I really don’t get these guys:
It’s OK for Republicans to want President Obama to fail if they think he’s jeopardizing the country, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal told members of his political party Tuesday night.
Jindal described the premise of the question — “Do you want the president to fail?” — as the “latest gotcha game” being perpetrated by Democrats against Republicans.
“Make no mistake: Anything other than an immediate and compliant, ‘Why no sir, I don’t want the president to fail,’ is treated as some sort of act of treason, civil disobedience or political obstructionism,” Jindal said at a political fundraiser attended by 1,200 people. “This is political correctness run amok.”
They just seem so dead set on picking battles that have no upside for them whatsoever. Is it honestly their number one priority to fight for their right to hope the President fails? And anything less is political correctness? How tone deaf and offkey can these guys get? Even if you win the argument about it being acceptable to want the President to fail, you are now on record HOPING THE PRESIDENT FAILS. Why? And that isn’t even going into the last couple of years in which any objection to Bush’s policies was met with catcalls regarding treason and whatnot.
donovong
Works for me! Let that be their slogan and platform for 2010 and beyond. I feel sure they will be rewarded accordingly, just like this past November.
LM
Depeche Mode wrote these guys a theme song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bsXOcK9_Cw
Ricky Bobby
Their ability to selectively forget the tactics they used in the last eight years to bludgeon Dems with their stupidity is nearly overwhelming in its ironicalness (little Bushism there for ya so you don’t miss it too much).
My money is on the GOP continuing to bet on failure as their only political contribution of the next four years. See you at the next Obama inauguration guys!
David
How long before "Still think the invasion and occupation of Iraq was worth it?" is a gotcha question?
David
You might start "Hoping the President fails" a month or two before an election but two or fours years of that?!
DEAD END —> Republican
Laura W
Damnit! I should’ve sat on my Jindal epiphany post for another half hour. It’s all I got tonight, and it’s way more pertinent here than two posts back.
The man does not even know enough to button his jacket when he gives a speech that will be televised on national teevee. Twice in a month!
That is how tone deaf and offkey, inappropriate, ill-advised, clueless, unkempt, disheveled and INELEGANT they can be.
I know it’s a tiny, petty thing, but as Joe Blow and Mika would remind us: "Optics matter!"
kid bitzer
catcalls regarding treason?
more like death threats regarding treason.
the amount of violent rhetoric from the coulter/limbaugh/redstate gang during the peak years of the bush putsch makes jindal’s whining even more ludicrous.
MNPundit
Off topic but, why don’t you provide a place that explains what your categories mean? Not that we can’t figure it out, but I think you could write something funny in regards to most of them.
And really, you exist to please me your reader.
The Other Steve
In fairness, I think the Republicans picked up all the Democratic advisors who have been hanging around for the past 40 years. The ones who jumped on the chance to get into an argument about something stupid that no matter whether they won or lost, they still lost.
Works for me.
WereBear
They’re sorta in the position of someone in a failing marriage, where they are miserable with Their Base, but don’t want to get a divorce, because that would be a failure.
MNPundit
Oh also, I think this might be appropriate for posts about the GOP and Steele.
Snail Darter
George Bush made them all idol worshipping whores, and now they want their virginity back and Roonie Roo isn’t here to make it right. So in order to rally around an Idea, they have chosen the only way they know. And that is to oppose the Great Satin Liberal, no fucking matter what. But as long as he remains popular with the people, they are effectively nailing their asses to the barn door, and it appears they are even enjoying it.
Comrade Mary, Would-Be Minion Of Bad Horse
@LM:
I’ll see your Depeche Mode and raise you an Andrew Bird.
cyntax
Which is exactly where I went after the second sentence of your quote. How do these guys manage to ignore the cognitive dissonance that must be roaring between their ears? –Tone deaf indeed.
Scruffy McSnufflepuss
How long before they start defending their right to call for an armed insurrection or a coup d’etat?
Congresswoman Bachmann has already brought us halfway there.
ksmiami
I would say the Clash’s White Riot would be an apt theme song for the right these days, but the Clash are just too effin good to be besmirched that way. Maybe "Wake me Up Before you go go" by Wham???
lutton
I just don’t get it.
The love-it-or-leave-it crowd has become the "love it…or, um, well, gently hope the parts you’re uphappy with fail" crowd.
They do seem a bit sensitive on the ‘failure’ issue. Almost as if they were compensating for something.
Hmmm…maybe I do get it.
jcricket
"Infinity+1". SASQ.
Dennis-SGMM
For Bobby & The Tonedeafs.
JWW
Well John,
You explain to me what took place over the last administration? If I were to read the news, watch the news or read left wing blogs sites like yours I would have thought the US didn’t exist anymore. You see that George Bush was the destruction of America.
It really sucks to have somebody rag your ass, I guess maybe "what goes around comes around".
But you being a two faced blogger, it really sucks to be you. That is because the fence has no place to stand. The current fence is a laser, you can’t stand on it.
Michael D.
I think what Jindal is saying is the same thing more liberal people were saying about Bush:
“I don’t want this conservative (or rational, in his case) philosophy to succeed.”
I think it’s ok, if you believe something that the current president believes in is wrong, to wish it fails. For example, if a Republican believes (inexplicably) that Obama is leading the nation on a path to socialism, and if he or she believes socialism is bad, then it is perfectly acceptable to say, I hope the president fails (to achieve socialism.)
I don’t think that’s what Obama is about, and I don’t agree with conservatives on this…
…but I thought Bush was wrong in the direction he was taking the United States. I wanted him to fail (as my thinking evolved.) I didn’t want Iraq to fail (even though I eventually discovered what an idiot I was for supporting it.) I didn’t want Afghanistan to fail. I wanted those to succeed. I did not, however, want the Republican social paradigm to succeed. I wanted that to fail.
In the same vein, I think Republicans, although I personally believe they are wrong, are not wishing the country fails. They are hoping that Obama’s goal (of what they believe is socialism – even thought they are stupid about it) fails.
That’s fine. THEY’RE WRONG in what they believe Obama stands for, but it is perfectly fine to wish that.
But then, I don’t think Republicans even have a clue about what they believe anymore. So whatever.
Still, I think it is perfectly fine to hope something you don’t believe in fails. I hope efforts to ban marriage equality and teaching creationism fail. Doesn’t mean I want the country to fail.
Anyway, this comment was somewhat disjointed. Hope it makes sense.
ksec
The repubs have become Americas troll party. They say crazy stuff to get attention..Jindal was off the screen until he said this…The dude from law and order was off the radar screen until he said this…instant attention.
Fox is their media.
Fox employs these troll to say outrageous sht which helps their ratings. (hell it IS their draw, train wreck style)
We watch and are as responsible as any right wing troll is.
When we stop watching they lose.
Michael D.
By the way, I want Obama to succeed. And FSM help me, I hope he does. Because I don’t understand SHIT about what’s going on with the economy. All I know is that I am living in a house that is worth $60,000 less than it was when I bought it and I am supporting my partner who lost his job in September and we need a fucking vacation.
We’re BOTH on work visas… and are basically strangers in the eyes of federal law.
Life sucks. I want the country to succeed.
passerby
When you stop to consider that all the things politicians say and do are to garner the support of their constituents,
and when you view it as a semi scripted play, a show put on for the benefit of those whom they hope will vote to keep them in office,
considering the crap they dish out, the only conclusion you can draw
is that we are a country slap full of ignorant mother fuckers.
If it didn’t work, they wouldn’t do it. And thanks to the media for being the stage hands and prop masters that keep the show on the road.
Brian J
Well, I wouldn’t say it has no upside. What else is going to help them return to power outside some fairly significant change in message and/or policies and successive small victories? If the president does fail, and the country does suffer, they will be able to say that they were against the failed policies and that their alternatives, such as they are, were the correct ones.
In no small part is this helped by the fact that these people create their own reality, actual facts be damned, and then insist everything else is nonsense. Consider the campaign of Mitt Romney and, to a lesser extent, John McCain. So when they are called on wanting the president to fail and are presented with evidence that supports what they did, they will deny it, or pretend what they did was something else.
It’s also helped by the fact that they dumb their arguments down to the simplest, most tenuously connected ideas in order to energize the base. Don’t ask me the specifics about this, but on Fox a few years ago, there was some "debate" over something fairly ordinary–campaign finance laws, or taxes, or something like that. Two nobodies, one Democratic and one Republican representative, were the invited guests. When it was the Republican’s turn to speak, the woman said something about the real determination of the other side being a quest to trample Constitutional rights. It doesn’t take even the slightest bit of familiarity with what they were talking about to know what she was saying was ludicrous. Again, it’s bad that I don’t remember the specifics of this particular example, but I’m sure we can all think of something that would suffice. It doesn’t have to be relevant to make a difference. If it riles up the conservative base, then they are satisfied.
I really doubt that they are going to succeed in knocking Obama down. He’s a far more talented politician and thinker than any one of these clowns could ever hope to be, and if he fails, it’ll likely be because he had very little chance of succeeding in the first place. Just think, while they are talking about this, Obama has been meeting with representatives from regional newspapers from states like Arkansas, North Dakota, and so on to help expose his ideas to an important audience. States like that have Democratic senators and representatives who would be the weakest links in the coalition to pass his agenda. If he can cause an increase in public support in these areas, he figures, the elected officials from these states might be more willing to support him. He has also, as we all know, gone on "The Tonight Show" and traveled to California to drum up support for his legislation. In other words, he’s once again doing the hard work, and the long-term thinking, that’s going to help him do what he wants to do. He’s probably going to outclass his opponents once again.
Svensker
@JWW:
Uhmmm, huh?
El Cid
I don’t think it’s "wrong" (in general, without examining any particular issue) to oppose the political agenda of some political leader, particularly when you think that agenda is truly harmful.
But I do enjoy Republicans’ continual clumsiness at openly making it seem that their definition of Obama "failing" seems clearly linked to problems not getting better for the nation. In fact if you really believe Obama’s taking this country into Robert Mugabe / fake birth certificate Communist tyranny, you may be crazy as batsh*t, but you morally have to oppose Obama’s agenda.
Just like people who truly believe that if they fail to convert you right now to their particular religious belief system you’re in imminent mortal risk of burning in Hell forever. It’s a bunch of crazy sh*t, and it’s an insane value system taken literally, but the ethics for the crazy believer are pretty clear.
They’re not even good at clarifying what the word "fail’ applies to, and at what level.
I wished Bush Jr’s drive for war with Iraq had "failed"; and I knew the outcome would be a disaster, because I’m not 5 years old and thinking that willpower makes magic things happen.
cyntax
@JWW:
Shorter JWW: You can’t land on a fraction, man!
Ricky Bobby
@JWW
Hey buddy, crawl out from under your bridge and take a look around once in awhile! We are in the worst recession since the Great Depression, involved in TWO foreign wars we can’t pay for nor easily withdraw from, trying to figure out whether we should try Bush as a war criminal or not, etc. etc., ad infinitum.
I think it’s pretty safe to say that the last eight years of Bush were very nearly the destruction of America. Good call on your part.
Pixie
Michael,
I see what you are saying. When I hear Republicans talking about wanting Obama to fail, my initial reaction is one of surprise because they are being HONEST about it. They are saying that I want X to fail because I believe in Y. If X were to succeed despite being radically different from what I believe, then I might have to rethink why I support Y. Of course they want Obama and his luh-luh-LIBRHUL policies to fail, it’s so much easier than having to evaulate their core beliefs on an objective basis and admit they might be wrong.
Michael D.
@El Cid:
Don’t get me wrong, I am enjoying this immensely!!
someguy
I think the Blue Dogs are all the opposition party we really need in this country. And then some times I think they’re one more opposition party than we actually need. Bad as the Dems are, I can’t think of a single Republican position worth considering, or a single Republican worthy of holding public office. Well, maybe Abe Lincoln but he’s been dead for quite a while, and come to think of it he was piss poor on civil liberties questions so maybe that’s an inherent problem in that party.
bvac
Oh I get it. Republicans don’t want Obama to fail, they want their paranoid delusional interpretation of Obama’s secret socialist-fascist agenda to fail. Democrats, on the other hand, wished for all of our troops to die and for their muslofascist allies in the middle east to sail over here and literally destroy the country for no other reason than their hatred of Bush. Is that right?
The Moar You Know
Well, we now know what George Bush is doing in his spare time these days. You’d think he had better things to do with his time than troll Balloon Juice, but there is no accounting for taste.
TenguPhule
Selfawareness, they have not.
wasabi gasp
His point would be better made holding a Hope My President Fails voodoo doll.
Stick a little, stick a lot, it’s all up to you.
TenguPhule
You’ll shoot your eye out!
Colonel Danite
I hate coming home and watching the news lately. First I see Eric Cantor agree with some nutjob caller on a TV show who thinks that we are living under a fascist regime and then I have to watch Bobby "Kenneth" Jindal spew this nonsense about "European style socialism". Does anyone on the right actually know what socialism is? Is the government nationalizing banks and factories? In fact, the administration is bending over backwards to avoid that. Did we live in a worker’s paradise under Eisenhower and Nixon when we had a more progressive tax scheme? Do they realize that taxes are lower today than they were 1 year ago, 2 years ago, 3 years ago, etc. Was George W Bush a communist/socialist? Aaaaaarghhh! What a bunch of idiots!
lutton
The current fence is a laser, you can’t stand on it.
I think it’s time to update the site subtitle.
It’s no "I am aware of all internet tradition" but it’s not bad…
Colonel Danite
I’m being moderated now? It’s probably for the best. (sigh)
Comrade Kevin
They’re deaf, dumb and blind, and appear to play a shitty game of pinball as well, these days.
kay
It’s tone-deaf not because Bobby Jindal opposes Obama. It’s tone-deaf because it’s so completely unhelpful and weirdly irrelevant. Why is Bobby Jindal talking about "political correctness" and hinting that he’s somehow being censored? Isn’t that self-indulgent silliness sort of a luxury, considering all these huge problems we have? It’s right out of an Ann Coulter book. Governors don’t talk like this. Governors are supposed to be cheerful and resilient problem-solvers, rolling up their sleeves, sandbagging the levees…,oh, sorry.
They’ve actually convinced themselves that some large segment of the country spends a lot of time worrying about the wants and needs and inner angst of the Republican Party, and whether they will prevail over their arch-enemy, Barack Obama.
Laura W
Oh, sorry.
Nick
So conservatives aren’t willing to adjust their views in the face of the success of ideas with which they disagree?
Why not?
They can’t afford to be wrong. It’s why they blame this recession on Obama, despite the fact that it occurred on Bush’s watch. And if he succeeds, then it will be because of something some non-liberal did.
Laura W
Speaking of losing battles…
Dude, you just got owned. The guy made you his companion.
For anyone who doesn’t get MSNBC, or missed Olbermann tonight, the fabulous Eugene Robinson re. Ed Henry’s question and Pres. Obama’s smack down reply.
steve s
if your time on the internet has taught you nothing else, it’s that saying ‘stop paying attention to the trolls’ is a futile thing to say.
Ash
I’m 99% sure the rest of the world has moved on from all this wanting so and so to fail stuff? WAY late to the game, Piyush.
jrg
The next 9/11 will be another Oklahoma City. When that happens, Coulter and Rush will say they are joking about killing liberals, Bachmann will claim that the perp was a former 1960’s radical, Beck will say it was Vince Foster’s corpse, bankers, and the Illuminati, and the assholes in the media won’t ask any questions about the right-wing’s role in domestic terrorism.
stickler
Thing is, with George W. Bush, I didn’t "hope" he would fail. I _predicted_ he would fail, because his policies were for shit. And that the failure of the GOP and George W. Bush would drag the USA down with them. I didn’t hope, I feared. And dammit, I was right. So were millions of other Americans.
And here we are. HuffPo has a story tonight about the rise of tent cities (i.e., what back in 1931 were called "Hoovervilles") in Fresno, Olympia, and dozens of other cities.
Fucking Hoovervilles.
So when concern trolls like Eric Cantor or Stepin Steele or some stupid radio wingnut claim "it’s just the same thing to wish bad juju on Preznit Obama as it was for them Libtards to warn us about W’s great genius," all I can say is:
Fuck You.
steve s
I don’t think this site handles the blockquote tag correctly.
Gordon, The Big Express Engine
test to get john’s email
Radio Balkan
That the opposition wants the party in power to fail is nothing new, nor a stupid political mistake.
As I see it, there are four possibilities:
If republicans hope Obama succeeds and he succeeds, they may earn points for being bi-partisan, but the winner is Obama, nevertheless.
If republicans hope Obama succeeds and he fails, it’s a lose-lose situation, people will just lose confidence even more in politics.
If republicans hope Obama fails and he succeeds, they’re screwed and doomed to remain a party of dittoheads and extremists for some years
If republicans hope Obama fails and he fails, then they win. That’s they’re only shot.
Mike in NC
Pretty much, yeah.
What has a better ring: "Bushvilles" or "Cheneytowns"?
bootlegger
@JWW: At least the Dems had real reasons to be critical of Bush, the Reps are just making shit up and pretending its the same thing. How stoopid do you think Americans are?
Oh, right.
El Cid
@bootlegger: Hey, c’mon, we only nearly elected Bush Jr. twice.
Delia
@Mike in NC:
I think there are enough for some of each.
Corner Stone
Did anyone watch the Maddow show tonite? Holy mother of the sweet baby jeebus!
That stoopid conservadem Jeanne Shaheen got p0wned.
Her position made absolutely no sense.
"It’s not about the votes." Well, then why the F are you bucking Obama and giving the R’s a chance to *make* it about the votes?
Mofo F’ers.
bootlegger
@stickler:
No doubt. I’m from Texas and we knew when he finagled his way into the governorship that he was the Village Moran. It wasn’t hard to predict what would happen. Shit, I really do honestly wish that democracy had exploded (pardon the pun) across the Middle East, but I knew the odds equaled me getting to fly the space shuttle. Not. Gonna. Happen.
So now the cons think they are being critical theorists just like the Left was of their man, the only problem is Bush was a bona fide idiot and they have to make shit up on Obama.
Corner Stone
stickler @49
I prayed he wouldn’t fail but knew he would. And I’m not a praying man.
bootlegger
@El Cid: I can cling to the fact that a majority did not vote for the Village Moran either time.
Corner Stone
Laura W @ 45
I’m not a big Gene fan but that was fucking awesome.
I guarantee you I will be telling the people I work with some variation of this sooner than later.
In fact, I’m going to make the HR Mgr my companion.
TenguPhule
Bushdicks.
John
Would you want communism to fail? Even Jay Leno is comparing Obama’s policies to communism. I want that to fail. Watch Leno blast Mr. O’s policies:
http://tinyurl.com/c4vkpq
Montysano
@JWW:
Two faces! Twice the suck!
TenguPhule
And then comes the glorious purges as they are all lined up against a wall and shot.
Corner Stone
That’s two thingsism!
I promise to continue this shtick until someone recognizes it. Fer Dog’s sake.
D-Chance.
It’s so easy to get a fauxrage swarm going in Liberal Blaghistan… some Republican prefers going to a Britney Spears concert over sitting at home watching the Prez’nit drone on for an hour, and this is cause for fury? Really???
bootlegger
@D-Chance.: Hey moran, the issue is the fact that any grownup would want to go to a Brittany Spears concert. What are Reps? Like, twelve or something? Ohmigod!
libarbarian
It is just a political "gotcha" game but you are absolutely right that it is a stupid battle to fight.
MNPundit
No. I didn’t hope Bush would fail. I knew he would though because he was using conservative ideas and the next time those actually work will be a first in my life time. So yes I oppose his policies but I wasn’t wishing for Bush to fail, failure was INEVITABLE so I wished he wouldn’t do those policies to avoid failure.
Do I wish we could have been greeted as liberators in Iraq? That we’d funded the war with Iraqi Oil? Yes. Yes I do. I wish Mission Accomplished had occurred when that banner got put up. I wish Hamid Karzai had been the leader to inspire a thousand generations of Afghani progress. Did we have a chance in hell with Bush’s policies or personel? No!
That’s a different thing than hoping Obama fails in regards to the economy. That said the hope-he-fails thing is not a very successful meme, the public doesn’t care about it.
Johnny Pez
John, you may have noticed how all of Obama’s political opponents seem to crash and burn. This is no coincidence. Obama isn’t just the Messiah; Obama is the Second (or whatever number they’re up to) Coming of J. R. "Bob" Dobbs, and the Luck Plane is his pinky ring. Reality is twisting itself into knots to insure that B. H. "Bob" Obama becomes the most successful, beloved president in American history. The Republicans can’t help themselves; they have no choice; they must make utter fools of themselves in order to ensure the triumph of B. H. "Bob" Obama.
Hail "Bob"!
GSD
I just laugh and laugh and laugh at my Republican friends and tell them that President Obama now has the power to read their e-mails and tap their phone calls thanks to them and their blind support for Bush and his imperial presidency.
Then I quote Dick Cheney:
It’s our turn.
-GSD
MikeJ
How sad that CNN dude never even knew how bad he was pwnd. And what the fuck was wrong with Ed Henry’s tie last night?
Delia
@D-Chance.:
Fury? You really don’t get it. It’s like he said he stayed home to play with his Barbie dolls. People are laughing him. And now at you.
Steeplejack
@Snail Darter:
I like that. Obama is smooth, baby.
Mike in NC
D-Chance never fails to come through as designated wingnut cocksucker. I miss BOB.
Johnny Pez
@Steeplejack: I understand Obama is also a secret muslin.
Steeplejack
@Johnny Pez: Haw! Good one. I almost overlooked it.
southpaw
What’s with the casual equation of civil disobedience with treason? That’s fucking ludicrous.
mannemalon
@Radio Balkan:
We understand the politics behind it. It’s the real-life implications of their stated political strategy that’s so egregious. Fact of the matter is, this country is on the brink of colossal failure. If Obama doesn’t succeed, this country is in a world of hurt; far far greater than any of us have ever experienced. Not to mention, it’ll probably usher in a new era of Fascism with it.
What they should’ve said was that we *think* his policies will fail. Not that they hope they’ll fail. Two very different things. Hoping they fail is essentially hoping the country becomes far worse than it already is. There is no way around that, given the economic crisis we find ourselves in (you know, the one THEY gave us).
The funny thing is that this is coming from the party of "Country First". Although we all know by now that pretty much everything they say they stand for is actually 180 degrees from the truth.
pattonbt
Just adding my agreement to the ‘I didnt want Bush to fail but I believed he would fail’ list.
I dont mind people believing Obama will fail and saying so, but if you want me to vote for you or give your views credence, you better back up that belief with something concrete, not asshat, frathouse douchebaggery.
But keep on keeping on Republicans, go right on ahead with your master plan. Keep pushing away the middle and pandering to the idiot base. Im sure that will turn out to be a successful electoral strategy (2006 and 2008 were just anomalies anyway). People really eat that shit up when times are as tough as they are now. Nothing like fun and games when people are worried about the roof over their heads and whether or not they will have a job in six months.
Its pretty obvious that as long as Obama keeps cool, level headed and open, hes going to keep the bulk of the people on his half of the ledger. Sure, he’ll piss each of us off on something or another over the next four years, but whats the alternative? The Republicans have become that Star Trek episode where children run the world. Who wants that?
Paul
The problem isn’t that Republicans want the Democratic platform to fail. The problem is that the Republican party has focused so much on demonizing the opposition and bent itself out so of shape satisfying the paranoid delusions of "The Base" that they have nothing left to offer but trite prescriptions instead of substantive solutions to the problems we’re facing as a nation.
The Bush administration and current Republican leadership are the realization of the cynical lip service paid to the radical right and paranoid fringe of the party that began with the Reagan administration (I hope you’re rolling over in your grave, Lee Atwater). If they can’t finally tell a self-serving buffoon like Rush Limbaugh to go to hell, what hope do they have for the future?
Indylib
@Johnny Pez:
And three sheets to the wind.
pattonbt
@mannemalon:
"We understand the politics behind it. It’s the real-life implications of their stated political strategy that’s so egregious. Fact of the matter is, this country is on the brink of colossal failure. If Obama doesn’t succeed, this country is in a world of hurt; far far greater than any of us have ever experienced."
Thats it right there. No one doubts the politics, but politics is so far down on the food chain of care right now that obsessing over it is not seeing the forrest for the trees.
If they had credible opposition or an alternative plan and could articulate it and attempt to assert it, then people would back off a bit. But being reactionary idiots who get all giddy talking about teleprompters, birth ceritifcates, socializm, tire gauges, teh gays, muslims and such kind of makes them look like they are cheering for the crisis to worsen. And cheering only out of spite, just in the hope that it lessens the eternal taint that looms over their party and philosophy.
"Please pray for the destruction of our country so it doesnt make it look like it was all our fault" – Republicans 2009.
Radio Balkan
@ mannemalon
I wouldn’t go that far. For now, this crisis is not even near the Great Depression. But I agree with you that the Republicans simply come out as frustrated and simple-minded. They can only organize themselves to bash Obama by hoping he fails, as you pointed out. They may think he will, but, unfortunately, they don’t know. They don’t seem to know too much these days. So now we have a party that may fail and a party that has no clue but knows the other party MUST fail… Quite a range of options.
Ed Marshall
@Delia:
That’s wierd, and it’s this major disconnect I have with conservatives where I’m sure we don’t live on the same planet and see the same things.
They see anger in direct disproportion to mockery. The poster child for the "angry left" for them was Michael Fucking Moore who whatever his demerits, has never come across to me as angry even when he probably should have been. The Team America "spoof" of him blowing himself up as a suicide bomber is a case study. I watched that in a theatre and no one laughed or reacted at all. You know that thing was something that Parker and Stone thought was comedy gold in their wingnut heyday, you know every damn hollywood liberal told them it sucked ass and they should leave it on the cutting floor It was funny to them though.
I’ve flamed the fuck out of the cargo-cult on the intertubez and really, really, hated them and what they said and they just got smug and superiour and berated me as not being realistic and pragmatic enough for cutting up peoples penises, or "confirming kills", or whatever other ghastly business made them feel good. In better form I probably wished some sort of nasty fate on them, but you never heard "angry" about it.
Now you make fun of them and then you get to hear all about how you are an angry, mean, bitter person driven by rage.
There is a bigger psychological thesis here to be teased out.
Rick Taylor
I think the frame is getting to them. They don’t like being portrayed as less than patriotic; it makes them mad. Which means their judgement is poor. They can’t see it’s best to leave this well enough alone, and they pick at it like a scab, as much to convince themselves as anyone else.
cyntax
OT- But has anyone else seen the Will Ferrell special on HBO (A Final Night with George W Bush)? The bit about the monkeys nearly killed me.
Tattoosydney
@Laura W:
Hee.
Mnemosyne
I didn’t realize until I watched the Olbermann clip that the other journalists in the room actually laughed at Obama’s response to Henry.
No wonder they’re all trying to close ranks today. I’m sure everyone’s editor ripped them a new one for not supporting their fellow reporter.
mannemalon
@Mnemosyne:
That was probably my favorite part. Well, also the way Obama smiles after he’s decided to gracefully eviscerate Henry as Henry is finishing up his follow up.
Ash Can
@John: Hey John, can you define "communism" for us?
@D-Chance.: Cantor did, of course, tape the presser so that he could watch it after the concert, right? After all, it’s not as though knowing what the president is saying and doing has any effect on his job or anything — oh, wait…
Chuck Butcher
The R’s have a bit of a problem, the 20+ % who oppose Obama vs 64% who trust pretty nearly matches the 20+% who supported Bush the last couple years so making the argument that their ideology was failed by Bush rather than a failure in itself is risky. They can leave that alone if they simply make Obama the enemy.
It gets pretty tough when you don’t have a shred of evidence that your ideology works, that means your arguments will mostly have to be based on shit and meaness.
Lupin
I like Jindal.
He’s like Gilligan from the bearded Spock universe.
More, more!
TenguPhule
KBR, getting our soldiers killed while they shower in Iraq. (No, I’m not making this up)
JFCNTZYM.
Is there anything these independent contractors won’t fuck up? Anything?
slightly_peeved
On the subjects of songs that best describe the Republicans:
slightly_peeved
See if it works this time:
The Tenants
Redhand
Gawd, these people are hypocritical assholes. You’re a traitor if you oppose Bush’s lawless presidency and terror policies; it’s OK to want Obama’s fiscal policies, which might save us but are "socialist," to fail.
I’m in awe what an idiot Bobby Jindal has shown himself to be. And this clown is/was one of the GOP’s rising stars? He’ll have to get his nose out of Rush’s gigantic ass crack first, assuming that’s possible.
Zzyzx
So I made the mistake of listening to Rush again. His new catchphrase? The War on Obama. This couldn’t possibly have a downside…
El Cid
When people asked me if I wanted Bush Jr. or his Iraq war to fail, I always imagined that I was watching a neighbor in the process of building a stairway in his back yard out of 2 x 4’s and plywood that he said would reach the Moon.
Do I want him to ‘fail’? What does that even mean?
Some passers-by and other neighbors try to point out out how this simply cannot work because it doesn’t make any sense and how it would lead to disaster, falling over and killing anyone on it or too close by.
And yet the 2 x 4 Stairway To The Moon supporters standing around in the backyard with specially printed 2 x 4 Stairway To The Moon T-shirts and their own pro-Stairwayist blogs denounce these cynics and traitors, and say that if they don’t want an American to succeed in building a 2 x 4 Stairway To The Moon then maybe they should just god-damned leave America, because the terrorists don’t want us to build a 2 x 4 Stairway To The Moon either!
So you watch this band of aspiring orangutans (actual orangutans would have no part of this) keep hammering together their tinker-toy tower, and you try to point out how it’s swaying, and how they’ve reached the limit of the load that the materials can bear, and, look, right there, and here, and here, you can see the cracks forming, you can see the nails pulling out…
And you know what happens.
The largest part of the monstrosity collapses. It kills a few hardworking souls on it and also kills and injures scores of people who were walking by fairly obliviously on the busy sidewalk next to it. But it’s so gargantuan by now that work continues apace right alongside the collapsed section. Nailing more boards into boards already on the ground, over the top of wailing or dead victims.
And your neighbor who started it of course wasn’t on or near it, no, he left that to the lackeys, and his supporters said it fell because of your criticism.
‘You wanted our 2 x 4 Stairway To The Moon to fail, didn’t you?’
What do you say to that?
anticontrarian
shhh. jindal’s actually a sleeper agent. you can tell by his brown skin.
Cerberus
@El Cid:
That’s probably the best summary of the situation I’ve seen yet.
It’s also part of the growing trend of Republicans trying to speak out to what they perceive their opponents believe. We saw it with Sarah Palin and Michael Steele where they were dumbfounded that "those people" didn’t just mindlessly vote for "their own kind" and actually had needs and genuine grievances and weren’t looking for blatant tokenism.
I think this is the same thing. They knew vaguely that lefties were really mad about things like Iraq and they convinced themselves it was because they wanted America to fail so they see no downside in actually wishing America to fail for partisan reasons, because they assume that’s how the other side rose to power on the back of the anti-war movement.
I wouldn’t mind them being stupid idiots saying we can’t send EMTs to clear the debris and build new hospitals and housing for the injured because the only thing that matters is the Staircase to the Moon. But saying they want everyone’s houses to burn down because we don’t value the Staircase just because it killed a lot of people makes them look like the WATBs they are.
tofubo
Rep. Batshit Crazy (R-MN) is on c-span now, try to enjoy
valdivia
oh those geniuses at the AP flogging the teleprompter meme
is this going to be the new thing? Every time he sus it they will phrase it this way?
El Cid
Obama is clearly dumb and can’t talk. He’s not like those sharp whippersnapper Republicans like Bill Bennett or Newt Gingrich or Eric Cantor or Alex Castellanos who are always spot on with their analysis and talking.
GSD
The GOP is still digging. Just like Larry Pudlow and Hannity talking about the "Goldilocks economy" while the US was in recession for the last few years, they are insisting that President Obama is an inarticulate moron.
It’s as laughable as Karl Rove telling us that Bush is a voracious reader.
Please GOP, more of this.
-GSD
Bruce
@GSD
well…the fact that they had to spin that lie about bush is what many call "the soft bigotry of low expectations"…or as i would call it…the big dick syndrome….if you have to constantly remind people you have a big dick…you’re probably lying…
ksmiami
As Chris Rock said, "What happened to just plain crazy?"
Crazy is the modern GOP
Kneestander
Stupid Repubs–they don’t know that the infallible cannot fail, by definition. What vermin, what losers. They are not fit to breath the same air as "President" Obama — a better title for this man too great for his present job would be El Jefe.
Svensker
@TenguPhule:
Just Fuck Contractor’s Nose Thyme Zone You Mean?
Svensker
@El Cid:
Nice to meet you, Mr. Limbaugh?
Mike in NC
I recall their "contests" to see who could read the most books in a week. Didn’t he read many of the classics in the original Greek, Latin, and French? Why yes, I believe that completely.
Svensker
Speaking of Obama, have you guys seen him lately? He looks flat out exhausted. What the hell is he doing raising money for the DNC anyway? He needs some sleep more than they need the money. Time for him to go clear some brush.
someguy
It’s shocking the way these scumtards are trying to re-write history, and the way the media echo chamber is playing along. The country was pretty much unanimously pulling for Bush (and the country) to succeed for his whole tenure, yet the slightest suggestion that maybe different strategies ought to be tried was met with cries of "Treason" and suggestions of summary execution. They can’t even be bothered to listen to Obama’s speeches or make an intelligent critique, they just bitch and moan, then then roll out discredited economists like Gary Becker to make their points. It’s sickening how they are still controlling the national agenda.
Mazacote Yorquest
"We want the President to succeed, and if he wants to succeed we believe he should adopt our policies and approach."
HOW FUCKING HARD IS THAT? That took a couple of minutes of semi-serious thinking. It’s simple: you defend your positions and still show your good will. How can Rhodes Scholars like Bobby Jindal not have thought of that a month and a half ago? It’s like the GOP is oxygen-deprived or something, flailing around trying to parse something Rush Limbaugh said months ago. And STILL getting it wrong.
I almost want to join the party to fix this for them– it’s like watching a three-year-old keep pushing the wrong sides of Lego pieces together and not understanding why they don’t stick.
LarryB
Sucks to be them, but they invented the game:
1. "Gee, maybe this Iraq thing wasn’t such a great idea."
2. "Don’t you want our troops to win?"
3. "Maybe there isn’t a military solution. Let’s try something else."
4. "You don’t support the troops. Traitor!"
roseyv
No, their number one priority, as I understand it, is to make it socially acceptable for them to use the "N" word in public (Why? Why can’t I use it? They use it themselves!).
Protecting their right to hope for the President’s failure is a close second.
Let’s keep their priorities in order, as it were.
CalD
Want to really make ’em nuts? Start referring to any type of dissent as "ODS" (Obama Derangement Syndrome). ;-)
tam1MI
::It’s like the GOP is oxygen-deprived or something, flailing around trying to parse something Rush Limbaugh said months ago.::
That ploy that Obama rolled out a month ago continues to pay dividends…
Sasha
I prefer the latter ’cause that way I can say:
"Forget it, Jake. It’s Cheneytown."