(Signe Wilkinson via GoComics.com)
Science fiction novelist Larry Niven wrote about a race of carnivorous aliens whose word for “diplomat” literally meant “Speaker to Animals”. I think of Dave Weigel as my “Speaker to Republicans”. He’s doing a wonderful job of covering the current GOP shutdown, including the GOP’s attempt to politicize the WWII Memorial:
The heartbreaking predicament of the Honor Flights emerged yesterday as a flash point for anti-shutdown anger. Quickly, inevitably, the story of elderly World War II veterans taking trips to see their memorial in D.C. became a political cause for Republicans. (I spent the morning at the memorial, with a story coming later today.) On Tuesday, Park Police put up very little resistence when a Mississippi-heavy crew of Honor Flight vets showed up and Mississippi Rep. Steven Palazzo moved a flimsy fence to let them in. Later in the day, conservatives glommed on to reports that the Park Police—i.e., the Obama administration—would handcuff future veteran-tourists….
At the memorial, Park Police put up no resistence to the protesters, allowing congressmen and Honor Flight organizers to move a fence and then telling reporters that the whole affair was a First Amendment exercise. That didn’t stop a series of congressmen from hectoring Park Police and demanding answers, as if they were not, themselves, capable of ending the shutdown.
Weigel’s also got a photo gallery of Tuesday’s sideshow:
… Rep. Michele Bachmann was the first member on site today, even though the delegations were not from Minnesota… At 11 a.m., when the Honor Flight-ers arrived, members of Congress gathered in front of the entrance closest to the tour buses and made a show of rolling back the barricade.
This was half-welcome, half-irritating. Sen. Claire McCaskill talked openly about how annoying it was for members of Congress whose states weren’t even represented in the delegation to take up space at the entrance.
It did look strange, at times, members of Congress folding into a crowd of veterans who, on a normal day, might only be accompanied by a local news crew. Here’s a shot of Honor Flight-ers singing “Amazing Grace,” joined by Sen. Pat Roberts and Rep. Kevin Yoder—the latter of “nude swim in the sea of Gallilee” fame….
Roy Edroso at Alicublog, another experienced observer, reports that the mid-range semi-pros of the Wingnut Wurlitzer — PJMedia, Judicial Watch, Breitbart.com — are busy convincing each other that this time, for sure, “Ben-geezer” will be the Obama Administration’s downfall. RNC Chairbeing Reince Preibus even made an offer to pay for private security guards to keep the monument open:
… Priebus also put in a bid to have the Martin Luther King Memorial taken away and broken up for driveway gravel. Hey, as long as he can pay for it, right?
Yatsuno
My kingdom for a copy editor…
sharl
Yeah, Weigel’s libertarian streak grates on me sometimes, and when I see a post title suggesting that womenfolk are going to be the topic, I get ready to cringe, though he probably only crashes and burns on those, I dunno, maybe 10% of the time (but just the same, dude should just pass a lot of those to Amanda Hess or Amanda Marcotte, assuming things can work that way at Slate).
I agree with you on this National parks bullshit though. He’s doing a good job, and it’s fun to watch his regular wingnutty followers being driven absolutely bug fuck crazy by his refusal to play the both-sides-do-it game. They were working him hard to highlight some (maybe) poorly uttered words by Sen. Claire McCaskill, but he wasn’t biting.
The more ambitious and highly paid (or really, really want to be) big media guns are more susceptible to that media ref working, e.g., Politico’s Dylan Byers was getting twitter-hammered by that Nolte dude over at Big Dead Andy’s place. Thing is, Weigel’s been getting clobbered by those jokers since his days at Reason; between that and his losing his WaPo job over that bullshit JournoList nontroversy, he’s got to have a really thick hide at this point.
? Martin
I am way too smitten with Janelle Monae. There’s just nothing that’s not awesome there.
Also, Samsung really fucked up. Apple is going to disembowel them.
MikeJ
It’s funny that Fox is trying to call the shutdown nothing and at the same time the worstest thing EVAR.
Amir Khalid
@MikeJ:
Let me guess: if you want to blame Republican intransigence, it won’t really hurt anyone, so you’re grumbling about nothing; but if you want to blame Obama and the Democrats, this will indeed hurt millions of innocent American people and businesses.
? Martin
@Amir Khalid: I think it comes down to Obama shut down the really critical parts of government – like the agencies that regulate lady-parts, hand out gun permits, and keep the WWII memorial open (but none of the other ones), while the GOP only shuts down the useless and socialist parts of government like the State Department and NIH.
BillinGlendaleCA
@? Martin: Sounds as though Samsung needs to hire better outside counsel and that Samsung needs a Chinese wall between their business operations and legal. I think you’re right that Samsung will be sanctioned, I’m not sure about the disemboweled part. The outside counsel will be lucky not to get disbarred.
OzarkHillbilly
@? Martin:
You forgot Social Security and Medicare.
robotswillstealyourjobs
Republican incompetence in messaging is something to behold. As I see it they’re trying to sell three contradictory narratives at once right now:
Narrative 1: “This terrible shutdown is hurting America and it’s Obama and the Democrat’s fault for unreasonably resisting our minor and well-considered demands!”
Narrative 2: “Hey, this shutdown business isn’t so bad. Everyone knows government bureaucrats just sit around playing Angry Birds all day… it’s practically a government slimdown! Slim is good right?”
Narrative 3: “WE MAKE OUR STAND HERE AGAINST COMMUNIST TYRANNY MY FELLOW SONS OF LIBERTY!!!! SHUT IT ALL DOWN TILL AMERICA RISES UP!!! MR OBAMA, TEAR DOWN THIS LAW!!!”
Various differing right-wing media outlets and spokespeople are pushing one (sometimes more) of these narratives, but trying to hold two of these narratives at once causes too much cognitive dissonance for the average person. So the right has lost the messaging war already.
OzarkHillbilly
@robotswillstealyourjobs:
It’s not so hard to do when you are schizophrenic.
robotswillstealyourjobs
@OzarkHillbilly:
Despite appearances, the average American isn’t schizophrenic. Which is why the Republicans’ strategy appears to be coming off as well, crazy to the general public.
BillinGlendaleCA
@OzarkHillbilly:
I saw an interview with Rep. Culberson (R-TX), where he said that the shutdown or not raising the debt limit would not effect Social Security or Medicare because they’re “Automatic”.
third of two
cough, ahem
In which the
Park Service rejects RNC’s offer to help reopen WWII Memorial
The National Park Service politely declined the Republican National Committee’s offer to keep the World War II memorial open for the next month.
Republicans have taken up the cause of ensuring access to the memorial ever since elderly veterans managed to make it past metal barricades Tuesday that were barring access to it because of the federal shutdown.Standing near the memorial Wednesday, RNC Chairman Reince Priebus criticized the Obama administration for blocking visiting veterans’ access to war memorials on the Mall. He said the committee had put aside money “to hire five security personnel to keep this memorial open to veterans and visitors,” and he invited the Democratic National Committee to share in the expense.
In an e-mail, National Park Service spokeswoman Jennifer Mummart said the agency had no choice but to reject the RNC’s donation.
Perhaps Mr Priebus would shell out some dough to uncrack the Liberty Bell. I don’t know what the NPS opinion on that would be, since the <a href="http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/irony?s=t"site is shut down…
Jamey
Understatement intentional? Roy Edroso deserves the same kind of love here that TBogg has earned. No, make that more. Outside of James Wollcott, there is no better writer of style and substance. Maybe if he started writing about his dogs…
/rant
PsiFighter37
@third of two: Fucking Republicans – willing to use the vets for props but not fund their healthcare. Assholes.
kc
No Weigel for me. I can’t read Slate since that crappy redesign.
At least I’ll no longer be tempted to click on any of those trolly headlines.
NotMax
@third of two
Two points:
1) (Federal park employees are not on strike, so the term used is inaccurate, serving only to put the situation in context.)
The Republicans are giddy to hire scab workers.
2) The offer of payment itself may not be, but the hiring of replacement staff, absent imminent threat to life or property, would almost certainly run afoul of the law.
Gretchen
My rep is “nude swim” Yoder. I went to call him yesterday, and he’s removed his office phone numbers from his website. He doesn’t want to hear dissenting views. He also isn’t putting much on Facebook, since the comments get pretty hot. It’s hard to believe everyone is with you when they keep telling you you’re a jerk.
gvg
I can’t believe how often they make a big fuss over over something trivial when there are big events going on. How can they be so divorced from reality as to make this a thing and not something like WIC? It would be so much harder for dems to stick to no more negotiation if the partial bills sent over were something like WIC funding not the park service. And I love the parks…I just don’t think they are as urgent now as WIC. There is something wrong with these peoples brains.
rdldot
As long as they’re going to pay for the guards, we should let the RNC pay for all the other agencies they think are important, and then the govt can pay for the rest. Budget problems solved.
Tripod
Buncha WWII fetishist bullshit. Everybody’s seen Band of Brothers, right?
Lincoln Memorial? Party of Lincoln? Anybody??
Gian
@third of two:
The GOP WWII memorial would need to include Like. That and w’s grandpa trading with the enemy
LittlePig
Not Speaker-to-Animals. Chmee. :)
Another Holocene Human
I guess it takes having a lot of money to have no class like the current crop of Republicans.
The fellating of the armed forces is just weird. Fascist. My parent’s generation had plenty of people who served, but we’re Catholic. I guess this is something coming from the evangelical churches.
danimal
@BillinGlendaleCA: b They won’t be automatic in about 14 days.
GOP confidence games only work when Dems get their britches in a bunch. In about 14 days, if the Dems don’t panic, the GOP will rout. Or destroy the world economy without any doubts that their actions are at fault. This is not a time for cozy Washington accomodation. This is time to destroy the GOP nihilism currently in vogue.
danimal
Damn I miss those EZ buttons for blockquotes. I need remediation.