Time to fire up operation leper and throw John Cornyn out of the party:
A top Senate Republican is taking aim at recent statements from conservative commentators Rush Limbaugh and Newt Gingrich suggesting Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor is a “racist.”
“I think it’s terrible,” Sen. John Cornyn, the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, told NPR’s “All Things Considered” Thursday. “This is not the kind of tone any of us want to set when it comes to performing our constitutional responsibilities of advise and consent.”
I love the write-up there, CNN. They haven’t been suggesting it, they have been SCREAMING it for days now.
At any rate, what will happen to John Cornyn, now that he has crossed Dear Leader, El Rushbo? He was already on the hot seat because of his support for Crist over Rubio in the primary. Will Rush stick the shiv in today, or will he spare his life? Will Cornyn be forced to crawl back and kiss the ring?
Also, I’m taking this opportunity to once again link that ridiculous Cornyn campaign video from last year:
We’ll see who is big and bad shortly.
Libertina
Never thought I’d be rooting for Rushbo, but whatever it takes to take Big John down is fine by me.
Kevin K.
I sprouted eighty-three new chest hairs during just the first 30 seconds of that video.
John D.
I’ve been saying for a long time that it’s just going to take one Republican to man up, tell Rush to kiss his ass, and ignore to Mound of Sound from then on to break Rush’s power over these politicians.
Still waiting for the first one, though.
dmsilev
@Libertina:
Would it be too much to hope for that they take each other down, going out in a blaze of highly amusing pyrotechnics?
-dms
Mr Furious
Never pass on an “opportunity” to post “Big John.” Hell, it could anchor every open thread for all I care…
Mr Furious
I actually think Rush & Co will ignore Cornyn’s comments altogether. Not because Big John’s immune, but they’d rather it not get any traction.
AhabTRuler
Be careful what you wish for.
dmsilev
No showing of “Big John” is complete without The Daily Show’s takedown of same: Link
-dms
The Grand Panjandrum
Jesus, the Obama Rope-A-Dope has got these guys tied up in knots.
Speaking of Big John(son). (Possibly NSFW!)
SGEW
Are we actually going to start seeing the true split in the Republican party?
On one side (the somewhat reasonable one): Actual elected politicians who are (theoretically) answerable to their constituents, are (technically) under an oath of office, and are (most importantly) cognizant of their reelection prospects.
On the other side (the mostly unreasonable one): Ex-politicians, entertainers, spinmeisters, flacks, flunkies, and book peddlers who are answerable to no one save their checkbooks, their market share, their circle of wingnut peers, and what they may find amongst the tattered remnants of their consciences.
Newt vs. Cornyn. Cheney vs. McCain. Tancredo vs. Martinez. Rush vs. everyone in office.
It’s a nasty bind the sitting G.O.P. members find themselves in: Who to alienate? Who to offend? More and more they will find themselves in an untenable position. To paraphrase Dick: “There is no middle ground.”
Awesom0
I see that the Stranger from the Big Lebowski has found himself work as a political consultant.
jibeaux
I heard that clip on NPR, wherein they played the fuller context of that quote from Duke about “making policy”, and when you hear the statements she makes right before and after, it’s completely clear that she’s talking about the fact that appellate courts make caselaw, as opposed to trial courts which view the facts of the individual case in front of them and attempt to apply statutes and caselaw, but don’t have any broader implications for other litigants, who do not cite trial court decisions in support of their positions. It’s legal inside baseball and about the most uncontroversial statement you could possibly make.
John Cornyn, as a former justice, presumably understands the difference between the roles of the trial and appellate courts quite well and is just chockablock of hypocritical nonsense when he pretends she was endorsing some sort of ACTIVIST JUDGE! overthrow of the will of the people.
Dave
John Cornyn has a ACU lifetime rating of around 95%. He is one of the most reliable conservative votes in the Senate. But because he has the nerve to go against Limbaugh, he is now a RINO. If you can stand the mental anguish, Freeperland is in full revolt.
Can we have a legitimate second party?? Please??
rob!
If Obama manages, as a side effect of his normal duties as President, to completely destroy the Republican Party during his 4-8 years–which he seems to be accomplishing by having them do it to themselves–then he belongs on Mt. Rushmore.
MattF
Cornyn’s on the hook for Senate Republicans in 2012– so he has to worry about what’s happening on the margin. And right now the Republican margin is shedding women and Hispanics.
EdTheRed
I love that ridiculous ad. Oh, and btw, who’s squirming now, Tejas?
Comrade Mary, Would-Be Minion Of Bad Horse
Schwarzenegger recently dissed Rush, but it was wrapped in a fat joke, so expect to see the Rush fans posting some recent unflattering pics of a flabby ex-Terminator.
Scott
Cornyn is, unfortunately, my senator. He’s an absolute moron and about as cartoonishly over-the-top in his “I’m an asshole!” breed of conservatism as anyone. It’s fairly delicious that he’s being branded a liberal RINO for saying one of the few sensible things he’s ever said.
What a strange worldview modern conservatives have, where anyone who disagrees with you on any tiny datapoint is the most diabolically evil monster in creation.
camchuck
Cornyn isn’t necessarily
saneunpure on this. Its just that 36% (and growing) of his constituents are Hispanic and he’sdemonstrating his sensitivity to minority issuesprotecting his own ass.Da Bomb
The only reason Cornyn would quiet down the the crazy masses is because of the huge Latin voter block in Texas. He knows that he needs them to maintain and keep his seat.
So of course his gonads are going to drop!
The Very Reverend Battleaxe of Knowledge
I don’t think Rush Limbaugh is the event horizon of the right-wing black hole. As they fall deeper and deeper into the loony field, sooner or later (probably sooner) Limbaugh will become “too liberal.” He hasn’t advocated canning illegal immigrants for dog food yet, has he? “RINO!”
Zandar
Oh goody, maybe the impact of the stupid egos will form cold fusion.
Bill E Pilgrim
I think we’re definitely reaching the Danton and Robspierre segment of the revolution.
Either that or like watching a Godzilla movie.
By the time they stop going at each other the whole city of Republicanism will have been stomped to well-deserved smithereens in the process.
At this rate that actually might be next week.
Morbo
What idiots, they even put “racist” in quotes, acknowledging that he actually used the word, yet they can’t bring themselves to say that he did anything more than “suggest.” That was classy by the way, Newt, twittering that from Auschwitz.
Napoleon
@Morbo:
Could have been worse. He could have served divorce papers on his wife while she lay in a hospital bed with cancer.
Tom65
Let’s be clear – Big john doesn’t think it’s “terrible” because he thinks Rush and Newt are idiots, he thinks it’s “terrible” because he recognizes it as a losing strategy.
Ella in NM
@AhabTRuler:
HIlarious!!!! Oh my God, that video has SOOO much potential future use….
Little Dreamer
Rush Limbaugh can’t afford to let Cornyn go by the wayside, if he does, he appears weak. I predict John Cornyn is on the chopping block, the question is will he lay down at Rush’s feet and beg forgiveness? I think he will.
Little Dreamer
@Napoleon:
He already got that t-shirt.
Little Dreamer
@Bill E Pilgrim:
What will we ever do then? No more Republican idiocy to laugh at? I think we’re all going to suffer from some withdrawal symptoms.
Little Dreamer
@MattF:
I don’t think Cornyn can win in 2012, I predict he’ll try to hold on to what’s left of the crazy Republican ideology for the next couple of years and do as much damage as he can, and then ride off into the sunset. I just don’t see him standing up to Rush et al and being a maverick for hispanic votes.
Robin G.
Should we take bets on how long before Big John has to kiss the ring? I bet he manages to last until the Sunday morning shows.
Martin
I guess someone remember that there are a few brown people in Texas.
He won’t apologize – he needs those votes.
Patriot
Seeing that the Newter has not taken the bait, Cornyn goes hook, line and sinker for a moderate 2012 Republican presidential candidate. Cornyn abruptly comes back to reality as he is pulled back down by wingnut crabs and rejoins them in the bottom of the bucket. Cornyn knows he shouldn’t have tried to escape. It’s just not what he does. Next?
Joey Maloney
@rob!:
…which will be renamed, by an act of the filibuster-proof 115th Congress, “Mt. RushNoMore”.
Little Dreamer
@Dave:
Oh, that was great fun, thanks for the suggestion. I haven’t been over there in a while.
I loved this:
By the way, I hate AJAX.
Tattoosydney
@Dave:
@Little Dreamer:
Good god, it’s scary over there.
Persia
@Little Dreamer: people with some type of minority status
Pity the poor endangered white male.
Chris Andersen
@Tom65:
Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!
That’s the essence of Cornyn’s comment. He has at least some appreciation of the ways our system requires elected representatives to twist themselves into pretzels. Limbaugh and Newt have the luxury of not having to care about that stuff, and I’m sure it pisses Big John off mightily.
Little Dreamer
@Martin:
Why would he want to go back to Washington and wrangle with the “NOT RINO’s” to represent a bunch of brown people?
He will apologize, he will fall in line for the rest of his term (which ends in 2014 btw) and he will then retire and he and the wife will spend time on the ranch enjoying the fruits of their labors.
Little Dreamer
@Persia:
Political EXTORTION, I tell you! ;)
I love watching freepers implode.
KRK
I don’t know, I could see Cornyn holding out. He doesn’t have to care about getting elected for several years. Lots of things for the base to flip out about between now and then. A little tiff with Limbaugh in early ’09 isn’t likely to mean much when he hits the campaign trail. Anyone who would try to primary him in Texas isn’t going to base their approach on attacking Sotomayor.
Little Dreamer
@KRK:
He loses a lot of friendships if he doesn’t bow to Rush.
Calouste
@John D.:
Well, the Republicans have all kinds of experience manning up for the US military in conflicts abroad, so I don’t see why they wouldn’t man up to Limbaugh. Like John McCain and, and, and, well I’ll come back to about the other Republicans.
HyperIon
@Bill E Pilgrim:
that’s dangerously close to asserting peak wingnut.
i don’t think we are there yet.
asiangrrlMN
Let’s get ready to ruuuuuumble!
I vote for the simultaneous take-down, please.
Sara E
It looks like I found the viper nest.
grumpy realist
1. No, not Robespierre and Danton yet and I wonder if we’ll ever see this. We’ve got a lot of yowling on one side, but the moderately sane people on the other side are the ones that are holding down seats. (There’s a reason Tancredo *isn’t* representing anyone right now, amirite?) The only reason the base gets attention paid to them is the belief that they are the majority voting members. If the self-identification of the party members slips a few more percentage points, they’re going to turn into the equivalent of the Libertarians–high on noise and kook content, but not many votes. So the fratricidal fights might simply play out as simply a continued purging down to a small core of absolute zealots who, due to their tiny drawing power, will finally dissipate a la Whigs.
2. If the Republicans get kicked in the teeth for a few more elections, one would hope that the party stalwarts would realize going even more rightward isn’t going to work. But hey, if they want to commit seppuku, I’m not going to stop them….The Danton/Robespierre scenario really only occurs, historically, when you have a bunch of batshit fundamentalists who also happen to have a lot of power. Thus there’s a tussle over the power. Otherwise, people end up just drifting away as the self-defined leaders get more and more engrossed in their self-purging of disloyalists.
3. All of the above, of course, occurs against the background of American political pendulum swinging….I do think there is an opportunity, if at the next set of elections the Republicans lose even more seats, for a third party to get started. Probably would still have to triangulate between the present Democratic party and the Republicans in order to grab a lot of independents, but I could see at that point the Democrats splitting. Result? We’d end up with (Progressive) (New Party) (absolute nut-crazy remnant of Republican party), with the last squeaking off into irrelevance.
b-psycho
@Tattoosydney: LOL!! Is it even possible to spoof these people anymore?
Comrade Darkness
@grumpy realist, my take is that things usually follow the path of least resistance. I’m expecting that the 19%ers will end up trying to form a party of their own. Already the “base” is self-identifying with other group names when they finally get organized enough to push a message out.
The end game purity test for the new splinter group will be expressing sufficient disgust for republicans as well as democrats. That’s what I’m watching for signs of right now. That will free up the remaining republicans to get their act back together. The “republican” brand name is too valuable to lose for those in it with any sense of long term planning so it will be rescued from the dustbin of history. But without the redneck, vote-against-their-economic-best interest base, I don’t think it can be more than a well-heeled corporate lobbying group.
On the other side, the splinter Nationalists will discover that organizing sucks up a lot of energy they formerly had the luxury of reserving solely for spewing venom. That will be fun to watch too.