With the GOP, it’s more like "hoisted by their own retards."
Comrade Jake
I think the best part is how some Republicans have caught wind of the "Do you agree with Rush?" trap, and instead proceed to explain what they think Rush meant, and how precisely they also hope Obama will fail.
The bottom line is they’ve been forced to do something they’re genetically incapable of: nuance. At the end of the day it mostly sounds like, yeah, they pretty much want Obama to fail.
Good times.
Notorious P.A.T.
I wish I could buy stock in "Meghan McCain will marry an alcoholic asshole who treats her like crap and cheats on her before asking for a divorce while she is in the hospital with lupus."
Ricky Bobby
This plays into the Republican FAIL @ DIPLOMACY arguments too. It’s not actually about getting anyone to do what we want or to institute a better policy, it’s about…
LOOKING TUFF YOU FUCKERS BETTER NOT FUCK WITH US YOU FUCKING FUCKTARDS OR WE’LL KILL EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU LITTLE FOREIGN BITCHES!!!!!!one11!!!!
/flex
kommrade reproductive vigor
Now if only we could hook the PBM up to a turbine…
Groucho48
A guy like dad!
Just Some Fuckhead
Positively Oakeshottian, DougJ.
BDeevDad
Jon Stewart had a genius bit about Rush as the leadership of the GOP tonight.
DougJ
I certainly wouldn’t wish that on her. She seems nice enough. It’s not her fault her father ran such a crazy campaign.
TheOfficialHatOnMyCat
Proposed Onion headline:
NATION APOLOGIES TO RUSHBO: WE’RE SORRY FOR ELECTING OBAMA!
The entire country today admitted that it "didn’t mean it" when it elected Barack Obama president, in direct disobeyance of orders from petulant American dictator, Rush Limbaugh.
bud
Here’s a vid to go with this post:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myQ6BDB_D7Y
John Cole
The thing that I find shocking is that I remember the 2000 election. I remember saying “get over it” ad nauseum to people who were angry. And I remember a whole lot of pissed off Democrats, and people who say otherwise are fooling themselves- there was some serious anger on the fringe of the Democratic part. I remember the selected, not elected, the for shame stuff, I remember the anger during the inauguration.
But what I don’t remember is Democrats openly wishing for Bush to fail. And that was during good times- we had a surplus. The big debate was how much of a tax cut to give or whether it should go in the lock box. The big crisis, if I remember correctly, was one of our planes being forced down to China. And this is going purely from memory, I think there was a tragedy involving a sub ramming into a Japanese fishing ship. That was the extent of the crises in the early months. And even then, no one was rooting for the administration to fail, and the Congressional democrats more or less went along with him.
Now, with multiple wars and everything in the economy turning to shit, and these scumbags are openly rooting for Obama to fail. It is mind-boggling.
jp2
I understand the theory in a way, but really, where is the "bitch slap"? It’s poorly named – there is no "bitch slap" in the above definition in any way; there is no "pimp slap" or "slap" at all. Definitely bitches though.
Comrade Stuck
Yes, yes ,yes. Wingnuts have lived off the bitch slap gizmo for decades, and it has been painful to watch dems line up each for their turn at the PBSM. There are precious few who have managed to not play. BArney Frank comes to mind. And Bill Clinton, until he bitch slapped himself with his own pecker.
And now the Obama crew are turning the worm onto wingnuts with a lot of help from the Wingnut Whale. A delicious pleasure to watch.
DougJ
I think the idea is that Rush, Drudge, Ambinder, Halperin, etc. have delivered the bitch slap.
TenguPhule
For Republicans, it would be more appropriate to call it the perpetual dick-slap machine.
Initiation seems to require kissing the left nut of Rush.
Dennis-SGMM
Part of their gag for years has been pretending that whatever bullshit they’re pushing is self-evidently true and correct to Real Americans. If you disagree then you’re a dummy or a commie or a DFH. It really gums up the juggernaut when they have to stop and explain themselves.
TenguPhule
Yes.
That captain really did get off too lightly for fucking up.
jp2
I guess I just expect a demeaning, forceful attack when I hear the words – not a retraction or lame press coverage. I would say a bitch slap would be insinuating that John Edwards was gay, or that Kerry was French or that Obama is less-than-an-average-‘merkin. Oh well, I’ll pick on Josh Marshall.
Walker
Fascinating blog architecture you guys have here. Look at the navigation links at the top of the page. Have you noticed that this and the Cramer post both refer back to the "Let’s Hear It For Capitalism!" post? And neither recognizes the existence of the other?
It appears that Doug and John posted at exactly the same time, thus confusing the blog server. It cannot tell which one came first.
Comrade Stuck
@John Cole:
Thank you for that truth. I mistrusted Bush from the time of the 2000 debates, but I did not hate him or wish him to fail, and gave him pretty high marks for his initial response to 9-11. But when the plans to invade Iraq became known, then done, I gave him no more quarter. That was two years into his first term, and now when I hear wingnuts screaming failure and sockialist, and the dems hated on Bush too, it pisses me off. But then I realize they are batshit insane, and there is no advantage in letting crazy people live rent free in your head.
GSD
Ahem, where can I get one of those dick slaps?
-Sen. Larry Craig
Martin
No it’s not. The GOP was behaving exactly like this during Clinton. This is what Newt brought to DC. You don’t remember the government getting shut down? The Dems just didn’t know what to do with that game and didn’t know how to play it back. Still don’t, really, but Obama’s game is pretty decent so far. We’ll see how it plays out.
TenguPhule
Many of us predicted he would fail based on his unblemished record of failure.
We hoped we were wrong.
We weren’t.
handy
@Comrade Stuck:
I think it’s because Republicans can’t tell the difference between criticizing policy, which I remember Democrats were doing virtually from Day One back in 2001, and openly wanting someone to fail. To them it’s all the same.
KG
@12: a lot of conservatives I know took the "selected, not elected" stuff personally, and saw 2004 as vindication. Then came the fail. They don’t know how to deal with it, so they are lashing out and acting like they think the left has acted the last few years – on this point, I think Sullivan had a reader email up that basically said "fuck the libruls, they did it to us."
I miss civility, not that American politics have ever really been big on that.
Comrade Stuck
@handy:
I didn’t really oppose the first tax cuts because we had a surplus. Of course, the second and third were a different matter. The one policy decision I remember being riled about, was the Stem Cell ban on federal funding, but i figured any wingnut presnit would do the same, so no surprise.
Brandon T
Not to put too fine a point on this, but the way I remember understanding it, the "bitch slap" is like what happens when an abused woman comes back for more abuse. The Dems say something fundamentally true but awkward, the Republicans attack them for it, and instead of standing their ground they’re forced to retract it–which makes them look weak. Therefore the Republicans raising the ruckus for the "retract or die!" are the ones delivering the "bitch slap".
The tactic Obama’s using with Rush is deliciously ironic, because it uses the very tool that makes the "bitch slap" successful–the hysterical right wing echo chamber–against the Republicans, while leaving Democratic hands clean.
zoe kentucky
Irony of ironies, I think Rush Limbaugh may very well turn out to be the GOP’s tar baby.
For some reason the GOP leaders– yes, its real elected leaders– don’t seem to realize that tying themselves so strongly to someone who says absurd, offensive things FOR A LIVING might be a wee bit dangerous. It won’t take long before he says something indefensible and they’ll be screwed if they attack him and screwed if they don’t.
Rush couldn’t be more of a fair-weather friend to the GOP, which means that his dittoheads’ support is equally superficial and fleeting. Even if the GOP sucks up to him today he’ll gladly shit on them tomorrow. How do they not know this? It’s his schtick– he *loves* shitting on the GOP. The more they suck up to him the more license it gives him to shit on them and then challenge them and then dare them to suck up to him some more. No matter what they do he’ll never be a reliable supporter, he’s far too irrational and self-indulgent. He’s the very definition of an egomaniac. Rush is in it for Rush and no one else. He’s LOVING all this attention and will do whatever he can to keep himself in the national spotlight for as long as he can.
This cannot end well for the GOP– pass the popcorn!
TenguPhule
I did, I remember thinking, "What the fuck are you idiots doing? We have a chance to finally pay down the National Debt and you want to fuck it all up by giving deferred tax hikes to America?"
Cain
@DougJ:
I concur. I think she is a nice person and I don’t want to mix her up with her father’s politics anymore than I want some jackass to start talking smack about Obama’s kids.
cain
Martin
Well, after all the wailing about entitlement programs blowing up by the GOP, the surplus should have been preserved exactly at the level it was at and paid the debt down. That would have bought the country the headroom it needed to deal with entitlement programs. That we now also know he was planning a war before he planned the cuts, the cuts look doubly stupid.
Comrade Stuck
@TenguPhule:
I wasn’t for them either, for the reasons you stated, but thought it wouldn’t destroy the economy. Obviously, I was wrong.
Brandon T
@zoe kentucky
You racist!
(for context, see http://hyerstandard.com/r-va-rep-tom-davis-uses-the-racial-slur-tar-baby-in-a-memo-sent-to-gop-members/)
Cain
@TenguPhule:
Bush can add a whole bunch new failures to his record. He’s failed the country, he’s failed the palestinians, he’s failed the free markets, he’s failed conservativism… goddam if they looked up ‘failure’ in the dictionary they should see his face with that "Mission Accomplished" banner behind him. Asshat. Bush proves that one man, can make a difference.
cain
Dennis-SGMM
@Martin:
There was also the reaction of the GOP, and of the press, to Clinton’s 1998 cruise missile strikes on Afghanistan and the Sudan. I recall one Republican Senator (Coats?) stating that Clinton authorized the strikes not to save American lives but to save his job.
Oh, the target of the strikes in Afghanistan? Osama bin Laden.
Martin
Oh, I haven’t forgotten about that – or the accusations of nation-building when we went into Kosovo, or the million other things that the GOP instantly reversed course on in Jan 2001. Bush even campaigned on the promise that he wouldn’t nation-build. What a fucking lie that was…
Brick Oven Bill
As driving is in Doug’s post, and this is filed under navel-gazing, and Dennis-SGMM has just accused me of driving a Yugo elsewhere, I would like to add a mostly off-topic good deed that I did today.
Upon review of an old discussion, miss wild whiskers (?!) was disappointed with this photo of my Ford Focus from last night. She was expecting full-frontal and side views she said, and was not happy with my photographic efforts. I disclose now that the photo was, in fact, taken by me, behind the wheel, at high speed. That is my new windshield wiper on a brand-new windshield.
Dutifully, I now present a side view of my reinvigorated Ford Focus. However, when it comes to full frontal imagery, I’ll only show you mine if you show me yours miss wild whiskers. If you are really good, I’ll show you my truck.
Comrade Stuck
Yes, His Chief of Staff could be Big Bird from Sesame Street.
RandyH
When the Republicans see a Democratic MALE as a threat, they go after his manhood, his cajones. They try to paint him as a girly-man, a homosexual, someone who would easily be beaten up by a girl, etc. They are just projecting the weaknesses of their own pathetic selves on their opponent when they do this, but they usually get away with it and portray the Dem as an effeminate elitist, making the fat, pathetic loser of a Republican (think Rushbo) look manly by comparison. It’s all so homoerotic that it even creeps me out even though I am gay. But they (normally) do it every time, in every race. And Ann (the man) Coulter backs them up (think John Edwards). And they get away with it.
So we should be making these controversies about the Republican’s manhood. Is he too much of a pussy to stand up to some fat slob like Rushbo, who – due to the excess in his midsection hasn’t seen his own dick in 20 years and needs help from a third party assistant inserting it into his young Dominican Republic child-boy prostitute’s ass, even though he’s all Vi ag ra’d up and ready to go?
Last night, before Michael Steele made amends with the Druggy, this is where the conversation among TV politicos was going. M. Steele’s very MANHOOD was on the line. And there’s NOTHING more important to a Republican man than protecting his reputation as a MANly MAN, regardless of his standing as a heterosexual or closet case. In Republican circles, you can be as politically talented as can be, but if people start thinking you’re a homo, it’s over. So let’s just paint them ALL as homos.
What’s most disgusting to me is that they see Limbaugh as some potent masculine figure. Ick! yuck1 ack! ish! EEEEw!
Dennis-SGMM
They’re still good at instantaneously reversing course:
Obama urged to think bipartisan on judges
The letter goes on to state, in so many words, that if Obama doesn’t play ball the R’s won’t support his nominees. Remember the endless claims that "Advise and Consent" meant an up-or-down vote on judicial nominees? Remember the threats to prohibit the filibuster on judicial nominees? Now they want Obama to re-nominate Bush’s leftovers and they’re threatening to block his own people if he doesn’t do it.
If the Majority Leader was anyone other than Harry Reid I’d say that they could shit in one hand and demand in the other then see which hand fills up first.
Dennis-SGMM
@Brick Oven Bill:
Aw, c’mon BOB, I was just funnin’ ya. Did you ever catch up with that government guy?
pattonbt
@John Cole:
I dont find it mind boggling at all, Ive always believed this is the real core of the modern Republican party. They know they are being painted as the villians on a grand scale for all the history books. They know if Obama succeeds he will be on Rushmore in 2017 and Reagans puffed up legacy will be thrown in the dumpster. So they have a terrible choice.
Option 1- take responsibility, STFU, take the timeout and hope they can come back as a viable party in a few years or,
Option 2 – pray everything really goes to hell and hope for mass amnesia as to who brought this fail on them.
Since theyve never been about responsibility Option 2 it is.
Problem is, Option 2 still fails. No one is going to reward anyone for cheering for fail. The bulk of the elctorate may be stupid but they are well meaning. No independent will support a party that actively wants the US to fail.
jrg
I think the idea is Rush delivered the initial bitch slap, now it’s a right-wing media driven bitch slap feedback loop.
Right-wingers like to bully. They will mock and deride indefinitely once they smell weakness. Since it’s Rush bullying the RNC, Dems should continue to egg it on. After a while, they won’t need to, because the media (right-wing and otherwise) will continue to obsess about the legendary bitch slapping.
But then again, we could be underestimating Peter Daou’s considerable political instincts.
RandyH
I just got as message "Your comment is awaiting moderation."
That’s new to me here at Balloon Juice. But I don’t comment often. And I thought it was a really good comment. Damn.
BTW.. That was on comment #40.
Alan
I say go with the thirteen year old kid. The party is desperate for an inspirational, revival tent, freak show. Isn’t that like the next step?
Comrade Stuck
@Dennis-SGMM:
They are some kind of arrogant asses, aren’t they? After all that nuclear option bullshit, they have the nerve to write such a letter with veiled threats of filibusters. I hope every one of Obama’s nominees is somewhere left of Chairman Mao.
DougJ
I approved it.
Brick Oven Bill
No problem Dennis; the government man called and I am playing hard to get, but will probably be calling him tomorrow.
But I did get preliminary authorization on another government project today, and I am very happy about this. You have been witness to the effects of idle hands.
As there are sensitive components involved, I had to submit proof of Citizenship, which I dutifully did. I had to go to the drug store at the intersection to make a copy.
Dennis-SGMM
@Brick Oven Bill:
Good to hear. See: the stimulus is working. :)
zoe kentucky
Brandon T-
Just for the sake of clarity, that was my whole point about the "tar baby" comment– which is what makes it the irony of all ironies– is that a racist like Rush "Barack the magic negro" Limbaugh could be the GOP’s tar baby.
burnspbesq
If you need more outrage, go here.
http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/documents/olc-memos.htm
John Yoo’s Greatest Hits, complete and unabridged.
I got five paragraphs into the first one I opened, and had to stop. Two head-slaps and three "what the fuck is he talking about"s.
Unbelievable.
TheOfficialHatOnMyCat
@RandyH:
Most likely, the word pu55y is what got trapped in your post.
The filter here was written by two drunks, one of whom was passed out at the time.
GSD
Funny, the GOP given the choice to declare their defacto leader to be a woman, an African-American or an Indian-American have instead opted for the fat white junkie.
Who could have known.
-GSD
JGabriel
DougJ @ Top:
There’s one more benefit as well. If the Dittoheads are all attacking their own, then – at least for that news cycle – they aren’t attacking Dems or organizing against the administration.
.
RandyH
@Alan:
That could bring out the pedophile vote for them as well. They really need to do more for that loyal part of their "Conservative" movement (wink, wink.) It could be devastating to see that ever-important constituency sit out an election for lack of attention. This is the self-loathing child molester demographic. It’s absolutely HUGE for the Republicans. Seriously.
Brick Oven Bill
My project is associated with weapons Dennis.
:)
Walker
@burnspbesq:
He is going to be disbarred. It is only a matter of time.
AhabTRuler
@Walker: He should be fired into the heart of the sun.
MikeJ
Headlines at TPM:
Rush Attacks ABC Report On Cantor … Kaine: Rush Is ‘He Who Must Be Obeyed’ … Jindal: Rush Is A ‘Great Leader’
And they make "messiah" jokes about Obama?
Chuck Butcher
@Brick Oven Bill:
Pah, this is full frontal action and smokey car sex side shotting.
Chuck Butcher
@burnspbesq:
37 damn pdf pages and I got an article out of it, but my face was getting pretty warm.
Martin
Hurry up. I want that fucker out of my university.
jp2
Upvoted. I don’t read the comments often, but I’ll start more. Are all threads this great?
Chuck Butcher
@jp2:
I wouldn’t call this one more than B+ and BOB is mild and Attaboy ain’t here and it’s well under 170 count…
and nobody called Tunch … plump, er, Ruebenesque, um, portly, heh, fat.
jcricket
This is something Krugman has said – that in the good times we should be lowering debt loads and keeping spending levels the same, maybe even "setting money aside" so we have it in recessionary times.
I think the problem is, as Joe Klein pointed out, we’re fux0red by 30 years of Reaganism. Whenever we get a little extra scratch, someone who really needs it tries to grab a little for whatever unfunded thing they run (schools, roads, healthcare, etc.). Then since we can’t raise taxes, the debt goes up, and then we have a recession and the first thing we do is cut the already under-funded social services.
I don’t predict people will suddenly come to their senses, but if Democrats continue to have something resembling an honest conversation, I have hope this cycle can at least be blunted. Taxes will have to go up, and more than just what Obama is doing this first go around, but if we’re smart, we’ll also get social services, healthcare and infrastructure fixes and so on.
freelancer
@Cole
The Commanding Officer and Pilot of that EP-3E Converted ASW to Navy Spyplane?
Now, and I shit you not, Nebraska State Treasurer. Because of the celebrity of letting his spy plane be captured by Chinese Military and the media kerfuffle that followed thereafter.
Seriously, in Nebraska, name recognition is everything. Tom Osborne was a Congressman, ran for Gov, and is now NU’s AD. It doesn’t matter what you’re famous for, you could have any seat in government if your name rang a few bells. Hell, Charles Starkweather could have been Attorney General today.
Martin
Not necessarily – at least not necessarily in a way that would have broad impact on citizens. Something that would really help a lot is if the base wage in this country could move up enough to get that big chunk of the country that doesn’t pay federal income tax into the bottom tax bracket.
The reason the top 5% pays so much of the federal burden isn’t because the bottom 25% is given a free ride, but because they make so pathetically little money that they can barely live as it is. Everyone should pay federal tax, not by raising their rate, but by raising their salary.
I’d support a modest cut to the business tax rate along with closing 95% of the loopholes out there, preserving only those that have strategic need for the nation (maintaining a domestic supply of key resources, etc.). That’d boost revenues a ton, even with a lower rate (because nobody pays the current rate…) I’d also support a possible raise in cap gains. The cap gains rate should be something like the current rate or the rate you would pay on the money as income, whichever is greater. Low income folks would pay the current rate, high income would pay like it’s income. That’d close as shitload of loopholes as well.
freelancer
It occurs to me I have a knack for latching on to the OT, a la Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory. However, @ Zoe Kentucky, the evidence for Rush bequeathing shit upon his own party is vast, when Dems win, RUSH WINS!, and when Republicans win, Rush Wins!, but as one tactile example that I distinctly remember from November 2006, it is the "I’m relieved cause I don’t have to carry water for these corrupt assholes piece anymore" segment. He sickens me. And from listening to Mark Levin for my 3 minute commute home, these people are in clear point and laugh territory.
SUMMATION 19%: "Wealthy Americans and Americans of Caucasian skin color are being oppressed by a return to the tax rate status quo of 11 years ago by the dictatofascist dictator Baracastro Hussein Laden Obama. America is being destroyed from within, and you must act. West of the Rockies, we’re hearing from EyeHeartTeaParties. Parties, your thoughts?"
"WOLVERINES! [gunshot]"
"…and you know, you’re exactly right. Those communist Washington insiders just don’t have the passion that people like you and I do…the passion that’s gonna bring conservatism back together".
Chuck Butcher
Wealth is used to a free ride, I kid you not in the least. The 90% bracket was meaningless in that it touched so little actual money and even the 39% doesn’t mean much. Maybe FICA/SS meant something when it was its own self, not general funds. The lie is that the rich support government because FICA is ignored as a base and it is.
It is a shell game, along with the other consumer taxes that are laid on essentially invisibly, ie not on your tax form. Sure, you see the 1/2 FICA/SS but that’s about the extent of what you see beyond the get to Adjusted Gross lines. You are aware you pay your own Unemployment Tax anyhow? You are aware you pay your own Workman’s Comp? State income, sales, etc, etc, etc.
You see BOB bitch about being taxed to death? It’s not that he’s rich, it’s that he knows – he also ignores the outs wealth has in this equation, conveniently for what he espouses as ideology. With BOB who the hell knows, really, what is going on.
Mentis Fugit
@Chuck Butcher:
I heard that Garfield tells "Tunch jokes". There, got that one out of the way.
And the absence of AnUtterTwat embiggens any thread.
JenJen
@Comrade Stuck: The way I remember it, almost exactly.
Brick Oven Bill
Chuck Butcher; I had one really, really good year thanks to Freddie-Fannie and several good years working hard. I have previously referred to my experience in residential sewage. And I paid through the nose that really, really good year.
I trust very few people, but I am learning to trust the Internet forum as a body, because anybody can say anything here, unless you are over at Obsidian Wings, where you cannot say ‘monkey butler’.
But I do trust a contractor friend who called me today. It is not looking good for him. I also trust many things from the past. Thank you for the images of the car.
Ninerdave
@JenJen:
Even though I was one of the "Bush stole the election crowd" .I remember thinking after 9/11: Sure glad Bush and Powell are in charge. Go get ’em!
Of course he pissed away my good will with the needless war in Iraq…
Martin
Yeah, not many people much over $250K take their additional earnings as salary anyway – it tends to be cap gains. That’s why the wealthiest man in America pays 19%.
MNPundit
So who’s the next head of the RNC…?
Joe the Plumber obviously.
TenguPhule
Fixed.
Napoleon
There is no doubt about it, this is Josh Marshall’s bitch slap theory in action
.
Napoleon
They didn’t. I was totally against Bush’s policies but would never hope for him to fail because like 98% of people I can not afford for that to happen. But on the fringe right, which is significantly larger then the fringe left and far more radical, and it really has nearly always been that way in this country, they would rather see the country fail, because at heart they don’t believe anything this country stands for, such as freedom of press, religion, majority rule, etc. At heart it is nihilist.
I actually thought at the time that they were idiots to touch the rate until the next significant recession hit to give the country an idea of what the base line tax rate should be. By 01 it had been a really long time since a serious recession and it seems to me that only an idiot would not realize with the stock bubble at the end of the 90’s that maybe the surplus would end up being illusory in the long run.
It couldn’t happen fast enough. I am hoping he gets arrested in front of a class in the middle of a lecture.
r€nato
oh really? What evidence do you have that any nation-building went on in Iraq during Bush’s tenure???
That is one of the very few campaign promises which Bush kept. One which I wish he had not kept, and he should not have kept.
As for RNC… once they dump Steele, they might as well hire Joe the Plumber or Palin to run it.
r€nato
@AhabTRuler:
What a waste of a perfectly good rocket.
Throw him into a volcano.
Auction off the rights to do the throwing, with proceeds going to the ACLU.
ChicagoPat
One of the things I loved about Obama was the Akido/Zen way he deflected the GOP’s (and Clinton’s) attempts to get him in the "bitch slap" cycle. He would just calmly restate and clarify what he said, over and over, until people realized it wasn’t a "gaffe" but an important point he was making.
See: "cling"
JGabriel
jcricket:
a Republican gets elected and lowers taxes.
WyldPirate
Cain @35:
An eternal Googlebomb seems appropriate to insure this.
Chuck Butcher
@Brick Oven Bill:
you’re welcome
It’s a cool car but it sure doesn’t get the mileage your Focus does or burn regular either.
mama whiskers
I confess, I am not following the political scene in much detail right now. As I’ve said so many times, I’m exhausted and I will let stronger, fresher ones do the work for me for the time being. I get too mad and I’ve got personal bidness that demands my attention at the moment. If I get to personally invested, I get frustrated about things I cannot control.
That said, I enjoy the repube dramas and idiocies very much because a first-grader could follow this stuff. They keep me entertained in these dark times. I suppose I should feel threatened when somebody says they want my President to fail but I don’t because I believe the public at large likely recoils in horror or at least distaste at such maniacal statements given the frightening times we live in. But that’s just me, of course. The ditto-heads would dig their own grave and cover themselves up to slowly suffocate to death for the big guy and thank god for the opportunity to do so in Rush’s name. It’s like a really bad soap opera involving political figures.
mama whiskers
I confess, I am not following the political scene in much detail right now. As I’ve said so many times, I’m exhausted and I will let stronger, fresher ones do the work for me for the time being. I get too mad and I’ve got personal bidness that demands my attention at the moment. If I get to personally invested, I get frustrated about things I cannot control.
That said, I enjoy the repube dramas and idiocies very much because a first-grader could follow this stuff. They keep me entertained in these dark times. I suppose I should feel threatened when somebody says they want my President to fail but I don’t because I believe the public at large likely recoils in horror or at least distaste at such maniacal statements given the frightening times we live in. But that’s just me, of course. The ditto-heads would dig their own grave and cover themselves up to slowly suffocate to death for the big guy and thank god for the opportunity to do so in Rush’s name.
It’s like a really bad soap opera involving terminally ill political figures.
mama whiskers
BOB: Contractors are screwed – they are not getting paid for past work by gambling developers – right now they are just trying to get back at least a portion of the goods and labor they contributed to failed developments. Same for the subs. I would not want to be in their shoes. Lay-offs will likely ensue for the larger outfits.
mama whiskers
BOB: that’s an improvement, thanks. Altho you cut off the front and back of the car. I called myself "miss wild whiskers" b/c I have a cat with wild whiskers who is also a bit wanked in the head, but terminally cute. But I’ve retired that and taken on "mama whiskers" as more appropriate, even tho I am also slightly daft.
mama whiskers
shit, 3 back-to-back posts — where is everybody – wake up slackers!
mama whiskers
Make that 5 (counting this one) with one duplicate – cripes! See what I mean, evs?
mama whiskers
I can’t even add single digits and I’ve had 2 cups of coffee already – it’s hopeless. I shoulda stood in bed.
Napoleon
A PS to those who may have been surprised the Republicans are hoping Obama fails, remember they actively tried to remove a democratically elected leader of this country in the 90’s, consequences be damned (the US could have been attacked during their coup attempt). At that point it was clear they are an out of control group of lunatics.
JL
Ah, you are not alone.
Michael Steele was on Today Show and his non answers proved your point. I’m imagining covering oneself in sludge to please The Master.
mama whiskers
Napoleon, I’m thinking the rhetoric is more desperate now, tho. Maybe it’s just me. I didn’t follow the penis-watch much back in the day, just a little. Things being what they are now, I just have this image of some crazy bastard who just shot up the whole town being pushed down into a cesspool of a well by the remaining townspeople, clutching the rim of the well for dear life, all the while screaming at the top of his lungs: "They deserved it! I’ll kill you, too! Please don’t kill me! They deserved it! I’ll kill you, too! Please don’t kill me!"
TR
Maybe the GOP would find that to be a more cost-effective way to monitor volcanos. "We’ve got a former Bush administration figure looking into it. For no cost at all!"
Karmakin
I think on the whole "fail" thing it depends on what you mean by the word.
Were we hoping that the first Bush tax cuts would fail? Well. How could they? They weren’t designed to do anything. But more so..so what if we did? Honestly, it was a big chunk of money…but in terms of the policy, ignoring opportunity costs, there was really no harm in failure.
As opposed to the current situation where failure could have catastrophic consequences.
I think the proper analogy isn’t in the domestic economic sphere, but support for the Afghanistan operation after 9/11, which had practically full support. At the time I was involved in the forums/chats that became the precursor to the modern blogosphere, and trust me, after 9/11 everybody wiped the slate clean. Which in retrospect was a mistake maybe.
That said, I think Limbaugh’s comments, put in a certain light, are reasonable. He could want Obama’s political policy to fail (I.E not pass) as he thinks that it’ll do more harm than good. The problem is people don’t see Limbaugh in anything close to a reasonable light. So I don’t feel for them one bit. They really are hoisted by their own petard here.
TR
Lawrence O’Donnell on "Morning Joe" just took the opportunity to apologize to Rush himself.
"I once criticized him for mocking Michael J. Fox, and now I can see that I was wrong. I’m so sorry."
The Daily Show destroyed him last night too.
Notorious P.A.T.
I’m not saying I wish it upon her, either. But she’s said before she likes to date jerks. So I just figure some day she’ll get what she wants.
kommrade reproductive vigor
Interesting but not surprising that this is gathering steam. (Maryland has no love for Steele or Erlich.) Looks like the GOP has two choices:
Follow SOP by circling wagons and screaming that this is more oppression from the witchhunting, baby eating LIEberul MSM &c, or
Mournfully announce that Steele needs to spend more time with his family.
[headsmack] What am I saying? They’ll do both.
Blackwell would be good, Romney would be hilarious. Tom DeLay would require a cigarette and a brief nap. Rush … Christ, I’d need a blood transfusion.
DougJ
I would rate this thread about average for here.
JL
Bush’s tax cuts did nothing for the middle class. The economy under Bush was propped up by his increase in government military spending that brought us into an unnecessary war in Iraq. The benefits of his policies were the shareowners of Haliburton and Blackwater. His policty of deregulation brought us to the edge of the cliff.
Most people who earn more than 250,000 have been paying extra taxes due to the AMT. Between 250,000 and 400,000 they won’t feel the increase in taxes.
mama whiskers
I like it
Napoleon
@kommrade reproductive vigor:
You left out Gingrich. He would be better then Romney, not quite as good as Delay.
Comrade Scrutinizer
@Karmakin:
Not everyone wiped the slate clean after 9/11. There was broad support for the Afghan invasion, because a reasonable case was made that al Quida was being given safe haven in that country, and there was solid evidence to support that. As far as the drumbeat for the AUMF against everyone in 2001, the PATRIOT act, and the AUMF against Iraq, not everyone was as sanguine. Problem was, those of us who were in opposition were derided as unpatriotic, not serious America haters.
Someone over at Digby (tristero? dday?) said it best: "9/11 changed everything. We all got more stupid."
slightly_peeved
Just listened to the Audacity of Hope audiobook. The guy’s opinions have not shifted at all since he did the book. He just seems to figure that Americans want a leader who works hard to make the country better, so if he does that, and explains what he does, people will support him.
For me, the most hilarious thing of all about the current Jabba the Hutt’s Palace meets Frankie Goes to Hollywood state of the Republican party is that it all started with Obama giving some Republicans a decent (and possibly even genuine) piece of advice: Don’t let Rush tell you what to do. If they’d actually treated him in an honest, open fashion, they might be starting to rebuild their party now. Obama drove his opponents crazy because they could never find his strategy; the one thing they never considered was that his strategy was exactly what he said it was.
I don’t disagree, but whenever I hear this my follow-up question is this: given that this person is a professional communicator, why didn’t they (and why haven’t they now) put those comments in the right light? I shouldn’t have to do it.
Studly Pantload, Would Be Minion of John Cole
@ John Cole (way back) @ 12:
Y’know, yeah, there was anger, and sure, it was in the streets. As in, I was in the streets on that fateful inauguration of 2001, protesting with thousands of others. But there was no rioting or any of the sort; it was a totally peaceful, lawful protest.
Then, as we’re marching, some bus driver stops his bus in the middle of the street (try getting one to do that when you’ve missed your stop, BTB), opens the door, and yells at us, "Get over it, you losers!"
Suddenly, it was clear who the truly angry of us was. It wasn’t us, the "official" protesters, able to at least to take comfort in our solidarity. It was this lone right winger, filled with such rage at the sight of us as to risk employer reprimand to try to shout hundreds of us down.
Him, and the "Brooks Bros. rioters," et al. And so it has been. Even in victory, the right tends to be the bellowing, bellicose players in the game. It’s not a secondary or tertiary fallback position for them. It’s where they operate from.
robertdsc
I will, but he better get on Timmy Geithner’s case real fucking quick. I have no faith in that fool at all. Gates, Hillary, Chu, Solis, even Orszag, I can live with. Geithner, hell no. Fuck that guy.
mama whiskers
Why the fuck are we having a debate about rolling tax cuts back to the 1990’s – prosperous times? This is ridiculous. I’m not into class warfare at all but I’ve worked for over 15 years solely to help people (lawyers) who already have lots of money make *more* money! I didn’t begrudge them that because they were my bread and butter and I respected their JD and experience, connections, blah, blah, all that. At the same time, I assumed they knew what the fuck they were doing at the time.
But if these folks who make 250 and up and are going to be hurt that much by the roll-back, they haven’t been such keen business people and so we should let the glorious marketplace deal them their hand in the same way those of us who lived modestly & tried to save have lost 1/3 of our investments through no fault of our own.
If my taxes were completely eliminated, the savings would not be enough to pay for healthcare so I’m sick of the tax debate, sick of the deficit (which Obama inherited) debate, all of which is just a fucking distraction from the real problems facing this country. I just have no patience with this bullshit. (sigh)
raff
It’s "Hoist with one’s own petard". A petard is/was a small bomb used in the 16th century to blow open fortress gates or walls. The phrase basically means to cause harm to yourself while trying to cause harm to others (i.e. your petard, or bomb, goes off prematurely, killing or maiming you while your intended victim goes unharmed). I don’t know that it has anything to do with Jacobins.
gex
@DougJ: Yes, but she’s already stated that she cannot date someone who voted for Obama. You don’t need to wish it on her, which I agree would be cruel. Besides, she’s already wished it for herself by limiting herself to the base.
Studly Pantload, Would Be Minion of John Cole
@ NinerDave @ 74:
Me, too! Well, OK, I wasn’t thinking of Bush himself, but of the team he’d gathered around him. I was all about what could we, as a country, do to avenge this atrocity. I was ready to sign-up for War Bonds, what-have-you.
Then I heard the "Axis of Evil" speech. No longer on board.
Another mega-fucking-ton waste of capital and resources. And I didn’t even at that point have a clue how absolutely, catastrophically horribly the war in Iraq would go, let alone the subsequent endeavors of that administration.
Oh, to have my idealistic youth of those days back. Except, not.
gnomedad
@TR:
Are you sure that’s not from the Onion? Holy crap.
gex
@John Cole: Irregular voting, voter caging, and the Supreme Court decision are just like accusations of birth certificate fraud and Islamo-socialism. Except some of these things are reasonable things to be angry about.
mama whiskers
I’ll never forget my astonishment when Bush announced he would still go forward with tax cuts at a time of war. Blew my mind. This was about the time I started questioning my sanity since everyone around me did not give a flying fuck. I knew we were in big trouble by then. I just had no idea it would get this bad this fast. I’m not kidding when I say the Bush administration all but drove me to *believe* I was insane.
bartkid
>This isn’t just about making it clear that Republicans take orders from El Rushbo, it’s about making them look weak and pathetic.
"Nothing is more dangerous than weak men who think they are tough guys." -from the final paragraph of I.F. Stone’s Polemics and Prophecies.
bartkid
Punchy
Fixed.
mama whiskers
Let me say that it is horrible, *horrible* to see your country headed towards disaster on a speeding freight train when no one with any authority or power seems concerned about doing anything about it. I thought I was living in a perpetual nightmare. Yes, there were many people who were hollering and screaming at the time, but they were marginalized and ridiculed by the corporate media and all but ignored by the Dem party. This is when I learned the Dem party was not what I thought it was and that was a painful moment indeed. It hurt like hell but it was a lesson worth learning.
Btw, Rep. Bobby Scott seems to be making some sense on WJ/CSPAN and I appreciate that he is just flat out laughing at some of the callers ridiculous repube talking points. I think this is a good tactic if used in moderation.
Dennis-SGMM
@mama whiskers:
Then you probably don’t want to read Michael Gerson’s op-ed in today’s Washington Post:
"Let’s have some sympathy for the rich, people!" Without saying it, Gerson seems to have tumbled onto the fact that Obama’s proposed limitations on charitable giving will dry up some of the funding for "non-profit" right-wing think tanks. No more wingnut welfare and no comfy future for deep thinkers like Gerson.
Cry me a river.
4jkb4ia
I probably missed the proper post for this, but it is hilarious to see the wingnutosphere fall into line behind Rush. The first day that I visited Instapundit, I knew that I did not have to pay attention to what I believed Rush would say ever again, because there was someone out there who was smarter and more open-minded. And there are plenty of people out there in the neo-neocon quadrant who are smarter and more open-minded, not to mention John in the old days. The right-wing blogosphere does not have to let this happen, and their hatred of Obama is making them let it happen.
4jkb4ia
Rush isn’t Paul Krugman. Rush may be an ally of your movement but you don’t have to blindly trust him because he has a Nobel Prize.
Fwiffo
It seems like the Plouffe op-ed or the DCC "apology letter" might be one too many trips back to the same well. It’s like when kids on the playground are making fun of the retarded kid by pretending to be his friend, then they’ll play keep-away with his shoe for a while, which is always a hoot. But when you throw his shoes and his glasses down the storm drain, then the principal and his parents get involved, and you end up paying.
mama whiskers
Dennis, boo-frickin-hoo indeed. I really think we need to use such hyperbole, like "bleeding people dry" to refer to the middle class. The poor don’t have any blood left. Obama has been hinting at it which is good but his operatives need to be less wimpy about it.
BDeevDad
Jon Stewart’s apology to Rush. Evidently, it’s the in thing to do.
mama whiskers
Bush Admin Investigation on CSPAN3, 10:00 am today
BC
I thought we were living in bizarro land when our leaders started talking about a bunch of paleothinkers as being the greatest threat this nation has ever known. Yes, the bombing of World Trade Center was a disaster – but it wasn’t the equivalent of Pearl Harbor. It was Oklahoma City on a larger scale. Our leaders had no sense of proportionality of the threat we faced. It was like everyone in authority was shitting their pants, were so frightened, and just ran helter-skelter doing one thing and then the other. That’s what scared me the most – that the people with their hands on the levers of power did not have the slightest grasp on how to handle the threat and just did things out of fear. That’s what I value the most from Obama – he seems to be able to coolly analyze threats and devise our response. I wish we could go back in time to 9/11 with him or Gore in charge and see what the difference would have been.
jibeaux
Maybe this is an obvious or stupid question, but why in the hell is Rush still relevant? What is this, 1993? I guess on the one hand you’ve got to give him credit for his survival skillz, but come on, when he goes off the air, do his listeners then settle in for an evening of Seinfeld reruns and Gin Blossoms CDs?
RSA
I picture something like this.
Neo
Has anybody seen this story about the Fiscal Responsibility Summit ?
It seems that Obama was saying something like .. Repubs ought to take part in budget negotiations .. then a Repub Rep said they would if they could get Pelosi to give them a seat at the table .. Obama responded with some stuff about obstructionism (i.e. "The Won" wasn’t going to tell Pelosi to give them a seat).
This seems to be the ultimate "Catch-22" when it comes to the Republicans position on the Hill. It also undermines the story as put forth by Plouffe.
scarshapedstar
Not the first to say it, but definitely "Joe" the "Plumber".
jcricket
I use the same phrase to describe our political cycle:
1) Republicans get elected and fsck stuff up
2) Democrats get elected and clean stuff up
3) Republicans say, "things are good, but they’ll be great if you pay no taxes"…
Cycle starts again at #1.
The only way to break the cycle is to add some steps
1) Republicans get elected and fsck stuff up
2) Democrats get elected and
a) Make it clear the Republicans fscked stuff up
b) Clean stuff up
c) Make it clear it was Democrats who cleaned stuff up
3) Republicans say, "things are good, but they’ll be great if you pay no taxes"…
3b) Make it clear that Republicans are selling you the same line of BS that got us into this mess.
Obama is doing a good job of #2a and 3b right now ("won’t return to failed ideology of the past…") but Democrats need to do 2c better (marketing, taking credit, etc). It doesn’t matter if we’re 100% responsible for things getting better, we take credit, and sell our ideas to people. That’s how you keep winning elections.
And as importantly, that’s how we prevent Republicans from taking advantage of people’s "I love a free lunch" anti-tax mentality.
jcricket
@Martin: I’m fine with closing loopholes and equalizing the treatment of capital gains or other "pseudo-income".
For example, libertarians are always saying we need to be more like Ireland in terms of corporate taxes (their rate is lower). I’d be fine with that, in the sense that corporations would pay more tax, because although the rate is lower, there are no zero-to-no loopholes, so the net corporate tax rate is higher.
Plus, I’d argue that if taxes went up and covered something like single-payer healthcare, we’d all be paying less overall (corporations + individuals) and getting better care – along with benefits like no bankruptcies due to healthcare costs, etc. The net impact to GDP would be positive, not to mention the actual impact to people’s lives.
jake 4 that 1
@Napoleon: Ooo, daddy likey.
He’s probably one of the few people who could and would kick Rush’s corpulent buttocks in to line so that would fun to watch.
gbear
@r€nato:
Yes. Also. Plus, a perfectly relevant Onion story comes to mind.
Ash Can
@Neo: I did a Google search to find what you’re talking about, but came up empty. Do you have any links?
@Fwiffo: I’m wondering whether Plouffe’s op-ed is piling on, or if it’s an indication of something different. Specifically, I wonder if we the great unwashed are the intended audience for this op-ed, or if it’s the GOP itself. I can envision Obama and his people, if they’re genuinely interested in having some sort of serious GOP contribution to governing (if not actual support), using this op-ed to grab the lapels of the Republicans on the Hill, slam them up against the wall, and yell "FOR FUCK’S SAKE, WILL YOU WAKE THE HELL UP ALREADY? HOW OFTEN DO I HAVE TO FUCKING SAY THIS?" in their faces. Maybe it seems like piling on to us because Plouffe is, in fact, trying to break a large piece of furniture over someone’s concrete head with it, and it ain’t ours.
Mike in NC
The fact that he’s back in the news only demonstrates how little has changed for the GOP in 10-15 years. Perhaps Newt will volunteer to step up to the plate and gently walk Michael Steele away from the microphone.
Martin
Regardless, they’re stretching the play too far. Time for something different.
Mike in NC
Today’s news:WSJ/NBC News Poll: Obama Gets Strong Support; Democrats Viewed As Better Able to Fix Economy; GOP’s Favorability at All-Time Low
Hey, Rush, can you please yell louder? This is coming from the frickin’ Wall Street Journal. The mind boggles.
...now I try to be amused
I never get tired of watching this play out. "The facts have a well-known liberal bias." Finally a Democrat is taking advantage of it, and it’s been so long it doesn’t occur to Republicans anymore that anyone would try!
I agree. Making your opponents ridiculous is a great tactic. I smiled when Obama said in a campaign speech, "You can’t make this stuff up!"
waddayaknow
Former GOPers: Welkome to the new Republik-an Party. Komrad Rush will tell all other Republik-an komrads what to think on his daily talk show – tune in or the Republik-an thought police will track you down and send you for re-edukation. You will be required to read the Right-behind U series.
Changes the meaning of – What a Rush – doesn’t it?
ksmiami
Can’t help myself, but since we are apologizing to his excellency:
Dear Rush:
I am sorry that I think you are a drug-addled, loud-mouthed and foul person who contributes nothing of value in our society except impotent anger that really reflects your insecurities and latent homosexuality. I am sorry, but as a woman I think you are really really disgusting and need help before you end up dead in a pool of your own vomit after choking on a foot long meatball sub.
Sorry,
KSMIAMI
Well, at least I feel better now
Jon Karak
Again with the addict moniker… I’m no fan of Rush Limbaugh, but referring to him as an "oxycontin addict" is gratuitous. It makes you sound like one of those clowns who keep referring to the "Democrat" party. Or titter at the phrase "volcano monitoring". Or crack up at the words "tattoo removal," while waving their tire-gages, their purple-heart band-aids, and their tea bags in the air. Its just childish.
gwangung
Has he repudiated his previous stance on those who break drug laws?