• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

  • About Us
  • Lexicon
  • Contact Us
  • Our Store
  • ↑
  • ↓
  • ←
  • →

Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

GOP baffled that ‘we don’t care if you die’ is not a winning slogan.

There is no compromise when it comes to body autonomy. You either have it or you do not.

If you still can’t see these things even now, maybe politics isn’t your forte and you should stop writing about it.

You passed on an opportunity to be offended? What are you even doing here?

Republicans: The threats are dire, but my tickets are non-refundable!

There are some who say that there are too many strawmen arguments on this blog.

If ‘weird’ was the finish line, they ran through the tape and kept running.

“The defense has a certain level of trust in defendant that the government does not.”

Hot air and ill-informed banter

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

The fight for our country is always worth it. ~Kamala Harris

Bark louder, little dog.

No Kings: Americans standing in the way of bad history saying “Oh, Fuck No!”

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

The “burn-it-down” people are good with that until they become part of the kindling.

We know you aren’t a Democrat but since you seem confused let me help you.

I have other things to bitch about but those will have to wait.

The willow is too close to the house.

Our messy unity will be our strength.

The words do not have to be perfect.

The republican ‘Pastor’ of the House is an odious authoritarian little creep.

One lie, alone, tears the fabric of reality.

Mobile Menu

  • Seattle Meet-up Post
  • 2025 Activism
  • Targeted Political Fundraising
  • Donate with Venmo, Zelle & PayPal
  • Site Feedback
  • War in Ukraine
  • Submit Photos to On the Road
  • Politics
  • On The Road
  • Open Threads
  • Topics
  • COVID-19
  • Authors
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Lexicon
  • Our Store
  • Politics
  • Open Threads
  • 2025 Activism
  • Garden Chats
  • On The Road
  • Targeted Fundraising!
You are here: Home / Politics / Republican Stupidity / Squaring the Circle

Squaring the Circle

by John Cole|  August 24, 20092:39 pm| 18 Comments

This post is in: Republican Stupidity, Assholes

FacebookTweetEmail

Much has been said about Michael Steele’s patently dishonest piece in (where else?) the Washington Post, but I liked what Joe Klein had to say:

What makes Steele’s column especially hilarious is that it’s about health care for senior citizens–actually, it’s an attempt to scare senior citizens–but it never mentions that Medicare is “a government-run health-care system.” One would think that the Washington Post’s intrepid editors would have force Steele to cut or modify Steele’s lie about Obama’s “government-run” plan, and one would hope that the Post’s editors would ask Steele to point out the Medicare–the program he wants to “save”–is precisely such a plan.

Think Progress does what Fred Hiatt and the Washington Post can’t do, which is to point out that for the past two decades Republicans have repeatedly attempted to axe Medicare spending, and those plucky bloggers apparently even spent five minutes with a high-tech tool (not Tom Friedman) called “Teh GOOGLE,” and dig up recent interviews in which Steele actively and openly called for cuts to medicare. Because bloggers don’t fact check.

Finally, Yglesias thinks long ball:

So congratulations to Fred Hiatt for landing such a buzzworthy piece of nonsense for his publication and I hope the right-wing enjoys the giant tax hikes we’ll be enacting down the road once they show the political world that any attempt to trim Medicare spending, no matter how modest, will be savaged by opportunists on the other side.

Now that the RNC has declared fully-funded medicare today, fully funded medicare tomorrow, fully funded medicare FOREVA, you can almost feel the heartbreak among glibertarians and fiscal conservatives everywhere. Must feel good getting used like that, because they keep on letting it happen.

*** Update ***

Props to Ben Smith for quickly calling BS on Steele.

FacebookTweetEmail
Previous Post: « It ain’t easy
Next Post: It cuts like a knife, but it feels so right »

Reader Interactions

18Comments

  1. 1.

    MattF

    August 24, 2009 at 2:43 pm

    It’s all about (and only about) power. P-O-W-E-R. POOOWWWWEEEERRR. Power Power Power Power Power Power.

  2. 2.

    joes527

    August 24, 2009 at 2:45 pm

    meh.

    Since when are republicans required to be consistent?

    You can’t nail republicans tomorrow with what they said today because … because … because … well — just because. That’s why.

  3. 3.

    Zifnab

    August 24, 2009 at 2:45 pm

    Much has been said about Michael Steele’s patently dishonest piece in (where else?)

    The WSJ? The Washington Times? The Atlantic Monthly? The Weekly Standard? The National Review? The New Republic? The NYPost? The New York Times on alternate weekdays? The LA Times? The Chicago Sun? CNN? MSNBC? FAUX? Good Morning America? The Today Show? ABC? NBC? CBS? The Woman’s Home Journal?

    Oh, I’m sorry. Please continue.

  4. 4.

    eric

    August 24, 2009 at 2:49 pm

    @Zifnab: In Da House! that’s where truth gets spoken to power. Can a brotha get a witness?

  5. 5.

    jwb

    August 24, 2009 at 2:52 pm

    Since Steele and the other goopers are so gung ho for Medicare these days, it seems like now might be a good time to float an expansion of Medicare downward to say age 50. At the very least it would get those buggers to shut the fuck up.

  6. 6.

    The Grand Panjandrum

    August 24, 2009 at 2:53 pm

    The Republicans are starting to sound like this little guy. (OK they aren’t quite as articulatle or cute but they do remind of this little guys.)

  7. 7.

    kay

    August 24, 2009 at 2:56 pm

    It’s probably good for spineless Democrats. I knew Republicans were going to grab credit for “saving” Medicare.
    Hopefully the OUTRAGE! will get Congressional Democrats off their asses.
    They have to show up. They really can’t continue to hide.

  8. 8.

    Notorious P.A.T.

    August 24, 2009 at 2:58 pm

    Meanwhile, some guy cries and moans that people don’t seem to think there is any reason not to lie about health care reform:

    http://www.prospect.org/csnc/blogs/tapped_archive?month=08&year=2009&base_name=there_is_no_penalty_for_lying#116365

  9. 9.

    kay

    August 24, 2009 at 2:59 pm

    @jwb:

    It’s a shame, because there was real movement towards reigning in some abuses, in “medical equipment” sales, for example, and that was bipartisan.
    I guess that’s out the window.

  10. 10.

    DougJ

    August 24, 2009 at 3:04 pm

    Of course, Klein still had to lay a “Democrats do it too” on us in the last paragraph.

  11. 11.

    ThatLeftTurnInABQ

    August 24, 2009 at 3:19 pm

    @Notorious P.A.T.:

    Meanwhile, some guy cries and moans that people don’t seem to think there is any reason not to lie about health care reform:

    Shorter Howard Kurtz: Why do heavily armed people keep firing and reloading their guns when we keep saying mean things about their bullets? Oh the huuuumanity!

  12. 12.

    Lee

    August 24, 2009 at 3:59 pm

    …with a high-tech tool (not Tom Friedman)….

    That is so full of win.

  13. 13.

    T. O'Hara

    August 24, 2009 at 4:40 pm

    Think Progress does what Fred Hiatt and the Washington Post can’t do, which is to point out that for the past two decades Republicans have repeatedly attempted to axe Medicare spending . . .

    So what? Think that matters now? After years of blocking meaningful reform, Democrats just noticed the Medicare spending curve is unsustainable and want to use the crisis to sell a whole new entitlement program. You think the RNC has some obligation to help? Politics makes strange bedfellows. Here, seniors are a natural ally to the GOP.

  14. 14.

    Political Pragmatist

    August 24, 2009 at 5:39 pm

    Reading the Ben Smith article reminded me of how much we miss Tim Russert. Did David Gregory ever watch MTP?

  15. 15.

    brantl

    August 25, 2009 at 1:16 pm

    This is the Republican’ts all over. Medicare is now established, so now it’s “good”. If it doesn’t already exist, it can’t be good. It’s just as indefensible as the opinion that if it hasn’t been tried yet it MUST BE good, but they haven’t ever thought about it enough to cotton on to that.

  16. 16.

    brantl

    August 25, 2009 at 1:23 pm

    If you mean “meaningful”, as in “screwing old people”, why, yes the Democrats have blocked that. If you mean “unsustanable”, as in “people are going to die of ailments that any decent health policy would cure, only the Rethugs won’t possibly avoid being too miserly to care for the old, yes, you’d be right. If you mean “has an obligation to help” as in, having a moral compass and willing to do decently by their fellow citizens, yes, that’s what we mean, but the Republicans haven’t shown any spine for that since before Eisenhower. The Republicans haven’t felt an obligation to do anything for anybody but lie about their policies, unless they are talking to the rich.

  17. 17.

    brantl

    August 25, 2009 at 1:25 pm

    John Cole, put some commas or semicolons in your XHTML tags, to logically separate them! I just put up a block quote with nothing in it, for Christ’s sake!

Comments are closed.

Trackbacks

  1. Michael Preston - Deep Background – The uselessness of op-ed pages (another entry in a continuing series) - True/Slant says:
    August 24, 2009 at 3:24 pm

    […] Dirty hippy bloggers do the hard lifting required to find out Michael Steel’s hypocrisy on Medicare funding. […]

Primary Sidebar

On The Road - Albatrossity - The Birds of May 3
Image by Albatrossity (7/31/25)

World Central Kitchen

Donate

Recent Comments

  • NotMax on Late Night Open Thread: America’s Fascists Love Alligators (Jul 13, 2025 @ 1:43am)
  • hotshoe on Late Night Open Thread: America’s Fascists Love Alligators (Jul 13, 2025 @ 1:35am)
  • Glidwrith on Late Night Open Thread: America’s Fascists Love Alligators (Jul 13, 2025 @ 1:32am)
  • NotMax on Late Night Open Thread: America’s Fascists Love Alligators (Jul 13, 2025 @ 1:13am)
  • Marc on Saturday Night Open Thread (Jul 13, 2025 @ 1:10am)

Balloon Juice Posts

View by Topic
View by Author
View by Month & Year
View by Past Author

Featuring

Medium Cool
Artists in Our Midst
Authors in Our Midst
No Kings Protests June 14 2025

🎈Keep Balloon Juice Ad Free

Become a Balloon Juice Patreon
Donate with Venmo, Zelle or PayPal

Calling All Jackals

Site Feedback
Nominate a Rotating Tag
Submit Photos to On the Road
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Links)
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Posts)
Fix Nyms with Apostrophes

Social Media

Balloon Juice
WaterGirl
TaMara
John Cole
DougJ (aka NYT Pitchbot)
Betty Cracker
Tom Levenson
David Anderson
Major Major Major Major
DougJ NYT Pitchbot
mistermix

Keeping Track

Legal Challenges (Lawfare)
Republicans Fleeing Town Halls (TPM)
21 Letters (to Borrow or Steal)
Search Donations from a Brand

Feeling Defeated?  If We Give Up, It's Game Over

Site Footer

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Comment Policy
  • Our Authors
  • Blogroll
  • Our Artists
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2025 Dev Balloon Juice · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc

Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

Email sent!