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You are here: Home / Politics / Republican Stupidity / He’s Learning

He’s Learning

by John Cole|  February 29, 20128:10 pm| 60 Comments

This post is in: Republican Stupidity, Both Sides Do It!

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Doug Mataconis:

James Joyner has expressed the hope in several recent posts here at OTB that the Republican Party will return to sanity at some point. Even if it takes an election cycle or two, I hope he’s right because the one thing this country needs desperately is a strong two-party system populated by opposing parties that at least accept the idea that compromise is necessary. Right now, one of those parties has rejected that idea entirely and the current state of Congress is testament to the results of that attitude. But the blame for the current state of the Republican Party doesn’t just lie with Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann, and Rick Santorum. It lies with the party leaders and conservative pundits who let them get away with what they’ve managed to do over the past five years.

This is the first time I can remember where Doug has written a complete post, accurately depicting the Republican lunacy, and avoided any foray into “both sides do it” nonsense.

I’m so proud I think I’m going to cry.

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60Comments

  1. 1.

    Xecky Gilchrist

    February 29, 2012 at 8:14 pm

    It lies with the party leaders and conservative pundits who let them get away with what they’ve managed to do over the past five years.

    He spelled “forty” wrong.

  2. 2.

    pragmatism

    February 29, 2012 at 8:18 pm

    Anyone think that NPR’s new stance influenced doug m?

  3. 3.

    cathyx

    February 29, 2012 at 8:19 pm

    I hope this doesn’t mean your going to switch sides again.

  4. 4.

    Maude

    February 29, 2012 at 8:19 pm

    Here’s a hanky, dry your tears.
    The Republicans were never sane, they are just showing it now.

  5. 5.

    Villago Delenda Est

    February 29, 2012 at 8:21 pm

    @Xecky Gilchrist:

    This, this, this.

    A zillion times, this.

    They’ve been totally off the rails since 1964.

  6. 6.

    Violet

    February 29, 2012 at 8:22 pm

    @Xecky Gilchrist:
    No kidding. It’s not like this stuff is new. They’ve been doing this for decades.

  7. 7.

    cathyx

    February 29, 2012 at 8:22 pm

    @Maude: Very good.

  8. 8.

    danimal

    February 29, 2012 at 8:24 pm

    He may be learning, but damn, that’s one hell of a slow learning curve.

  9. 9.

    Belafon (formerly anonevent)

    February 29, 2012 at 8:25 pm

    Agreeing with everyone else: The Republican party went bad the moment they decided the Southern Strategy was a good idea.

  10. 10.

    stinkfoot

    February 29, 2012 at 8:25 pm

    It all goes back to Goldwater. Or is it McCarthy? It’s weird when the last decent Republican prez you can think of was Eisenhower, and that’s forgiving a few deadly covert operations in countries with jungles.

  11. 11.

    Delia

    February 29, 2012 at 8:26 pm

    @Xecky Gilchrist:

    He spelled “forty” wrong.

    Let’s see, if you date it to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 when Lyndon Johnson broke the little hearts of the Dixiecrats and gave the GOP something to strive for, it’s more like he spelled “fifty” wrong.

  12. 12.

    John M. Burt

    February 29, 2012 at 8:26 pm

    I have totally given up hope of salvaging the Repub party, except perhaps by merging it back into the old Democratic-Republican party.

    Better that the Dems become the right-wing party, and all progressives can jump ship to the Greens, or Working Families.

  13. 13.

    Omnes Omnibus

    February 29, 2012 at 8:26 pm

    For now, I am going with a case of blind squirrel. Let’s see if he continues in this vein.

  14. 14.

    Libby

    February 29, 2012 at 8:27 pm

    Well I’m genuinely shocked and also proud of him for saying it out loud. I find it hopeful even.

  15. 15.

    Woodrow/asim Jarvis Hill

    February 29, 2012 at 8:29 pm

    @Violet:

    They’ve been doing this for decades.

    No argument there.

    The issue is that there usually was, in the past, a set of people you could point to in the party — even someone like Jack Kemp — who were nominally not like that. The decimation of the liberal “Rockefeller Republicans” is new, and the (all-too minor) brakes they provided on the GOP’s lurching to the Right is gone.

    That act makes it clear to anyone watching exactly what the GOP these days is about, and uncovers the more-or-less “hidden” agendas they’ve been playing out for decades, now. This is exactly what’s been driving people out of the GOP, even as it riles up the people who now make up the 27 Percenters. If they were throwing around this kind of rhetoric in a good economy, they’d be toast — and they don’t know that.

  16. 16.

    SiubhanDuinne

    February 29, 2012 at 8:30 pm

    @John M. Burt:

    I have totally given up hope of salvaging the Repub party

    However, I’m completely behind savaging the Repub party (which is how I first read your comment).

  17. 17.

    The Dangerman

    February 29, 2012 at 8:31 pm

    @Xecky Gilchrist:

    He spelled “forty” wrong.

    His mistake was spelling decades “years”.

  18. 18.

    Violet

    February 29, 2012 at 8:33 pm

    I don’t know who this Doug Mataconis person is, although I’ve seen his name around. Is he a Republican who will now be kicked out of the party?

  19. 19.

    lamh35

    February 29, 2012 at 8:34 pm

    OT, but the White House Dinner Honoring Iraq War Veterans is on CSPAN right now.

  20. 20.

    Villago Delenda Est

    February 29, 2012 at 8:34 pm

    @Belafon (formerly anonevent):

    Well, in the short term the Southern Strategy was a good idea, for Richard Nixon. Who only cared about Richard Nixon, no one else. Once he achieved the Presidency, it was all about his legacy, and he spent two decades trying to rehabilitate his legacy, which is summed up in a single word:

    WATERGATE.

  21. 21.

    Violet

    February 29, 2012 at 8:37 pm

    @Woodrow/asim Jarvis Hill:

    If they were throwing around this kind of rhetoric in a good economy, they’d be toast—and they don’t know that.

    They’d still get 27% for sure. Maybe more.

  22. 22.

    Eric Lindholm

    February 29, 2012 at 8:37 pm

    Remember when those uncompromising Republicans wouldn’t vote for Obamacare which Americans hated then and even more now?

    Remember how the GOP grabbed the largest number of seats in a midterm election since 1938 because Americans were shocked by runaway deficit spending? Then they wouldn’t raise the debt ceiling, the same one Senator Obama voted against calling it a “failure of leadership.”

    What a bunch of uncompromising wingnuts!

  23. 23.

    lamh35

    February 29, 2012 at 8:40 pm

    @lamh35: Oops, looks like they only showed Obama speech.

  24. 24.

    JPL

    February 29, 2012 at 8:40 pm

    @lamh35: I went on CSPAN online and can’t find it. Help

  25. 25.

    Omnes Omnibus

    February 29, 2012 at 8:41 pm

    @lamh35: Watching everyone eat wouldn’t be all that exciting.

  26. 26.

    chopper

    February 29, 2012 at 8:46 pm

    @Eric Lindholm:

    you clearly are the mirror that shows a normal man that he’s a clown. take a bow, sir.

  27. 27.

    JPL

    February 29, 2012 at 8:48 pm

    Codewords were used to lure some evangelicals to the polls but Reagan new how to tap into their biases the most. Since then the repubs have only promised tax cuts and religious reform. 2004 saw an election with marriage amendments on several states ballots. 2012 we’ll see religious freedom and f..k the whores on the ballots. It’s all about turnout and they know how to do it.
    The reason he (DougM) didn’t write it sooner was because he thought winning was everything.

    I’m so proud I think I’m going to cry.

    Don’t waste your tears

  28. 28.

    TaMara

    February 29, 2012 at 8:50 pm

    Regarding JeffreyW – for all of you who have inquired about him, I talked with him this morning, he said the storm missed them completely and he slept through it. I’m sure he’ll stop by soon with some food pron if you ask nice.

  29. 29.

    SiubhanDuinne

    February 29, 2012 at 8:50 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    You never saw Tom Jones, did you?

  30. 30.

    ChrisNYC

    February 29, 2012 at 8:50 pm

    “even if it takes an election cycle or two”! That’s some pitifully wishful thinking there. NO BENCH! They have no bench. They need enough election cycles to clear out the grifters and then 20 years on top of that, enough time for kids who are now toddlers to grow up and be electeds in that party.

  31. 31.

    Omnes Omnibus

    February 29, 2012 at 8:51 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: I did, but I seriously doubt this dinner will be like that.

  32. 32.

    SiubhanDuinne

    February 29, 2012 at 8:52 pm

    @TaMara:

    Thank you! I’ve been, not worried but concerned much of the day, so that’s good to heR.

    Also too, boring.

  33. 33.

    TaMara (BHF)

    February 29, 2012 at 8:57 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: It was my second thought this morning, after making sure my family was ok in NE. His house is surrounded by trees so I was expecting something bad and was very relieved when he said all was fine.

  34. 34.

    SiubhanDuinne

    February 29, 2012 at 8:59 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Gaaarh! Hear, not heR. Duh.

  35. 35.

    jrg

    February 29, 2012 at 9:02 pm

    One of my testicles has grown to the size of a bowling ball. It was only about the size of a grapefruit for a couple of years, so I figured it wasn’t a problem.

    Seriously, what the fuck? How is it that someone could make it through the entire Bush admin, the Palin goat rodeo, the tea baggers, and this clown show of a primary, then read a David Brooks column for Christ’s sake, and think “Golly gee, maybe the GOP is completely nuts”?

  36. 36.

    Schlemizel

    February 29, 2012 at 9:02 pm

    So, can we assume his own ox was gored? I mean he didn’t have these thoughts when it was only the coloreds getting savaged or the girlie boys & manly girls or the sluts in need of pregnancy help, or the workers – particularly when they can’t find work, or after school kids. None of that and so much more never seeped into his ‘mind’ as a problem but now, NOW after all this damage and all this needless suffering something finally made him sit up in bed, spit out his nuk & say “these mo-fackees are nutz!” Which ox was his? His side-action on the pill?

  37. 37.

    Citizen_X

    February 29, 2012 at 9:06 pm

    @Eric Lindholm: By all means, do endeavor to continue fucking that chicken. America loves the Republicans, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise!

  38. 38.

    Omnes Omnibus

    February 29, 2012 at 9:09 pm

    @Citizen_X: For god’s sake, won’t someone think of the chicken?!

  39. 39.

    Linda Featheringill

    February 29, 2012 at 9:09 pm

    @TaMara:

    Thank you!

  40. 40.

    Mark S.

    February 29, 2012 at 9:13 pm

    It lies with the party leaders and conservative pundits who let them get away with what they’ve managed to do over the past five years.

    You know, I used to think the GOP was run by some rich guys who didn’t really care about gay abortions but liked low taxes and found the only people (fundies) stupid enough to keep voting against their interests. But now I think the GOP is run by rich guys like Foster Friess. I think they are just as crazy as the base.

  41. 41.

    Schlemizel

    February 29, 2012 at 9:14 pm

    Apparently the liar pretending to be truth must have gone back to its masters crying that its hinnie hurt so much from having it smacked so hard here that they decided to give it a rest (but knowing who its masters are I bet they created some santorum on that red behind first).

    They have sent us a noob – Hi Eric, hope you enjoy being spanked cuz weak shit like that is gonna get you nothing but butthurt here.

  42. 42.

    Elizabelle

    February 29, 2012 at 9:16 pm

    @TaMara:

    good to hear. updates from jeffrey on those adorable puppies too, please

  43. 43.

    Omnes Omnibus

    February 29, 2012 at 9:18 pm

    @Schlemizel: Eric has come by before. I think it is the part of the season where the bring some kids up from the minors for the playoff run and hope that their fresh legs will make a difference even though they can’t hit a curve or a fastball.

  44. 44.

    RareSanity

    February 29, 2012 at 9:19 pm

    @Schlemizel:

    This is a move, designed to plant a seed to be harvested during, or immediately after, the general election.

    This is to set up the ole, “See how smart I am? I told you guys this would happen”, article after a GOP defeat. But, it has just enough concern troll wording, to where, if by some ridiculous means the GOP wins, he can just say, “I just asked the question, I’m so glad I was wrong…that one time” article.

    When you are not constrained by ethics, morals, or facts, statements like this are win-win.

  45. 45.

    Xecky Gilchrist

    February 29, 2012 at 9:19 pm

    @Delia: Actually, it looks like *I* spelled “fifty” wrong. :)

  46. 46.

    Raven

    February 29, 2012 at 9:21 pm

    @TaMara: Thanks.

  47. 47.

    jl

    February 29, 2012 at 10:18 pm

    Seems like a lot of these thoughtful conservative pundits all thought up almost exactly the same stuff to write all of a sudden at damn near the same instant. I wonder how these coincidences happen. I just wonder how, in this age when narrowly electronic communication is possible. I just wonder how that could happen.

    The pay must be good if you do what you are told.

    Edit: meaning, I think they are writing up some message of the day for some goofy political ploy.

  48. 48.

    El Cid

    February 29, 2012 at 10:25 pm

    Yes, I miss the good old days of the reasonable, not at all nutty extreme Republican Party of Jesse Helms and Strom Thurmond.

  49. 49.

    Omnes Omnibus

    February 29, 2012 at 10:25 pm

    @jl: No, it is clearly a case of great minds… fuck it, I can’t finish that sentence.

  50. 50.

    shep

    February 29, 2012 at 10:39 pm

    Yeah, except everyone who would rather not but is now forced to admit that the Republican Party is an extremist abomination is now throwing up this crap:

    I hope he’s right because the one thing this country needs desperately is a strong two-party system populated by opposing parties that at least accept the idea that compromise is necessary.

    Exactly what terror do pathological centrists imagine Democrats, if left alone to their non-obstructed devices, would enact on the country?

    That,and the whole, “whoa, shit, when did Republicans become such crazy assholes?,” is still leaving the conversation pretty fucked-up, accuracy-wise.

  51. 51.

    Omnes Omnibus

    February 29, 2012 at 10:40 pm

    @shep: Baby steps. That’s what I keep telling myself.

  52. 52.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    February 29, 2012 at 10:44 pm

    Fuck, Moto4Loco is going to go ballistic about this…lol!

    I am enjoying the nonstop train wreck that the GOP has become. They aren’t just derailing, they’re running locomotives head-on into each other. I’m rubbernecking so many GOP train wrecks that I may have to sue the GOP for whiplash.

    Speaking of train wrecks, look what a long time commenter at Redstate said today about their Dear Leader, Erick, Son of Erick:

    Take a look at the RS Mission statement again. We don’t need another Joe Scarborough on TV. We need a conservative intelligent Erick Erickson.

    That anti-Romney thread of EE’s is afire with rage. While I’m surprised that the management hasn’t fired up the BLAM! Hammer of Bann (yet), that may be that they would end up banning a third of their membership. What really pissed them off is EE saying:

    Seriously, putting it bluntly, conservatives may not like Barack Obama, but most other people do.

    EE let reality intrude into Redstate and boy are the natives upset!

    I thought we would have to wait until late summer for the complete meltdown on the right but it seems that they are like a nuclear reaction.

    Only in their case they’re reaching critical ass.

  53. 53.

    Frankensteinbeck

    February 29, 2012 at 11:01 pm

    @Mark S.:
    This is very important information. The rich are not unified, and they’re no more calculating or aware of what benefits themselves than anyone else. There’s no shortage of batshit idealists in the 1%. The Koch brothers catapult screaming to mind.

  54. 54.

    shep

    February 29, 2012 at 11:24 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    OK, fair enough. But I warn you, it does get a little old after thirty years or so.

  55. 55.

    Omnes Omnibus

    February 29, 2012 at 11:27 pm

    @shep: With respect to the original post, I guessed blind squirrel. I am not entirely unrealistic.

  56. 56.

    danielx

    February 29, 2012 at 11:36 pm

    Forty years, yes…..but only in the past five or six years have they completely lost interest in governing.

  57. 57.

    shep

    February 29, 2012 at 11:43 pm

    Now that the fiend is unleashed, perhaps things will be different.

    http://classiclit.about.com/library/bl-etexts/mshelley/bl-mshelley-frank5.htm

  58. 58.

    danielx

    March 1, 2012 at 12:00 am

    @Mark S.:

    You know, I used to think the GOP was run by some rich guys who didn’t really care about gay abortions but liked low taxes and found the only people (fundies) stupid enough to keep voting against their interests.

    It kinda used to be that way. St Ronald of Reagan didn’t give a fiddler’s fuck about teh gay, for example – for chrissakes, the man spent half his life working in Hollywood and if you have major issues with gays you won’t work there long. As I recall he didn’t worry much about the god-botherers either. But eventually the wingnuts and fundies got tired of the party elders paying lip service to their issues in return for their get out the vote efforts and the like. Then W got elected and the wingnuts figured the Day of Jubilation had come; they were going to get everything they wanted. Nope, suckered again – W was elected, but Cheney was running the show and Cheney was/is an evil vampire who also didn’t give a fuck about abortions or stomping teh gay. Cheney cared about raw power, money and blowing the shit out of brown people whenever possible.

    So then, comes the KenyanIslamofascistsoshulistimposter and not only are the wingnuts and fundies driven completely frantic with rage, but the only Republican grownups left aren’t interested in controlling the crazy, they want to use it for political purposes. And after years of having complete shit poured into their craniums by the likes of Rush Limbaugh – a drug addled sex junkie – there’s no reasoning with the 27 percenters. And here we all are, and here’s the former party of Lincoln turning into a complete freak show. It would be a lot more fun to watch if the wingnuts didn’t have so many guns and so many fantasies about using them. And there are, as noted, lots of exceedingly wealthy wingnuts out there. I mean, who in his right mind would even think about plowing a hundred mil into Newticle’s campaign?

  59. 59.

    kindness

    March 1, 2012 at 12:15 am

    I’ve read otb but not much. Usually through links from other sites, so I can’t say what he usually writes about.

  60. 60.

    Batocchio

    March 1, 2012 at 2:35 am

    On the one hand, good for him, and I want to encourage this.

    On the other, if I may rant for a second, some of us have been pointing this out for years, and the evidence has been glaring…

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