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You are here: Home / Politics / Republican Stupidity / One-Trick Show Pony

One-Trick Show Pony

by @heymistermix.com|  February 17, 201310:58 am| 121 Comments

This post is in: Republican Stupidity

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The great brown hope is already loosening his bowels on Obama’s immigration plan:

It’s a mistake for the White House to draft immigration legislation without seeking input from Republican members of Congress. President Obama’s leaked immigration proposal is disappointing to those of us working on a serious solution. […]

Anyone who thought they were going to get something from Rubio other than the usual butthurt over what Obama said or did is living on the edge of reality. Any Republican who put forward a “serious” plan and pushed for it hard couldn’t get the 2016 nomination, which is what our deshidratado Cubano really wants, so adiós reforma.

Speaking of Marco’s SOTU response, more than enough has been said, but I wanted to bat down the myth that responses are always awful. They’ve been awful for Republicans, but Jim Webb did a notably good job in 2007. Of course, Webb didn’t want to run for President in 2008. If you look at Democratic responses in the past, they’re either from novelty minor personalities who are a long way from the Presidency (Gary Locke, Tim Kaine) or long-time House and/or Senate leaders. Republicans are dumb enough to think that the moment immediately after an event where the President looks the best he does all year is a good time to trot out a Presidential contender. Democrats are not. Marco’s problem wasn’t his inability to sip, it was the fact that his ass was in that poorly lit studio mouthing platitudes in the first place.

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Previous Post: « Shouldn’t I Have This
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Reader Interactions

121Comments

  1. 1.

    Robin G.

    February 17, 2013 at 11:01 am

    Watching Republicans trip over their own dicks will never get old.

    Related: For the love of God, this site needs a commenting system that allows for images. I have so many popcorn-eating animated GIFs fod these situations, it’s not even funny.

  2. 2.

    MikeJ

    February 17, 2013 at 11:02 am

    When Obama waits to see what the Republicans will offer the Republicans whine that he won’t put an offer forward. When Obama puts idea on the table, they whine that he didn’t wait for them.

    Of course what they really want is a blue ribbon commission on what to do about all very serious problems, and in 30 or 40 years they can release a proposal that has no chance of going anywhere.

  3. 3.

    Tokyokie

    February 17, 2013 at 11:03 am

    Rubio’s big advantage is that he’s different (ethnically) from other Republicans, and now he’s determined to show that he’s pretty much the same. Yeah, that will do the trick in the general election.

  4. 4.

    Zifnab

    February 17, 2013 at 11:05 am

    Take your premiere Hispanic candidate and paint him as “just another republican”? Just another day in the GOP campaign of self sabotage.

  5. 5.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    February 17, 2013 at 11:06 am

    Of course he is. He is, simply, a token offered for show. Which of course demonstrates the fundamentally ignorant – and offensive – belief on the part of the GOP that there is a “brown bloc.” Having a last name that ends in a vowel or a “z” is no more likely to make a candidate popular with other people whose surnames are spelled the same way than trotting out a blue eyed redhead would be to folks whose ancestors came from the Emerald Isle (unless she were teh hot, in which case all bets are off).

    The GOP simply doesn’t get it. And many of them, save the powers that be, who simply crave power, don’t care.

  6. 6.

    Cacti

    February 17, 2013 at 11:07 am

    Any Republican who put forward a “serious” plan and pushed for it hard couldn’t get the 2016 nomination, which is what our deshidratado Cubano really wants, so adiós reforma.

    Cubans have always been the special snowflakes of US immigration policy, and have never really been simpatico with the plight of other Lat Am immigrants.

    Don’t think that Mexican/Dominican/Salvadoran et al Americans don’t notice that a Cubano is the token GOP brown face for obstructing immigration reform.

  7. 7.

    Robin G.

    February 17, 2013 at 11:08 am

    @Tokyokie: The GOP pandering here has truly reached a new dimension. They know Rubio won’t win points with the base; they’re just hoping they’ll get a flood of Latino voters to make up for it. As though Latino voters won’t recognize an Uncle Tom when they see one.

  8. 8.

    Jennifer

    February 17, 2013 at 11:10 am

    Marco’s problem wasn’t his inability to sip,

    No, but you must admit, those few seconds of comic genius rescued what would have otherwise been an utterly forgettable overall FAIL from going unnoticed.

  9. 9.

    GregB

    February 17, 2013 at 11:11 am

    The Democrats should start demanding fairness as a cornerstone to any immigration reform. Which means no double standards for Cuban immigrants.

    Watch the GOP tie itself in knots trying to justify the continued wet foot/dry foot policy.

    Marco Rubio gets to mouth touch on immigration platitudes knowing full well that people of his ethnic group have a very easy policy when it comes to their coming to America.

    Fairness in immigration.

  10. 10.

    Mark S.

    February 17, 2013 at 11:11 am

    I don’t remember SOTU rebuttals being uniformly awful; I mostly don’t remember them at all. I do remember Jindal and Rubio because they both fucked up so bad.

  11. 11.

    Jay C

    February 17, 2013 at 11:13 am

    Isn’t what Sen. Rubio really saying more like:

    It’s a mistake for the White House to draft immigration legislation without seeking input from letting Republican members of Congress write the bill. President Obama’s leaked immigration proposal is disappointing to those of us working on a serious solution, which will look like a modern-day version of the Trail Of Tears.

    And of course, our national disgrace of a political media will probably just nod sagely at this, and go look for some Democrat to chastise for being “obstructionist” by daring to question a Republican initiative….

  12. 12.

    Patricia Kayden

    February 17, 2013 at 11:14 am

    So I guess Repubs have calculated that it doesn’t matter whether or not they get more of the Latino vote. Alrighty then.

  13. 13.

    dmsilev

    February 17, 2013 at 11:14 am

    @MikeJ:

    When Obama waits to see what the Republicans will offer the Republicans whine that he won’t put an offer forward. When Obama puts idea on the table, they whine that he didn’t wait for them.

    Pretty much this. Especially since the early assessments are that Obama’s draft plan isn’t actually all that different from what Rubio claimed to support. Except, of course, that it is Obama’s draft plan, and therefore induces allergenic rashes in Republicans.

  14. 14.

    MattF

    February 17, 2013 at 11:15 am

    Seems to me that we’re going through a rerun of the contender-of-the-week comedy that played out over the Republican primary season. Difference is that there’s no ‘adult’ in the room who is expected to pick up all the marbles at the end. FWIW, it doesn’t look to me like Republicans have any plausible national politicians, but I’m prejudiced.

  15. 15.

    Dave

    February 17, 2013 at 11:18 am

    @MikeJ:

    Yes x 1000

  16. 16.

    Tokyokie

    February 17, 2013 at 11:20 am

    @Robin G.: Right, and as Cacti pointed out in the post just above yours, the overwhelming immigration experience of Latinos is not one shared by Cubanos. Latinos know that, and Republicans don’t know the difference.

  17. 17.

    Jennifer

    February 17, 2013 at 11:22 am

    @MattF: Christie probably comes the closest at this point, but I think he’s too shrewd to climb aboard the clown car.

  18. 18.

    Villago Delenda Est

    February 17, 2013 at 11:23 am

    Thirsty thirsty Rubio, like every other Rethuglican, should go fuck off and die.

  19. 19.

    Robin G.

    February 17, 2013 at 11:25 am

    @Tokyokie: I see you’ve bought into the liberal lies that Brown People aren’t all the same.

  20. 20.

    cmorenc

    February 17, 2013 at 11:26 am

    @Zifnab:

    Take your premiere Hispanic candidate and paint him as “just another republican”? Just another day in the GOP campaign of self sabotage.

    Actually, the GOP is very accepting of minorities within their ranks – on the condition that they’re the sort of folks who seem comfortably assimilated to mainstream white culture, though they’re allowed to keep a few ethnic quirks so long as they don’t clash with the mainstream cultural decor of the room. In other words, some minorities are ok in the GOP, so long as they don’t threaten to upset the existing order and they seem comfortably-close enough to “just like ourselves” to the dominant white men and women of the GOP.

  21. 21.

    Tokyokie

    February 17, 2013 at 11:26 am

    @Robin G.: Yeah, being married to one will do that to you.

  22. 22.

    TGC

    February 17, 2013 at 11:40 am

    OT – But Republicans appear to have a new black right wing crush in the form of Dr. Ben Carson. He’s a trailblazing surgeon who is also apparently a Christian fundie right wing jerk who used the annual Prayer Breakfast to talk about the “flat tax” because he thinks the Bible is in favor of it like tithing or some nonsense. Just saw him on This Week on ABC. Seriously does anybody know why doctors who get political tend to be right, wing a-holes?

    Anyway, he’s retiring from medicine soon so expect to see him all over the place as the GOP’s new black girlfriend and right kind of negro as opposed to that Obama guy.

  23. 23.

    dingdong

    February 17, 2013 at 11:48 am

    Why do goopers think that a cuban american is going to appeal to all hispanics? This is like how mccain didn’t know the difference between sunnis and shiites.

  24. 24.

    raven

    February 17, 2013 at 11:49 am

    Newt says both side does it. He also said “no matter how stupid he is. . . how do we know Hagel is honorable?”

  25. 25.

    Roger Moore

    February 17, 2013 at 11:51 am

    @MikeJ:

    Of course what they really want is a blue ribbon commission on what to do about all very serious problems, and in 30 or 40 years they can release a proposal that has no chance of going anywhere.

    Nah, what they really want is an excuse to bag on Obama. The first rule of Republican Club is that Obama is always wrong.

  26. 26.

    WereBear

    February 17, 2013 at 11:52 am

    @MikeJ: When Obama waits to see what the Republicans will offer the Republicans whine that he won’t put an offer forward. When Obama puts idea on the table, they whine that he didn’t wait for them.

    This is how Republican criticism always works. I just wish voters would get more tired of it.

  27. 27.

    WereBear

    February 17, 2013 at 11:52 am

    Since it duped on me, can I make a comment which makes sense within the time allotted?

    Republicans can’t even pick their tokens right.

  28. 28.

    Frankensteinbeck

    February 17, 2013 at 11:54 am

    @MikeJ:
    I’m pretty sure they want him to come to them, hat in hand, and ask ‘You got any more work fer me, Massa?’ From watching performances like Clint Eastwood’s, I’d swear they not only want that accent, they think he already has it.

  29. 29.

    GregB

    February 17, 2013 at 11:55 am

    @raven:

    Newt, the GOP’s equivalent of a herpes sore.

  30. 30.

    Omnes Omnibus

    February 17, 2013 at 11:57 am

    @raven:

    He also said “no matter how stupid he is. . . how do we know Hagel is honorable?”

    Newt has a point. Hagel is a Republican and Newt knows how honorable Republican politicians are these days.

  31. 31.

    Suffern ACE

    February 17, 2013 at 12:00 pm

    @MattF: yep. The fate of the future of the Republican Party is clearly the most pressing problem the nation faces, and expect republican of the month to get a time magazine cover for the next 44 months. North Korea could launch nukes at Iran and the governor of squarestate’s opinion will show the way forward for the party.

  32. 32.

    raven

    February 17, 2013 at 12:03 pm

    President McCain sez Obama is a big meanie.

  33. 33.

    Tokyokie

    February 17, 2013 at 12:06 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: For Brutus is an honourable man;
    So are they all, all honourable men

  34. 34.

    Maude

    February 17, 2013 at 12:09 pm

    @raven:
    Did you know that McCain was a POW?

  35. 35.

    WereBear

    February 17, 2013 at 12:13 pm

    It is many levels of elebenty-twisted how the Republicans so effortlessly use the tactics and language of abusers and also seem completely unaware that is what they are doing.

  36. 36.

    Johnnybuck

    February 17, 2013 at 12:14 pm

    @raven: “Honor” is not exactly a concept that Newt is personally familiar with.

  37. 37.

    Hill Dweller

    February 17, 2013 at 12:14 pm

    I wish Dems would start pointing out the deficit is falling at an historically fast rate right now. In fact, it’s falling too fast, and hurting economic growth, independent of the sequester. The sequester will likely send us into recession.

    The debate in Washington is completely detached from reality.

  38. 38.

    Walker

    February 17, 2013 at 12:14 pm

    @TGC:

    Because many of them make a good deal of money while simultaneously being horrible at managing it (because unlike an actual business, incompetence with money will not put them under). Thus they favor anything that allows them to hold on to more of their business revenue.

    Seriously, I have met many doctors (including from my own family) that meet the “doctor cannot handle money” stereotype; this stereotype is so pervasive that investment scammers consider doctors their primary mark (which I also have seen from experience).

  39. 39.

    PurpleGirl

    February 17, 2013 at 12:15 pm

    @Tokyokie: Beside Rubio is not brown, he’s not even tan. Rubio’s ancestors probably are from Spain and there’s been no mixing with either Caribbean natives or Africans. (Like my college boyfriend who’s family was lower Spainish aristocracy.) I dislike he’s being called brown because he isn’t and he was probably raised thinking he’s better than anyone with a hint of color. (Realize that more recent Cuban immigrants have a different background than Rubio does and they may indeed have color. But Rubio doesn’t.)

  40. 40.

    WereBear

    February 17, 2013 at 12:21 pm

    @PurpleGirl: To me, it’s the overgrown boy persona which grates so horribly. But I don’t expect anything better from someone who is not only a Republican, but a token Republican!

  41. 41.

    WereBear

    February 17, 2013 at 12:23 pm

    @Walker: Very true, and mirrors my own experience.

    In their defense, when do they have the time or inclination to actually learn financials? But the Ize-a-Doctor mentality is also what makes them thing they know EVERYTHING.

  42. 42.

    Alex S.

    February 17, 2013 at 12:23 pm

    What did republicans think? They know they need Latinos to win elections so they put an “immigration reform” stamp onto their most prominent hispanic’s forehead. But they also know that, as soon as Obama presents a bill, he will receive the credit for immigration reform instead. So they had to be for it until Obama was for it, then they had to be against it to prevent the passing of the bill. So they destroy the credibility of one of their talents and alienate the voting block they wanted to attract just to keep Obama from getting an achievement. And Obama cannot even be reelected anymore! Why not give him that victory if it heals GOP relations with the latino community? Dumb, dumb, dumb…

  43. 43.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    February 17, 2013 at 12:31 pm

    I was genuinely surprised at what a petty, partisan speech it was. The far right already love Rubio ’cause they think he’s their key to “minority” voters. If he had gone full metal Broder and toned down the personal nastiness toward Obama, doctors all over the East Coast would have been flooded with calls for lock-boner from the Friedman-Brokaw-Roberts crowd. But he is a Tea Bagger after all, and if you believe that tripe, you can’t hide it long.

  44. 44.

    Roy G.

    February 17, 2013 at 12:33 pm

    When will it come out that Rubio is actually Bebe Rebozo’s love child?

  45. 45.

    Yutsano

    February 17, 2013 at 12:34 pm

    @Alex S.:

    What did republicans think?

    I found the flaw already…

  46. 46.

    patroclus

    February 17, 2013 at 12:36 pm

    I think Rubio is only pretending to be in favor of a comprehensive immigration bill. If he was really in favor of it, he would drop the partisan rhetoric for a few months until it passed, he would NOT give the SOTU response and lie about what Obama actually said and he would ally himself with other proponents and have their backs and defend what they say. He would make immigration reform his highest priority and subordinate other issues to it. Then, six months later, he could switch back (in emphasis) to being a tea party Republican; having accomplished immigration reform as a sign of reasonableness, which everyone would remember.

    Instead, he is trying to have it both ways, which, to me, indicates that he really doesn’t favor it.

    And, because he seems only to be pretending, I think the entire Republican effort is only pretending. We’ll see, but I’m not impressed with them so far. To be for it, they really need to be for it.

  47. 47.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    February 17, 2013 at 12:36 pm

    @PurpleGirl: But his name sounds brown. For the GOP that’s plenty. Making him a prominent token should show brown folks everywhere that GOP is good for them too. It’s insulting.

  48. 48.

    Chris

    February 17, 2013 at 12:38 pm

    @cmorenc:

    “A few Jews bring character to a country, but too many create chaos, and we are getting too many.”

    Charles Lindbergh, 1930s. The more things change…

  49. 49.

    Baud

    February 17, 2013 at 12:38 pm

    I blame Obama. If he really wanted comprehensive immigration reform, he would promise to veto it.

  50. 50.

    WereBear

    February 17, 2013 at 12:39 pm

    @a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): I see it as a reflection of how Republicans DO think: they vote for the big ol’ suit-wearing bigoted rich guy because that is how they see themselves.

  51. 51.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    February 17, 2013 at 12:41 pm

    and on immigration specifically, he’s been pre-emptively concern-trolling Obama all along, setting up the fail and blame Obama rhetoric that the Village will numbly stumble after. Friedman’s column today is yet another example of the “Of course Republicans are insane, which just means the responsibility fall that much more on Obama to find compromise”, which is to Broderist Sabbath Gasbaggery what St Paul’s letter to the Corinthians is to Catholic wedding ceremonies.

  52. 52.

    Johnnybuck

    February 17, 2013 at 12:42 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: My guess is that he’ll also be running for re-election in ’16 and wants to avoid a primary, and so like all Republicans reasonableness just isn’t possible

  53. 53.

    Hill Dweller

    February 17, 2013 at 12:43 pm

    @Alex S.:

    So they destroy the credibility of one of their talents and alienate the voting block they wanted to attract just to keep Obama from getting an achievement. And Obama cannot even be reelected anymore! Why not give him that victory if it heals GOP relations with the latino community? Dumb, dumb, dumb…

    Will they attract enough Latinos to compensate for the loss of the white, racist confederates who are sure to leave after amnesty immigration reform?

    Keeping power is all they care about.

  54. 54.

    Frankensteinbeck

    February 17, 2013 at 12:59 pm

    @WereBear:

    It is many levels of elebenty-twisted how the Republicans so effortlessly use the tactics and language of abusers

    Not a coincidence.

  55. 55.

    Jay in Oregon

    February 17, 2013 at 1:06 pm

    @WereBear:

    In their defense, when do they have the time or inclination to actually learn financials? But the Ize-a-Doctor mentality is also what makes them thing they know EVERYTHING.

    My other used to work with engineers in the Department of Transportation in Alaska back in the 90’s; at one point they had an opportunity to vote to move their state-guaranteed pension money into some kind of 401K or money market account. All of the engineers she knew were like “WE’RE the best judges of where to put our money, not the government!”

    All of their money was basically wiped out in a few years.

  56. 56.

    scav

    February 17, 2013 at 1:16 pm

    I’ll just blockquote in what one of his peers thinks might be a winning proposal.

    Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky on Sunday said he would be a presidential candidate if he thought he could win. The tea party favorite says he sees an opening for a “libertarian Republican narrative” to help the GOP win on the West Coast and New England.

    Paul says people want a party that’s “less aggressive on foreign policy” and drug laws. Paul says he sees voters wanting, quote, “somebody who wants to round people up, put in camps and send them back to Mexico.”

    A Paul spokeswoman, Moira Bagley, didn’t offer further explanation.

    Paul spoke on “Fox News Sunday.”

    Might be veritable a circus of friendly fire hijinks coming up.

  57. 57.

    Southern Beale

    February 17, 2013 at 1:16 pm

    I really hate the “… to those of us working on a serious solution…” It just screams of Palinesque, “being a mayor is sorta like being a community organizer except you have ACTUAL responsibilities” BS, It’s a way of trying to undercut the president and make him look like a lightweight. The thing is, after Hispanics have been mobilizing to get Obama to stop record numbers of deportations I don’t think the “serious” card is gonna play.

    Caught an interesting interview with Markos Moulitsas, who’s half Salvadoran, about how Rubio plays among Latinos. He repeated what we’ve all said, how there isn’t one monolithic Latino worldview, and he pointed out that there is a lot of resentment by Latino groups toward Cubans like Rubio, who are widely seen as getting a free ride and then trying to block everyone else who just wants the same consideration. Cubans could enter the country as refugees without any of the struggles and issues faced by other immigrants of Hispanic origin, and that would be fine if they weren’t out there trying to nail the door shut after them.

    I thought that was interesting. Not being Latino I hadn’t really thought of it like that. So I wonder how much Rubio’s “serious” solution is really offensive to the Hispanic community.

  58. 58.

    Omnes Omnibus

    February 17, 2013 at 1:17 pm

    @scav:

    “somebody who wants to round people up, put in camps and send them back to Mexico.”

    Wow. Camps, huh? That will end well.

  59. 59.

    Robin G.

    February 17, 2013 at 1:19 pm

    @scav: My jaw actually dropped. I don’t think that’s ever happened before.

  60. 60.

    Sly

    February 17, 2013 at 1:21 pm

    @Alex S.:
    The GOP has a structural problem in the relationship between their primaries and the general election, and this is true on most issues because GOP primary elections simply appeal to an entirely different set of constituencies. Republicans want to appeal to two audiences who want distinctly different things.

    On immigration, one audience would like them to do something and another audience demands that they do nothing. So they have to appear to be doing something while simultaneously appearing to be doing nothing. Having Obama lead on an issue does neither – in their minds, it hurts them pretty bad especially of Obama takes a stand on an issue that is overwhelmingly favored by constituencies they’re competing for – but having him not lead gives at least gives them the ability to tell the audience that would like them to do something “Hey, that guy isn’t leading!”

  61. 61.

    Southern Beale

    February 17, 2013 at 1:24 pm

    @MikeJ:

    When Obama waits to see what the Republicans will offer the Republicans whine that he won’t put an offer forward. When Obama puts idea on the table, they whine that he didn’t wait for them.

    Heads they win, tails we lose. Funny how the news media still hasn’t grasped this yet.

  62. 62.

    Southern Beale

    February 17, 2013 at 1:26 pm

    @scav:

    The “tea party favorite” isn’t so favored these days, thanks to his jumping on board the anti-Hagel bandwagon. There’s been a TON of criticism that he’s lost his anti-interventionist Libertarian cred from far-right circles.

    Also, No, Rand Paul. You cannot win.

    Also read that Bobby Jindahl is definitely planning to run. Can’t wait to watch Hillary Clinton squash him like a bug under her boot.

  63. 63.

    Southern Beale

    February 17, 2013 at 1:31 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus, @Robin G., @scav:

    Funny thing, U.S. News & World Report ran that quote and omitted the part about the camps. I wonder why?

  64. 64.

    srv

    February 17, 2013 at 1:32 pm

    @dingdong:

    Why do goopers think that a cuban american is going to appeal to all hispanics?

    This is why the Canadian Cruz will be the candidate

  65. 65.

    Jeremy

    February 17, 2013 at 1:34 pm

    The republicans are not going to win over the Latino vote with immigration reform. People need to stop acting like minorities are stupid or one issue voters. African Americans, Latino’s,Asians, college educated professionals, women, etc. are more receptive to activist government. They support the policies of the Democratic party and specifically President Obama which is backed up by polling. Polling shows that Latino’s highly support the affordable care act.

    If the Republicans want to win over some of the Obama Coalition (which is now the new majority coalition) they have to move to the center and adapt some of the democrats positions.

  66. 66.

    Heliopause

    February 17, 2013 at 1:36 pm

    Rubio and his pals have to thread a pretty tight needle. They need to sign on to some sort of immigration reform but they have to keep Obama from getting any of the credit, meanwhile reassuring the xenophobe wing of the party that they aren’t being sold out. Good luck with that (not really).

  67. 67.

    Ash Can

    February 17, 2013 at 1:38 pm

    Idiot poster-boy for Republican tokenism says what? He can get back to us when he develops the speaking skills and smarts-on-his-feet of the garden-variety high school upperclassman.

  68. 68.

    J.D. Rhoades

    February 17, 2013 at 1:39 pm

    @GregB:

    Marco Rubio gets to mouth touch on immigration platitudes knowing full well that people of his ethnic group have a very easy policy when it comes to their coming to America.
    Fairness in immigration.

    If they can divide the Latino vote, that’ll still be a win for them.

  69. 69.

    Jeremy

    February 17, 2013 at 1:40 pm

    @scav: The GOP will never win on the West Coast or the North East with a libertarian message. If Rand Paul and others believe that then they are dumber than I thought.

    The only way republicans can win in those regions is by returning back to the liberal – moderate (Rockefeller republican) positions they once had.

  70. 70.

    Josie

    February 17, 2013 at 1:53 pm

    @srv: Ted Cruz’ Hispanic heritage is also Cuban. His father was a Cuban immigrant.

  71. 71.

    Chris

    February 17, 2013 at 1:58 pm

    @Southern Beale:

    It’s amazing how many members of the party that whines about other people “getting free rides” are themselves getting free rides. All projection, assigning your own issues to the people you hate.

  72. 72.

    Spaghetti Lee

    February 17, 2013 at 2:05 pm

    @scav:

    “We support a smaller, less aggressive government, one that rounds up and deports millions of people with no oversight and no trial! That’s the small government I dream of!”

    Has a coherent thought ever penetrated Sen. Paul’s weaselly little noggin?

  73. 73.

    Alex S.

    February 17, 2013 at 2:08 pm

    @Hill Dweller:

    But to keep power, they must engage with Latinos, or try to suppress the vote… I think there are real conflicts within that party between those who understand and those who don’t understand or don’t care. I wonder where Marco Rubio is. He probably doesn’t know either.

    @Sly:

    Yes, I agree. All through 2011/early 2012 I thought that Obama will be reelected, because in the end, the winner of the republican primary will be incompatible with the national electorate.

  74. 74.

    Chris

    February 17, 2013 at 2:08 pm

    @Jeremy:

    The republicans are not going to win over the Latino vote with immigration reform. People need to stop acting like minorities are stupid or one issue voters.

    There’s a whole pyramid of things that Republican voters have to believe simply because to believe otherwise would mean that they were wrong on some level. Among these is the belief that the only reason anyone else might not vote for their self-evidently awesome platform is out of stupidity, tribalism or free handouts. Therefore, get a Mexican up there (okay, Cuban, but what’s the difference, amirite?) and all the other Mexicans will flock to him, and get him to say a few pretty words about immigration (that’s the handout that Mexicans care about, right?) and voila.

    To consider any other possibility would mean examining a few rather unpleasant things, like 1) maybe These People aren’t all as stupid as we think, 2) maybe everything we’ve been saying really is racist and scaring them away, 3) maybe they’re the ones seeing things clearly and we’re the ones voting out of a sense of tribalism and paranoia… etc etc etc.

  75. 75.

    Pooh

    February 17, 2013 at 2:11 pm

    Semi ot: Lindsey thinks cutting Obamacare to avoid the sequester is a good idea. So in addition to military spending, HMO profits don’t matter/count when discussing that existential threat of our times, the deficit.

    I really think that they have an “internal scoring” system, like the CBO which instead measures the degree of liberal outrage and disbelief.

  76. 76.

    Ash Can

    February 17, 2013 at 2:11 pm

    @J.D. Rhoades: As Southern Beale noted above, the Latino vote is already divided in this way, and has been for a long time. Latinos who are more affluent and who fled leftist persecution will be reliably conservative and Republican, other Latinos not so much.

  77. 77.

    Chris

    February 17, 2013 at 2:15 pm

    @J.D. Rhoades:

    Losing every Latino demographic other than Cubans isn’t “dividing the Latino vote” so much as it is “maintaining the status quo,” so not that much of a win for the GOP.

    @Jeremy:

    The GOP will never win on the West Coast or the North East with a libertarian message. If Rand Paul and others believe that then they are dumber than I thought.

    I assume that means they’re shooting for the socially liberal but economically conservative demographic. It’ll win over a few upper middle class white pot smokers, but that’s about it.

    @Spaghetti Lee:

    This guy is fast-tracking it up the list of “People Chris Hates.” His dad’s just a scam artist, content to sit on the sidelines collecting votes and money from loons without ever having to do anything. But Junior appears to actually want an active role in the teabagger movement. Yech.

  78. 78.

    quannlace

    February 17, 2013 at 2:15 pm

    Since he’s become the cover boy for the GOP, has he yet to express one original thought that might make him stand out from the monolithic pablum of the Party.

  79. 79.

    PurpleGirl

    February 17, 2013 at 2:16 pm

    @Southern Beale: Not only were there very different rules for Cubans to enter the US, but many of the children of that first group who came after Castro took power got college grant money and didn’t have to pay for college. My college boyfriend got a free ride from the federal government. He also finally became a citizen because he was a physicist and if he wanted to do certain work he needed to pass security reviews and for that he needed to be a citizen. It’s possible that otherwise he might not have become a citizen; I don’t believe his parents ever did.

  80. 80.

    Chris

    February 17, 2013 at 2:19 pm

    @Alex S.:

    I wonder where Marco Rubio is. He probably doesn’t know either.

    I think a lot of their politicians are simply trying to keep their head above the water and survive amidst the conflicting currents of changing national demographics and teabagger rage. Sure, they may realize that something’s gotta give, but eh, that’s somebody else’s problem.

  81. 81.

    katie5

    February 17, 2013 at 2:26 pm

    @Cacti: “Cubans have always been the special snowflakes of US immigration policy” will ricochet around my brain all day today.

  82. 82.

    Jeremy

    February 17, 2013 at 2:26 pm

    @Chris: True ! Good points. We know the GOP will never self- evaluate.

  83. 83.

    Jeremy

    February 17, 2013 at 2:30 pm

    @Chris: Dropping the social conservatism would be a step in the right direction and win over some. But saying I still want to gut vital government programs, privatize public assets, and create a tax system which rewards the rich and hurts everyone else will not sell on the West coast and Northeast.

  84. 84.

    Chris

    February 17, 2013 at 2:46 pm

    @Jeremy:

    Does it even fly in the South or far West? How much support was there for privatizing Social Security in these places when Bush tried to force that through? Or for the Ryan Plan? Even those who believe in these things on general principle find reasons not to like that particular plan when push comes to shove.

    They’d really be far better off if they simply acknowledged once and for all that the New Deal and Great Society are here to stay – even most of their party believes that, even if they won’t say it out loud. But then they wouldn’t be conservatives.

  85. 85.

    scav

    February 17, 2013 at 2:52 pm

    Seems at least part f their basic plan is to make their pitch to the LCD stereotypes they’ve used to demonize their opponents for the last gazillion years. Clint will woo the empty-chair Obama, others will flirt with the druggie west coast while still more haul out the exotic crayola crayons to prove their diversity.

    Gotta wonder if they’ve met many actual people (beyond their cadre, donors and pre-screened base members) or whether we’re as foreign as grocery scanners to them.

  86. 86.

    Misterpuff

    February 17, 2013 at 3:03 pm

    @Jeremy: Libertarian Dream = Corporate Fascism

    Immigration takes over FEMA camps, but free drugs for all.

  87. 87.

    Kropadope

    February 17, 2013 at 3:09 pm

    @scav: Does Paul realize that rounding people up in camps and deporting them isn’t very Libertarian. In fact, it’s rather authoritarian, much like his plans to criminalize abortion. The only freedom he wants to give people is the freedom to segregate lunch counters and the freedom for the rich to steal from the poor.

  88. 88.

    JPL

    February 17, 2013 at 3:13 pm

    @Kropadope: Great comment. You could post that on the news site. just sayin!

  89. 89.

    FlipYrWhig

    February 17, 2013 at 3:15 pm

    @Pooh: that’s because Republicans who talk about “the deficit” don’t mean the deficit as an actual budgetary matter assessed by mathematics. They mean “too much money going to lazy moochers.”

  90. 90.

    Chris

    February 17, 2013 at 3:22 pm

    @Kropadope:

    More rights for “the right people,” less for the underclass. Actually, more rights for the Right People to do whatever they want to the underclass. Sounds exactly like libertarianism to me, at least what it’s come to mean in this country. They’re not anarchists, much less liberals.

  91. 91.

    catclub

    February 17, 2013 at 3:22 pm

    @srv: “Canadian Cruz”

    Does that go with Canada Dry Crub soda?

  92. 92.

    Kropadope

    February 17, 2013 at 3:25 pm

    @JPL: What news site, now?

  93. 93.

    catclub

    February 17, 2013 at 3:26 pm

    @PurpleGirl: “I don’t believe his parents ever did. ”

    This. His parent still believe they are going back and will reclaim their old hacienda, the casino, and the country.
    No point in becoming US citizens.

  94. 94.

    JPL

    February 17, 2013 at 3:28 pm

    @efgoldman: Hillary is 65 and I think she’ll run. My dream is that Kennedy steps down and Obama appoints her to the Supreme Court. The republicans would not dare filibuster her. The odds are that Ginsburg retires first though.

  95. 95.

    Yutsano

    February 17, 2013 at 3:31 pm

    @JPL: I’d be okay with her taking Ginsburg’s place. I could, however, see quite a bit of opposition to her. A) it’s Hillary, she gets under Republican skins almost as good as Obama does and B) she doesn’t have much in the way of a legal career to back her up. She’s not even barred in DC, which actually doesn’t matter for SCOTUS. It would just be ammo used against her.

  96. 96.

    JPL

    February 17, 2013 at 3:32 pm

    @Kropadope: USNews
    In order to comment you have to have facebook, aol, yahoo or hotmail. That list disqualified me.

  97. 97.

    JPL

    February 17, 2013 at 3:34 pm

    @Yutsano: Nationwide Hillary is so popular, I think it would hurt the republicans if they tried to stop the nomination. That’s why I’m hoping that a majority member steps down.

  98. 98.

    Kropadope

    February 17, 2013 at 3:39 pm

    @JPL: Good looks, I did it.

  99. 99.

    Johnnybuck

    February 17, 2013 at 3:41 pm

    @Yutsano: I think it would be interesting to see how they handle this. One would think she’d have a pretty smooth confirmation if they truly feared her as a Presidential candidate since putting her on the court would rule that out. On the other hand, nominating her probably rules that out anyway, but fillibustering her might lead to the Warren effect where she opts to run and engenders much sympathy from the body politic.

    I think they would hate being put in that position.

  100. 100.

    Yutsano

    February 17, 2013 at 3:44 pm

    @Johnnybuck: In that case she’d be better off replacing a Kennedy or a Scalia rather than Ginsburg. But anyone Obama puts up now will have a tough nomination fight. He keeps hurting their delicate fee-fees, after all.

  101. 101.

    Villago Delenda Est

    February 17, 2013 at 3:46 pm

    @Southern Beale:

    Heads they win, tails we lose. Funny how the news media still hasn’t grasped this yet.

    The Villagers are paid very well not to grasp that.

  102. 102.

    Villago Delenda Est

    February 17, 2013 at 3:47 pm

    @Chris:

    They are neofeudalists.

  103. 103.

    Johnnybuck

    February 17, 2013 at 3:47 pm

    @Yutsano: They might actually prefer Hillary in that case because of her age, but it would put them in a really difficult spot.

  104. 104.

    Hoodie

    February 17, 2013 at 3:48 pm

    How much you want to bet that “leak” was designed to deflate any notions that Rubio is for immigration reform? That meme had been gaining traction among the village morons, time to shoot it down. Let Rubio whine, it seems to be his normal mode. Anyway, as someone noted above, the Republicans are not going to gain much traction immigration reform. Immigrant groups are poor and/or disrespected (like women), and that won’t change as long as the GOP is the party of FYIGM.

  105. 105.

    MikeJ

    February 17, 2013 at 3:50 pm

    I’d prefer it if he named Chelsea. I want somebody who will be on the bench a good, loooong time.

  106. 106.

    Hill Dweller

    February 17, 2013 at 3:52 pm

    I think Clinton would be an awful choice for the SC. There are younger, smarter people, who would have a longer lasting impact on the court, Obama can nominate.

  107. 107.

    Johnnybuck

    February 17, 2013 at 3:54 pm

    @Hoodie: I think this is exactly what’s going on. I have felt for some time that Rubio is being set-up for a big fall.

  108. 108.

    Southern Beale

    February 17, 2013 at 3:59 pm

    This is sad:

    Chicago teenager shot and killed after sister attends Obama speech on guns

    Sister of 18-year-old Janay McFarlane sat behind the president during speech about gun control hours before sibling died

    A Chicago teenager was shot and killed just hours after her sister sat on a stage behind Barack Obama, listening to the president appeal for tighter gun controls.

    Janay McFarlane, 18, died from a gunshot would to the head following an incident shortly before midnight on Friday, Lake County coroner Thomas Rudd told the Chicago Sun-Times.

    […]

    Among those listening to the address at Hyde Park Career Academy was McFarlane’s 14-year-old sister. Just hours later she would be mourning the death of her sister.

    McFarlane’s mother, Angela Blakely, said Sunday: “I really feel like somebody cut a part of my heart out.”

    Blakely said the bullet that killed McFarlane was meant for a friend. McFarlane was supposed to graduate from an alternative school this spring, her mother said, and wanted to go into the culinary arts.

    I cannot even imagine.

  109. 109.

    Higgs Boson's Mate

    February 17, 2013 at 4:00 pm

    @scav:

    Gotta wonder if they’ve met many actual people (beyond their cadre, donors and pre-screened base members) or whether we’re as foreign as grocery scanners to them.

    When everything that you espouse flows from the inexhaustible fount of conservative a priori knowledge talking to anyone, or listening to anyone, who might brandish a fact or two is apostasy.

  110. 110.

    catclub

    February 17, 2013 at 4:03 pm

    @PurpleGirl: “I don’t believe his parents ever did. ”

    This. His parent still believe they are going back and will reclaim their old hacienda, the gambling establishment, and the country.
    No point in becoming US citizens.

    ETA: fixed FYWP word to de-moderate.

  111. 111.

    PsiFighter37

    February 17, 2013 at 4:03 pm

    @Southern Beale: Wayne LaPierre would say this wouldn’t have happened if there was a good guy with a gun nearby.

    Sad, but entirely predictable…

  112. 112.

    Chris

    February 17, 2013 at 4:14 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    Well. You say potato…

    @Johnnybuck:

    I have felt for some time that Rubio is being set-up for a big fall.

    That’s plausible. It certainly seem to be what Herman Cain was for – give them twenty minutes of “look look we DO TOO have a black friend!” in the hopes that it’ll help their we’re-not-racist cred, then away with him already.

  113. 113.

    Kropadope

    February 17, 2013 at 4:28 pm

    Rubio’s proposal in going to be a “W.”esque means of making illegals into 3/5 of a citizen, thus not making them subject to our labor laws and screwing over them and the middle class simultaneously by cheapening labor more than our current “don’t look, eat well” policy.
    Republicans will, of course, eat this up. Democrats will either acquiesce, making our economy one step closer to being China’s, or they will stand against this ploy, opening them up to political attacks about being uncompromising. Heads the Rs win, tails will be determined at the ballot-box. It will depend on the spread of truthful information and logic. I’m not hopeful.

  114. 114.

    Joel

    February 17, 2013 at 4:34 pm

    The Republican SOTU-R has often been an exercise in tokenism:

    Christine Todd Whitman
    J.C. Watts
    Jennifer Dunn
    Susan Collins

    The only SOTU-R speaker to get the candidacy was Bob Dole, for what it’s worth.

  115. 115.

    PurpleGirl

    February 17, 2013 at 4:43 pm

    @efgoldman: I really don’t think many of the Russian Jewish immigrants planned on going back to the old country. I know some of my Sicilian relatives did go back, but that back in the 1960s.

    But the old Cubans did have this dream that they’d be able to go back and reinstitute everything except Baptista. These were were upper middle class or plutocrats from both public and private sectors. My boyfriend’s father, for example, was a upper level official and all the diplomatic pouches went through his office. When they came here, they even brought with them several old family servants.

  116. 116.

    Tripod

    February 17, 2013 at 4:55 pm

    If Obama had faced the 2000 Florida electorate the last go around, he would have lost the state. Those old Cuban reactionaries are dying and their grand-kids are a bunch of ingrate liberals. Miami-Dade used to be competitive for Republicans – Romney got his ass kicked. But then, places like Cook County IL, and Los Angeles County used to have large GOP voter blocs….

  117. 117.

    MattF

    February 17, 2013 at 5:02 pm

    @PurpleGirl: Funny you should ask. My great-grandfather went back to Ukraine– didn’t like it here. Fortunately, all of my grandparents disagreed.

  118. 118.

    Chris

    February 17, 2013 at 5:21 pm

    @Tripod:

    Those old Cuban reactionaries are dying and their grand-kids are a bunch of ingrate liberals.

    The parents want to go home, but the kids don’t. Their whole lives are here. They think of themselves as Americans and their politics are defined by growing up in America. (Funny how being “more American” than your parents translates to being more liberal as well…)

  119. 119.

    KP

    February 17, 2013 at 8:04 pm

    @a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q):

    “Rubio” is definitely not a “brown” name. If the last name were “Moreno.” then let’s talk. However, “Rubio” is about the whitest Spanish surname you could have.

  120. 120.

    Another Halocene Human

    February 17, 2013 at 11:28 pm

    @Chris: What that means is that he still had a dram of shame to remember what Bernard Baruch did for the United States of America, but he’s not decent enough to extend a tiny ray of tolerance to Sicilian tailors, German merchants and other Ungewunschte Leute.

  121. 121.

    cat48

    February 18, 2013 at 12:15 am

    I’m just not impressed by Rubio. He’s constantly whining and I find that annoying. They keep calling him the “Republican Obama”, but Obama is not a whiner. Frankly, I think Obama was a bit smarter at that age, too. No offense, whiny Rubio!

    Edit: He’s short too! heh

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