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The unpunished coup was a training exercise.

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Come on, man.

Republican also-rans: four mules fighting over a turnip.

So many bastards, so little time.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

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Weird. Rome has an American Pope and America has a Russian President.

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

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I desperately hope that, yet again, i am wrong.

All hail the time of the bunny!

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Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

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You are here: Home / Elections / Election 2014 / I’ll drink to that…

I’ll drink to that…

by Dennis G.|  January 23, 20138:30 pm| 98 Comments

This post is in: Election 2014, Open Threads, Good News For Conservatives

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It seems that the weeping orange one is sharing his fears:

Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said he believes the primary goal of President Obama’s second term is to “annihilate the Republican Party.”

“Given what we heard yesterday about the president’s vision for his second term, it’s pretty clear to me that he knows he can’t do any of that as long as the House is controlled by Republicans,” Boehner said in a speech Tuesday to The Ripon Society. “So we’re expecting over the next 22 months to be the focus of this administration as they attempt to annihilate the Republican Party.

“And let me just tell you, I do believe that is their goal — to just shove us into the dustbin of history.”

Sounds like a plan to me. From where I sit, it can’t happen fast enough.

All I want to know is how can I help annihilate these fuckers over the next 22 months.

I’m in. How about you?

What else is going on?

Cheers

ps: somehow, all of this reminds me of an Obama interview from November 2007
(especially that last bit).

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Previous Post: « So Long and Thanks for All the Fish
Next Post: Open Thread »

Reader Interactions

98Comments

  1. 1.

    Mustang Bobby

    January 23, 2013 at 8:33 pm

    If they keep carrying on like they did today with Hillary Clinton, Obama won’t have to do a thing to “annihilate the Republican Party.” They’re pretty much doing it all on their own.

  2. 2.

    TheMightyTrowel

    January 23, 2013 at 8:35 pm

    @Mustang Bobby: auto-asphyxiation for the win.

  3. 3.

    weaselone

    January 23, 2013 at 8:35 pm

    Well, he’s onto us. Guess that means the jig is up. All the Republicans have to do now is purge their crazy members and make the party more accepting of those who aren’t old, straight, wealthy, protestant white men. Oh wait…

  4. 4.

    mainmati

    January 23, 2013 at 8:36 pm

    Where do I sign up? I actually remember some sensible Republicans, notably my Governor Scranton when I was a young ‘un. He would be considered a Bolshevik by today’s Retards so to prevent the total destruction of this country, yes, we need to destroy the GOP.

  5. 5.

    EconWatcher

    January 23, 2013 at 8:36 pm

    Obama’s only attacking the radical right wing of the Republican Party. But since that’s all that’s left….annihilation it is, then.

  6. 6.

    Woodrowfan

    January 23, 2013 at 8:37 pm

    “dustbin of history” More like the sewer of history. Either way, works for me! We need a sane conservative party and an active liberal party, not the centerish party and the looney reactionaries we have now!

  7. 7.

    PeakVT

    January 23, 2013 at 8:38 pm

    [Speaker Oompa Loompa] believes the primary goal of President Obama’s second term is to “annihilate the Republican Party.”

    Well, why shouldn’t it be? I’m plum out of reasons.

  8. 8.

    quannlace

    January 23, 2013 at 8:39 pm

    Uh, but they’re doing such a good job of that, all on their lonesome.
    ****************

    Frank Burns: Why did you do that?
    Hawkeye: To make you look stupid.
    Frank: I don’t need your help.

  9. 9.

    gnomedad

    January 23, 2013 at 8:40 pm

    “And let me just tell you, I do believe that is their goal — to just shove us into the dustbin of history.”

    I’m envisioning a cartoon of Orange Julius saying this while following a Teabagger Pied Piper over a cliff into a dustbin.

    ETA:
    @quannlace:
    You said it better.

  10. 10.

    PeakVT

    January 23, 2013 at 8:42 pm

    Okay, why haz I modurashun? Oompa Loompa isn’t a bad word now, is it?

  11. 11.

    WaterGirl

    January 23, 2013 at 8:43 pm

    Dennis, I knew what that link was going to be before I clicked it, but I can’t seem to help myself. It’s just so great that I watch that video clip every time someone links to it.

    I am despairing because I just read that my senator (Durbin) has announced that they don’t have 51 votes for the talking filibuster reform. Is it wrong for me to want to call the democrats a bunch of fucking cowards? And here I had been feeling so rosy about them lately…

    Maybe they will surprise me.

  12. 12.

    PsiFighter37

    January 23, 2013 at 8:44 pm

    Orange Julius probably wouldn’t mind being consigned to said dustbin as long as it came with a tanning lounge.

    @WaterGirl: They better have 51 votes for something. Otherwise this Congress is potentially going to be even less useful than the 112th.

    I don’t understand why people like Carl Levin are too fucking scared of the filibuster. Do they have too high an opinion of themselves as senators? Are they scared shitless they may have to perform a talking filibuster at some point? These shitheads act like they have it hard. You’re governing a country – no one said it was supposed to be a piece of cake, fools.

  13. 13.

    jharp

    January 23, 2013 at 8:44 pm

    I’m in.

  14. 14.

    mclaren

    January 23, 2013 at 8:45 pm

    Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said he believes the primary goal of President Obama’s second term is to “annihilate the Republican Party.”

    Hey! Sounds like a plan!

  15. 15.

    JasonF

    January 23, 2013 at 8:47 pm

    I believe this is what psychologists refer to as “projection.” Even if Boehner were right, would it be that different from the goals the Republicans explicitly stated back in 2009 when President Obama first took office?

  16. 16.

    redshirt

    January 23, 2013 at 8:48 pm

    I’m redshirt, and I’m reporting for duty. ANNIHILATION!

  17. 17.

    Chris

    January 23, 2013 at 8:48 pm

    The people whose rallying cry since November 3, 2008 has been “I hope he fails” are unpleasantly surprised when it occurs to them that someone else might react in kind, and now screaming to all who will listen that it all started when he hit them back.

  18. 18.

    anonymoose

    January 23, 2013 at 8:49 pm

    You do know that Orange Julius is only trying to give state legislatures cover for extreme gerrymandering and electoral college shenanigans. See, they are forced to do these things because the Dems are trying to annihilate the GOP.

  19. 19.

    Helen Bedd

    January 23, 2013 at 8:49 pm

    “I do believe that is their goal — to just shove us into the dustbin of history.”

    I wish, but hey! a gal can dream….keep on doin’ what you’re doin’ there Orange Krush…forget the dustbin and dream big….you’ll end in up the toxic waste dump of history at the rate you’re going

  20. 20.

    Peregrinus

    January 23, 2013 at 8:49 pm

    Ah, the Ripon Society. Dedicated to nicely asking Republicans if they wouldn’t mind moving a little more towards the center, but only if it wouldn’t be too much trouble.

    Fuck that shit. Let’s go. Dustbin time.

    @WaterGirl:

    I can understand the Dems not wanting to give up the filibuster overall, but reforming the filibuster so that it requires a quorum of opposition and actual talking seems so common-sense I can’t believe they can’t get 51 votes for it. Maybe there’s something I’m missing.

  21. 21.

    Mr Stagger Lee

    January 23, 2013 at 8:52 pm

    So Bobby Jindal is backing off from eliminating hospice care in Lousiana. Well at least until June 30th, I guess he can’t run for the presidency, with the reputation of allowing seniors to die in suffering, that is going to be Paul Ryan’s schtick. Besides he and the GOP will need all the help from the seniors they can get.

  22. 22.

    SiubhanDuinne

    January 23, 2013 at 8:52 pm

    I pasted this Charlie Pierce line at the tag end of a dead thread a few houses over, but it’s too good not to repeat:

    The next time “Bobby” Jindal, governor of Louisiana and warped slab of putative Republican presidential timber, gets up in public and tells an audience how much Jesus really means to him, he should be hit in the face with a pie full of eels.

    Most columnists would have gone with the easy “custard pie” or “cream pie,” but Charlie takes it to a whole new level with “pie full of eels.”

  23. 23.

    Chris

    January 23, 2013 at 8:53 pm

    @Woodrowfan:

    Maybe, insofar as there’s any such thing as a sane conservative party.

    The Republican Party of the “liberal consensus” years was sane because it was dominated by its liberal/moderate wing, not because conservatives were any less kooky back then. And the main value of that bygone Republican Party was that they were people you could vote for when the Democrats got too corrupt or nonresponsive, and still trust that they wouldn’t take the opportunity to start dismantling society.

  24. 24.

    redshirt

    January 23, 2013 at 8:53 pm

    @Peregrinus: I think they’re afraid of when they’re back in the minority. A reasonable concern in a normal world. In this world – like the Repukes won’t pull every dirty trick possible as soon as they regain the Senate.

    Knives to drone fights.

  25. 25.

    Patricia Kayden

    January 23, 2013 at 8:55 pm

    What Boehner means is that he and his T’Baggers tried to annihilate President Obama during his first term, but failed badly. Projection much?

  26. 26.

    Arclite

    January 23, 2013 at 8:57 pm

    So we’re expecting over the next 22 months to be the focus of this administration as they attempt to annihilate the Republican Party.

    Say something sexist about his wife and expect to be taken out. That is all.

  27. 27.

    JWL

    January 23, 2013 at 8:58 pm

    If only…

  28. 28.

    patrick II

    January 23, 2013 at 8:58 pm

    It’s pretty clear he can’t do any of that as long as there . q republican house

    If Boehner actually let the house vote perhaps some of Obama’s goals Could be met.. I did not know about the House’s Hastert rule until recently, but it seems just as pernicious towards democracy as the filibuster is in the senate.

  29. 29.

    Brachiator

    January 23, 2013 at 9:01 pm

    Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said he believes the primary goal of President Obama’s second term is to “annihilate the Republican Party.”

    No, that’s the Tea Party.

  30. 30.

    kdaug

    January 23, 2013 at 9:01 pm

    It is, actually, kind of sweet, in that “tears of a child discovering the truth about Santa Claus” kind of way.

    “Well, yes, John.

    I’m sorry, but that’s the truth.

    We’re here to replace you. Not your fault, really, but time has passed you by, and we don’t need your ideas anymore.

    We’ll do our best to keep you comfortable (here, have another Merlot), but in the meantime we have a country to run.

    Do be a good boy and keep quiet.”

  31. 31.

    Ben Cisco

    January 23, 2013 at 9:03 pm

    Duke losing by 33 to Miami. Wow.

  32. 32.

    Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant)

    January 23, 2013 at 9:05 pm

    Not feeling too badly for Johnny Bones either.

  33. 33.

    ? Martin

    January 23, 2013 at 9:12 pm

    “And let me just tell you, I do believe that is their goal — to just shove us into the dustbin of history.”

    Well, here in CA, they left us no alternative, to be honest. They erected a series of walls that bestowed more power on them than they had earned by putting supermajorities on every critical aspect of governance here. Even with 35% of the seats, they retained the power to stop everything and anything. They left the electorate with the only option of knocking the GOP down below the 33% line, and low and behold, that’s what we did. With normal majorities, without gerrymandering, without inflating their own power beyond what the electorate has given them, we likely would have left the GOP with at least some power in the state, but now they have none. Zero. And unfortunately for them, by their own hand, that the most power we can afford to give them.

    The filibuster and the Hastert rule and 24/7 obstructionism and the bullshit going on in VA are all illustrative that at the national level the same thing needs to happen. Giving them a minority isn’t enough, because they’ll abuse it. They need to be knocked back to the same level of power that the Green Party now enjoys.

    And it’s entirely the fault of the GOP that it’s come to this.

  34. 34.

    Redshift

    January 23, 2013 at 9:13 pm

    @WaterGirl: Harry Reid seems to disagree. Since Levin is opposed to doing it with 51 votes and is one of the senators working on the “bipartisan” version, I’d take his whip count with a grain of salt.

  35. 35.

    Cacti

    January 23, 2013 at 9:13 pm

    I hope all of Boner’s fears come to pass.

    I hope Barack shoves the current Teapublican Party off into an abyss that it never rises from. I hope the abomination that Lincoln’s party became goes the way of the Federalists, Whigs, and Know Nothings.

  36. 36.

    dexwood

    January 23, 2013 at 9:18 pm

    to just shove us into the dustbin of history.”

    Perhaps it’s where they belong given how consistently they have been on the wrong side of history. Drowned in their own bathtub.

  37. 37.

    Chris

    January 23, 2013 at 9:19 pm

    @? Martin:

    The filibuster and the Hastert rule and 24/7 obstructionism and the bullshit going on in VA are all illustrative that at the national level the same thing needs to happen. Giving them a minority isn’t enough, because they’ll abuse it. They need to be knocked back to the same level of power that the Green Party now enjoys.

    QFT.

    I have my doubts that it’ll work on a national level but I’ll be damned if it isn’t a worthy goal. The way they’ve spent the last four years intentionally making themselves as unwelcoming as possible for a lot more people than is wise (reversing the modest but meaningful gains of the Bush years among Hispanics) gives me hope. So does the vast army of rabid conservatives ready to primary any politician who backtracks from that.

  38. 38.

    Baud

    January 23, 2013 at 9:20 pm

    I’m shocked that a political party would attempt to defeat a different political party in the election.

  39. 39.

    Peregrinus

    January 23, 2013 at 9:20 pm

    @redshirt:

    Yeah, that was my guess, but if they’re seriously afraid of having to show up to work when they’re in the minority, maybe they need more pokes in the butt to get this done. If this were a nuclear option reform – eliminating the whole of the filibuster – then I could see that as an easier concern to justify.

  40. 40.

    redshirt

    January 23, 2013 at 9:20 pm

    I prefer the Dyson vacuum of history. Better suction.

  41. 41.

    Hal

    January 23, 2013 at 9:25 pm

    The fact that he’s even voicing this “concern” makes me think Orangey is afraid the party is about to come apart at the seams. They’ll either end up with a Rand Paul type in 2016 or a Chris Christie type, and that will signal exactly where the party is planning on going. Boner probably realizes at this point Paul is far more likely a candidate, so he’s shitting himself at the prospect.

  42. 42.

    Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant)

    January 23, 2013 at 9:30 pm

    They earned every bit of the misery they’re in. And it only gets worse from here.

  43. 43.

    gf120581

    January 23, 2013 at 9:32 pm

    Is the Drunk Weepy Oompa-Loompa trying to encourage us? Because that sounds just fine by me. Although I prefer the term “grinding the GOP into dust.”

  44. 44.

    Chris

    January 23, 2013 at 9:33 pm

    @Hal:

    I used to think Christie was their best shot at holding the party together, but ever since Hurricane Sandy I don’t think that’s the case anymore.

    The fact that they’ve now lost two elections in a row with someone they perceive as a moderate/liberal/RINO running is only going to drive the base more insane, so we can hope for someone so totally psycho that they continue to turn off as many Americans as possible.

  45. 45.

    Bill Arnold

    January 23, 2013 at 9:37 pm

    Republicans really don’t like the reciprocal taste of what it is like to negotiate with people who behave like people who believe that compromise (or even negotiation) is a sign of weakness, and the very soft implied threat that BObama and team may come to prefer this approach if offered too much encouragement by Republicans.

    I’m just hoping that the Hastert Rule becomes the Exception. (Slight weakening of the filibuster rules might be nice too.)
    That and maybe the Republicans giving up the fiscal hand grenade (debt ceiling) they are currently insisting on bringing to every negotiating table. They cause a lot of uncertainty damage to the economy (near impossible to quantify) every time they put it on the table next to their cards.

  46. 46.

    redshirt

    January 23, 2013 at 9:38 pm

    I think Christie’s a huge threat if he can get the Republican nomination. Can he? I’d say yes – for all the craziness, remember they just nominated Mitt, who was clearly the “best chance to win the General” candidate. The money boys in NYC, Vegas, and Houston will like what Christie brings to the table – illusion of moderate with powers of Wingnut.

    Hillary v. Christie 2016 would be a hell of a race.

  47. 47.

    handsmile

    January 23, 2013 at 9:42 pm

    So groggy from Obama forcing the GOP to punch itself in the face (though with Boehner it’s likely something else as well), the Great Orange Speaker is now quoting Leon Trotsky:

    “You are pitiful isolated individuals; you are bankrupts; your role is played out. Go where you belong from now on—into the dustbin of history!” (October 25, 1917)

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ash_heap_of_history

    But to raise an issue of concern to many here at Balloon Juice, might Boehner be suffering from CTE?

  48. 48.

    @VividBlueDotty

    January 23, 2013 at 9:42 pm

    All I want to know is how can I help

    Those are the words that popped into my head before I even read that you had written them. And I’m convinced that’s the way we should all be thinking about it.

  49. 49.

    Wilson Heath

    January 23, 2013 at 9:43 pm

    I’m reminded of the scene in Contagion:
    “Someone doesn’t need to weaponize the bird flu. The birds are already doing that.”

  50. 50.

    danielx

    January 23, 2013 at 9:50 pm

    @Mustang Bobby:

    They don’t need Obama’s help to annihilate themselves; he’s probably stocking up on popcorn to watch the show over the next four years.

    These asshats have forgetten the invaluable First Law of Holes: when you’re in one, stop digging.

    Also, too – maybe not your best move to have a leader whose most conspicuous attributes are a skin hue not encountered in nature and frequent public weeping.

  51. 51.

    Peregrinus

    January 23, 2013 at 9:51 pm

    @redshirt:

    I’ve been saying this for a while now, and it will be very interesting to see where things go with a Christie nom. On the one hand, I expect if he didn’t stick to the script he would lose out on the nomination pretty fast. On the other, a McCain-like moment where he called out someone from the base could help him shore up his “moderate” cred.

    Nate Silver once said that the GOP tends to nominate whoever is next in line. By that reasoning, I don’t think Christie’s it for 2016. He might run in 2016 to position himself for 2020, though.

  52. 52.

    Chris

    January 23, 2013 at 10:00 pm

    @redshirt:

    I agree – if he can get the nomination. We’ll see how that goes. Odds aren’t as good as they would’ve been before last October.

  53. 53.

    Hill Dweller

    January 23, 2013 at 10:03 pm

    @redshirt: Like Paul Ryan, Christie is a beltway creation. In reality, Christie has been a mediocre Governor, at best. That fact will be made abundantly clear in a long election.

  54. 54.

    Bubblegum Tate

    January 23, 2013 at 10:07 pm

    Here’s a good sign: This wingnut–who has spent a long time saying he “will fight the president every step of the way and will not stop until he is defeated” (whatever that means) and has occasionally threatened violence against Democrats–is whining that Obama is a “bully.”

    Sweet, sweet wingnut tears.

  55. 55.

    Bill Arnold

    January 23, 2013 at 10:09 pm

    @Hill Dweller:

    In reality, Christie has been a mediocre Governor, at best.

    Heard on the radio this AM that his approval rating was in the 60s. (Did i mishear this?)
    Objectively, I agree with you.

  56. 56.

    Dennis G.

    January 23, 2013 at 10:17 pm

    @redshirt: well said!

  57. 57.

    Or something like that.Suffern Ace

    January 23, 2013 at 10:20 pm

    @Bill Arnold: he replaced Jon Corzine, you know the big banker? And he replaced the democratic sexy time show. Since I’ve been out here, he seems to be the grouchiest governor, but not a disaster. Also, since he and king got all the press for complaining about sandy relief stalling in congress, they somehow get special credit for making it happen.

  58. 58.

    Grumpy Code Monkey

    January 23, 2013 at 10:26 pm

    Three little words…

    PERMANENT. REPUBLICAN. MAJORITY.

    These fuckers were perfectly happy to marginalize the Democratic party if not annihilate it completely. They were seriously working towards a one-party state because, hey, it worked for the Soviets, right?

    Even now they’re working towards rigging the game in their favor in multiple states, and Boner is bitching that Obama wants to annihilate them?

    FUCK YES. Annihilate them. Destroy them. Crush them.

  59. 59.

    artem1s

    January 23, 2013 at 10:26 pm

    @Peregrinus:

    the GOP tends to nominate whoever is next in line.

    Jeebus, and just who is that? Paul Ryan? OK, Christie, but he can’t win the primary now. The GOP used to have actual politicians and legislators to run for office. Now, after 30 years of vilifying those who actually practice the art of governing, all they have left are grifters, luddites, teahaddists, and wingnuts.

    their last few Prez nominees….
    RMoney and Granny Starving Ryan
    Walnuts McCain and Caribou Barbie
    George the Lesser and Darth Cheney
    Bob Dole Says and I don’t even remember his running mate

    Only Shrub could manage to win steal a couple of terms. No way he could have done it without the stunt they pulled in FL or repeated without 9/11, and really Clinton tripping over his own dick.

    Boehner needs to worry about the cannibals in his own party, not Obama

  60. 60.

    amk

    January 23, 2013 at 10:28 pm

    So, where do I deliver the tumbrils full of muskets AK47’s?

  61. 61.

    Todd

    January 23, 2013 at 10:30 pm

    I’m sort of amused over the electoral vote shenanigans. How’s that going to play for them when they’re not running against the scary black guy, but instead against Tester and Heitkamp? Think Rand Paul gains any traction in a general election if he’s facing generic heartland Dems.

    Hell, GOTV gets easy. You can afford to ignore the D+12 and up, and you can dip as far as R+5. The O man cued it up – all you gotta have is a placeholder from 2016-2024 and wait for the demographic bomb to do its work.

  62. 62.

    Peregrinus

    January 23, 2013 at 10:31 pm

    @artem1s:

    I expect, like this time, we’ll see the next-in-line (Ryan), a couple old horses (Santorum might go again, maybe Gingrich because grifters gotta grift), some new faces (think Herman Cain-type), and a few serious contenders (Christie, maybe Rubio).

    But really it all depends on things happening between then and now.

  63. 63.

    MikeJ

    January 23, 2013 at 10:32 pm

    @artem1s:

    OK, Christie, but he can’t win the primary now

    More than one person here went on and on and on and on about how there was no way the Republicans were going to nominate a Mormon. Yet when it came down to it, it was Romney’s turn.

  64. 64.

    Ron

    January 23, 2013 at 10:36 pm

    The one thing is that we have to take state races very seriously. If what states like VA,PA, and MI are considering goes through it will be a lot more difficult to elect a democratic president.

  65. 65.

    Higgs Boson's Mate

    January 23, 2013 at 10:40 pm

    Faced with annihilation (They say) the Republicans still refuse to consider that they might be doing anything wrong. It’s as if the entire party is made up of clones of George Armstrong Custer.

  66. 66.

    redshirt

    January 23, 2013 at 10:40 pm

    @Hill Dweller: Maybe in the past, but Christie’s string of actions over the last 4 months or so has changed the game. He’s been seen with Obama – GASP! – praising him for his efforts. He’s condemned the NRA ad bringing up Obama’s daughters. Gasp! I mean, basic stuff, but in this climate of insanity, it’s like a breath of moderate, compromising air. The totebaggers will eat it up, Bobo leading them and the NPR gang.

    Of course once in office Christie will open gaping jaws of Cthulhuness and swallow America whole.

  67. 67.

    The prophet Nostradumbass

    January 23, 2013 at 10:45 pm

    @danielx:

    The first rule of holes is when you’re in one, stop digging.When you’re in three, bring a lot of shovels.”

    hole expert Tom Friedman

  68. 68.

    Chris

    January 23, 2013 at 10:52 pm

    @Hill Dweller:

    Record doesn’t necessarily matter, though, compared to public image. Romney’s failure seems to me to be more due to his coming off as an entitled asshole than anything he actually did in his past as a politician.

  69. 69.

    Yutsano

    January 23, 2013 at 10:57 pm

    @MikeJ: I’ll be honest: I was one of those people and I still don’t know how he got sold to the fundies.

  70. 70.

    srv

    January 23, 2013 at 11:01 pm

    YOU PEOPLE do know that barackobama.com is owned by a foreign national and wuz used by the Kenyan Usurper to channel BILLIONS of small donations under the FEC threshold from FOREIGNERS?

    Do none of you listen to Joseph Farah on the radio?

  71. 71.

    artem1s

    January 23, 2013 at 11:01 pm

    @MikeJ:

    True enough, but look at the pretzel he had to turn himself into to because of Romney-care. And he only managed it because of the unlimited supply of money he had access too. Yes, the Koch’s are going to buy themselves another candidate, I just don’t think Christie can pull it off with the purity police.

    But my point wasn’t that they don’t have anyone in line, my point was that they don’t have any serious legislators anymore, just carnival barkers. Christie may be next in line and inevitable, but he’s just another side show and the only thing he’s ever done in his career that indicates he’s ready for prime time is what he did after Sandy and he can’t appeal to a broader base and win the GOP primary too.

    The GOP has been running as the ‘do nothing’ party for so long, they don’t even know how to govern anymore. And it has left them a pretty weak bench.

  72. 72.

    redshirt

    January 23, 2013 at 11:28 pm

    @Dennis G.: I somehow missed your comment. Thanks! I really dig your writing and your focus, and wish you’d do more of each on a more frequent basis! You’re the coolest voice of BJ, IMO!

  73. 73.

    SensesFail

    January 23, 2013 at 11:36 pm

    @Patricia Kayden:

    Exactly what I was thinking.

    “Projection much?” indeed.

  74. 74.

    Midnight Marauder

    January 23, 2013 at 11:37 pm

    @Peregrinus:

    I’ve been saying this for a while now, and it will be very interesting to see where things go with a Christie nom. On the one hand, I expect if he didn’t stick to the script he would lose out on the nomination pretty fast. On the other, a McCain-like moment where he called out someone from the base could help him shore up his “moderate” cred.

    Nate Silver once said that the GOP tends to nominate whoever is next in line. By that reasoning, I don’t think Christie’s it for 2016. He might run in 2016 to position himself for 2020, though.

    I seriously doubt Chris Christie gets the nomination in 2016. There are not enough “Republican moderates” to sustain any kind of competitive national coalition. If Christie takes that kind of approach to campaigning, his support with Confederates in the South will collapse as Rand Paul and Rick Santorum battle for the looniest of the loony.

    I am seriously mystified that so many people think Christie has anything resembling a chance in 2016. The Rand Paul express is in the parking lot with the engine warming up.

  75. 75.

    Higgs Boson's Mate

    January 23, 2013 at 11:39 pm

    @Chris:

    Record doesn’t necessarily matter, though, compared to public image. Romney’s failure seems to me to be more due to his coming off as an entitled asshole than anything he actually did in his past as a politician.

    Agreed. He acted as though the presidency was his due because he’s Mitt Romney. When you combine that attitude with a total lack of empathy and the charisma of a kitchen sponge and it’s surprising that he came as close as he did in the popular vote.

  76. 76.

    Calouste

    January 23, 2013 at 11:42 pm

    @artem1s: Santorum is the next in line. He came second in the primaries to Romney, just as Romney to McCain, McCain to Bush II, and Reagan to Ford. Dole and Bush II were the exceptions, but they both had strong ties to Presidents. The only options the GOP has in the latter class are Jeb and Cheney.

  77. 77.

    Midnight Marauder

    January 23, 2013 at 11:45 pm

    @Yutsano:

    I’ll be honest: I was one of those people and I still don’t know how he got sold to the fundies.

    I believe the Negro president had something to do with that.

  78. 78.

    redshirt

    January 23, 2013 at 11:45 pm

    @Calouste: Hillary v. Santorum is a landslide. Hillary versus most every Republican is a landslide. They’re all lame.

    Biden v. Republicans is the same.

    What happens if Biden v. Hillary?

    Puma Reborn?

  79. 79.

    MikeJ

    January 23, 2013 at 11:46 pm

    @Midnight Marauder: That Bobo post from earlier about moving to the center of dying? That’s aimed squarely at getting the money people in the party to ignore Santorum and Prop up Christie. The hicks will do as they’re told. They always do.

  80. 80.

    Chris

    January 24, 2013 at 12:06 am

    @Midnight Marauder:

    I am seriously mystified that so many people think Christie has anything resembling a chance in 2016. The Rand Paul express is in the parking lot with the engine warming up.

    My thinking was that he was the best shot they had at a candidate who could placate both the base and the elites. The base because of the abrasive bully personality that loves shoving liberal constituencies into lockers and then gloating about it on TV (that more than almost anything is what they want to see in a leader), the elites and mushy moderates because of the East Coast background and media darling image (plus the occasional act like appointing Muslims to positions and sticking by them). Not saying that all that guaranteed that he’d win, or succeed in pleasing both the base and the elites – just that IMO, he was the one with the best shot at doing it.

    Like I said, though, that was before Sandy. And the base which might have forgiven the occasional transgressions before is going to have a much harder time doing it when he’s publicly sided with Obama and told the party to go fuck itself.

  81. 81.

    Chris

    January 24, 2013 at 12:09 am

    @Yutsano:

    I’ll be honest: I was one of those people and I still don’t know how he got sold to the fundies.

    Basically what Midnight Marauder said. There’s a hierarchy to their hates. Like I said all the way back in the primaries – to them, the difference between a Mormon and a black liberal Muslim is like the difference between cough medicine and a cyanide pill. I never had any doubt that they’d hold their nose and vote for Romney when the time came.

  82. 82.

    Higgs Boson's Mate

    January 24, 2013 at 12:22 am

    @Chris:

    I never had any doubt that they’d hold their nose and vote for Romney when the time came.

    I, too, thought that they’d vote for Romney. The fact that they did has led me to believe that Charles Manson would get at least 47% of the popular vote if they dressed him up and hung an R after his name.

  83. 83.

    John Weiss

    January 24, 2013 at 12:26 am

    Fuck Republicans. Since they cannot get their house in order it’s time for another opposition party. I must admit I hate them.

    I want our government to work!

  84. 84.

    Maxwel

    January 24, 2013 at 12:26 am

    Roger that Dennis! I’ve beeen saying for some time that 2016 will be the Rethugs last rodeo. The only question is will the Teatards be in the part that calls itself Republican.

  85. 85.

    redshirt

    January 24, 2013 at 12:35 am

    I hate the Repukes too. Regressive fodder meant for the fires, yet oh so willing to throw you on the pyre first brah!

  86. 86.

    chuckieboy

    January 24, 2013 at 12:51 am

    @weaselone: What it really means to his fellow racists is the the jig is in.

  87. 87.

    hitchhiker

    January 24, 2013 at 1:16 am

    Oh, Christ.

    Really? You’re feeling irrelevant? Mr. Speaker, it’s not about you and your ridiculous friends. It’s about your policies. Your policies are what will be swept into the dustbin of history, because they’re BAD policies. BAD ideas. They DON’T WORK.

    It’s nothing personal, so stop making it personal. Come up with some BETTER IDEAS, and you personally will be just fine, along with even your most ridiculous friends.

    Stick with the BAD ideas and watch while people choose better ones. And stop with the self-pity and the he’s such a bully meme. It makes you look like an 8th grader.

  88. 88.

    Radio One

    January 24, 2013 at 1:49 am

    @redshirt: I think Jon Huntsman had the best shot at beating Obama in a general election out of the GOP primary candidates, not Mitt Romney. I still don’t know why the GOP even considered Romney electable. He was basically the worst nominee the GOP has ever put up against an incumbent president, one who spent a lot of last year battling a primary field of candidates that were mostly, but not significantly worse than he was.

  89. 89.

    MikeJ

    January 24, 2013 at 1:56 am

    @Radio One:

    I still don’t know why the GOP even considered Romney electable.

    He’s rich. He’s bland. He got elected in a liberal state, so it’s not impossible for him to get votes outside the base.

    I agree about Huntsman. He would have been much tougher, and I am 1000% convinced that’s why Obama picked him for China.

  90. 90.

    redshirt

    January 24, 2013 at 3:47 am

    Orange Whip?
    Orange Whip?
    3 Orange Whips!

  91. 91.

    Another Halocene Human

    January 24, 2013 at 4:43 am

    @artem1s: Christie may be next in line and inevitable, but he’s just another side show and the only thing he’s ever done in his career that indicates he’s ready for prime time is what he did after Sandy and he can’t appeal to a broader base and win the GOP primary too.

    I doubt that. He’ll say whatever he wants and talk down to him and the sorry sacks that populate the GOP faithful will eat it up with a spoon. They love that shit. He’d be like Gingrich combined with Romney’s money backing.

    What scares me is the number of Democrats he has fooled. Christie is not to be trusted, ever! He’s a union-buster and a liar.

  92. 92.

    Another Halocene Human

    January 24, 2013 at 4:48 am

    @Chris: Like I said, though, that was before Sandy. And the base which might have forgiven the occasional transgressions before is going to have a much harder time doing it when he’s publicly sided with Obama and told the party to go fuck itself.

    Yeah, right. Party loyalty is for weenies. Even George Will doesn’t bother sniffing the new GOP hotness’ butts for eau de other parties. The Republican rabble don’t care if you were elected as a Democrat and made a secret pact to switch parties yesterday–as long as you are sticking it to the other side, you’re their man. Hell, most of them are ex-Democrats themselves. Some haven’t even bothered to change their registration.

    A few pissy bloggers will write screeds on freeperville. They freeped out about Romney too and that had exactly how much impact?

  93. 93.

    Triassic Sands

    January 24, 2013 at 6:29 am

    If ever there was a political party that deserves permanent residence in the dustbin of history, it’s the Modern Republican Party. I just hope the dustbin has armed guards trained to deal with the criminally insane.

  94. 94.

    Ben

    January 24, 2013 at 7:07 am

    This is too good to pass up. “Shove us into the dustbin of history, like Mahogany Rush”. For you Wayne’s World aficionados.

    BTW, the Ripon Society runs the Ripon Educational Fund… that is just another term for free travel, food and booze for the assholes in Congress. Yes, I know because I’ve been on 3 of them.

  95. 95.

    Xenos

    January 24, 2013 at 7:16 am

    @redshirt:

    What happens if Biden v. Hillary?

    Biden willbe the first person to serve 16 years as a vice president. After 200 years we have finally found someone good at it, and who likes it.

  96. 96.

    Ivan Ivanovich Renko

    January 24, 2013 at 9:23 am

    In an interview with National Journal magazine published October 23, 2010, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell explained that “the single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president.”

    “Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said he believes the primary goal of President Obama’s second term is to “annihilate the Republican Party.””

    Turnabout is fair play, you bastards!

  97. 97.

    Full Metal Wingnut

    January 24, 2013 at 1:02 pm

    @redshirt: agreed. Hilary beats any Republican. The only question is margins. Santorum, Paul = landslide. Bush/Christie-closer but still win. Lots of republicans I know would vote for a bush again. But Hil is seen in the light of her hubby a little. My dad the Nixon republican likes Clinton as a more conservative democrat.

  98. 98.

    Elle

    January 24, 2013 at 6:14 pm

    @Another Halocene Human:

    As a resident of NJ and a public school teacher, I can without a doubt say I am not fooled. He handled a natural disaster well- that’s great. Who wouldn’t? The man is an absolute disaster and a bully. He incited violence on a 70 year old female Representative from my area. He called Sweeney “numb nuts” when he disagreed with the notion of putting marriage equality on the ballot. I am sickened that not only New Jersey, but the American public seems to have this love affair with him now. Christie is a jerk of a politician.

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