The newest wingnut endeavor:
Rep. Jack Kingston’s (R-Ga.) has rapidly signed up 99 co-sponsors for his Czar Accountability and Reform Act of 2009, which I wrote about last week. All but one of them are Republicans: the member of the majority party backing Kingston’s crusade to prevent presidential advisers who haven’t been approved by the Senate from collecting salaries is Rep. William Clay (D-Mo.).
From wikipedia:
Also according to wikipedia, this:
Turdblossom wasn’t the only nickname Karl Rove had. Another nickname for him was “Domestic Policy Czar.”
I understand that consistency is not the Republican strongpoint. But would it have really hurt for them to wait a year before going batshit insane? Even most of America still remembers the last eight years, but they are going to the full monty with the nonsense anyway. I mean seriously, what is left for them to do? How do you top the last couple of months? Release a competing budget with no numbers?
Oh, nevermind.
(via)
*** Update ***
If the Republicans really were concerned with fiscal responsibility, they would stop making up so much shit that someone has to be employed full time by the White House refuting their lies.
*** Update #2 ***
Apparently Clay’s inclusion on the list was a clerical error.
MikeJ
Wikipedia is written by whoever has the least amount of productive work to do.
Roger Moore
Fixed that for you. I think it’s a much more likely explanation for Republican behavior than your suggestion.
dmsilev
Yes yes, but since George W. Bush has been retroactively declared a liberal (just like his commie pinko dad), Real Conservative Republic Manly Men (aka Ronald Reagan) have only appointed one czar, whereas effete liberal girlymen and islamofascists have appointed roughly 80 of them.
Checking my Secret Wingnut Decoder Ring, that makes Obama Rasputin.
-dms
Dreggas
they’re in a total negative feedback loop. For years they have been told not to trust the “mainstream media” and instead trust only Fox News and talk radio. This has spilled over to teh interwebs where they are told to trust only a certain list of blogs and news sites and so they do just that. They are continually fed the same shit day in and day out and they swallow it up.
They claim they stand for individual liberty but in reality they are one of the largest groups of rigid minded conformists there are. There’s a reason they’re called kool-aid drinkers and glen beck is slowly becoming the Jim Jones of our time.
Dreggas
@dmsilev:
if only he were Rasputin then maybe they’d have something to bitch about.
dmsilev
@MikeJ:
I tried to check Conservapedia for ‘czar’, but the whole website seems to be dead at the moment. I blame ACORN.
-dms
General Winfield Stuck
Wait till Obama non-announces his Wingnut Internment Czar, his Mental Health Czar, (also Shit House Rat Crazy Winger Extermination Strike Force), and finally his Lame Meme Czar.
And why can’t we have some Czarina’s. It is post-feminista we live in. Catherine the Great was some bad ass kicker after all.
slag
You know, John, if you were even the least bit objective, you wouldn’t use any quantitative data whatsoever.
General Winfield Stuck
@slag:
AKA — A lot more right wing bullshit.
slag
Also, the term czar sucks. Always has. Isn’t there another, more appropriate term? Manager, advisor, director?
JackieBinAZ
slag
@General Winfield Stuck:
Isn’t that what “objective” means?
Rosali
The biggest insult ever was when Rove was named the Hurricane Katrina reconstruction czar. What did he accomplish in that role?
ed
The ad banner above this post certainly confirms the old adage of “anything of value has a price,”
AhabTRuler
This country is going down the toilet sideways…and all the Repub’s can do is press the FF>> button.
slag
@slag: I got it! “Ninja”!
Dreggas
They’re all conspiring against poor Orly…
Mark S.
Bush had an “abstinence czar”?
(who was of course implicated in an escort service bust)
OniHanzo
@slag:
It’s got my vote.
OniHanzo
There damn well better be shuriken and exploding tests, though. Article VI, section 3 of the Constitution DOES NOT prohibit that.
OniHanzo
Exploding powder. Damn you, non-edit-function!
General Winfield Stuck
That be the Lame Meme Czar. Damn that was quick.
slag
@Mark S.: ACORN built that escort service from the ground up with your hard-earned tax dollars. Bush’s poor, helpless abstinence czar just happened to be walking by and got lured in by ACORN’s sexy, sexy sex workers. Personally, I blame Obama for that.
tc125231
@Roger Moore: Aw, they don’t need no stinking sheet!
They are high on dumb.
Leelee for Obama
@Mark S.: My eyes are tearing up, I’m laughing so hard. How perfect that is!
Roger Moore
@slag:
Some time ago, The Economist made the same complaint and decided that the correct English term for the position is “supremo”. They now use that term instead. I’m just waiting for the wingnuts to decide that they should start calling them “führers” instead.
tc125231
@slag: Absopositively. It’s a technical term in Wingnutia.
General Winfield Stuck
@Mark S.:
Wouldn’t it be cool if he was also somehow involved with ACORN.
Epic battle in the War On Irony.
Roger Moore
@tc125231:
No, they’re high on Jesus- or at least the violent, intolerant version of Jesus they teach about in wingnut churches.
Shell
There you go, trying to confuse them with the facts, again. Don’t you know the past eight years are all a little hazy now?
Looks like Rove is a little confused on the proper method of picking your nose. Index finger extended, and ‘up yours’, Karl.
Leelee for Obama
@General Winfield Stuck: Still laughing, thanks Stuck. That was teh funny too!
Shell
“English term for the position is “supremo”. ”
Isn’t that a kind of pizza?
General Winfield Stuck
@slag:
Haw, you beat me to it.
thefncrow
John, the wikipedia table is even less meaningful than it looks, because the tracking of “czars” is done by just having an executive-level official referred to as a “czar” by a news organization.
So, when the wingnuts focus on Obama and his “czars”, and they throw in a “czar” who had never been called as such before? Chalk one more up on the board. Similarly, if I wrote for AP, I could write a story that referred to Andy Card as the “staff czar”, to Rumsfeld as the “torture czar”, and to Alberto as the “wiretapping czar”, and you could ring up an additional +3 on W’s “czars”.
So, since the right wing has focused on the “czars”, they’ve quite likely inflated this count to begin with.
mcd
I predict when we reach Peak Wingnut it will be much like “Timequake” in that we’ll skip back to 2000 and have to relive the whole damned thing over again.
I, for one, am not going through this a second time. No matter what Free Will says.
The Grand Panjandrum
John a couple threads back you had that classic Chappelle “Race Draft” skit up and I laughed my ass off because the wingnuts really are that pathetic and decidedly unfunny. You all this shit comes down to just how fucking pathetic and absolutely wrong they have been–about everything. Everything.
I know this thread isn’t about race, and if someone already posted this in comments I apologize but TNC wrote something today that might be just as good as anything Obama talked about in his famous speech on race.
I know alot of the commentariat here reads TNC, but if you are one of the few who don’t I encourage you to at least read this post.
If the race-baiting and thinly veiled racism I see cropping up every day is wearing my ass out, I can only imagine what it must be like for a person of color. We spend a lot of time ranting and even enjoying the sideshow here in the comments, but I for one am sick and tired of these disgraceful people. I don’t care if they are afraid they might be losing something. How do we marginalize the bigots and racists?
Sorry to get so far off topic but the TNC piece got to me.
Laura W
@The Grand Panjandrum:
I, for one, would like you to revoke your apology and let us thank you for refocusing us on the real truth of the matter.
It’s not funny. It’s not fodder for ridicule or mockery. It’s nauseating, terrifying, depressing as all hell, and lethally dangerous.
Sorry to get so far off topic.
Mike P
@The Grand Panjandrum: I read that TNC post this morning and have been thinking about those last three lines all day. He knocked that out of the ballpark.
Brian J
When people wonder why I think I can’t imagine voting for a Republican right now, perhaps I should use this as an example. Out of all the pointless wastes of time, this has to be near the top. Why is Jack Kingston such a dumbshit?
Mike in NC
Birth certificates, ACORN, “czars”. Simply nonsensical shit the wingers pick up from talk radio. Next week the outrage will be about Obama’s dog getting free government health care.
geg6
The Grand Panjandrum: Apologize? No way! Bravo, dude. That is one of the most real posts on all the Toobz. And, yes, that TNC post is as moving and thought-provoking this second time I read it.
Leelee for Obama
@geg6: Hey geg, someone on GOS posted about that Louisiana guy this evening-the response was pretty much what we felt-they were gonna try to YouTube it.
Wilson Heath
Y’know, I would have to guess that this falls into the separation of powers part of federalism. There are really strong implications if Article II can take measures that hobble Article I.
Angus
thefncrow has it exactly right. Many of the so-called “czars” in the Wikipedia chart are only called such because right-wing media outlets have called them czars. Positions that have been around for decades are now for the first time called “czars” only for Obama. Positions like “special envoy” for diplomats, which started under George Washington for crissakes, are now called “czars” for the first time ever.
The whole “czar” meme is invented by the media and right-wing agitators.
stinkwrinkle
I have always thought that “czar” was a really dumbass title, and if it takes a few cousin-humping Republicans to lay that term to rest, so be it.
mr squirrel
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/The-Truth-About-Czars/
Reality Check: The Truth About “Czars”
Posted by Anita Dunn
Reality Check
Last week, when the President addressed the Joint Session of Congress in a speech on health reform, he referred to some of the untruths – okay, lies – that have been spread about the plan and sent a clear message to those who seek to undermine his agenda and his presidency with these tactics: “We will call you out.” So consider this one of those calls.
Over the past several weeks, we’ve seen with increasing frequency and volume issues raised around the use of “czars” by this Administration. Although some Members have asked serious questions around the makeup of the White House staff, the bulk of the noise you hear began first with partisan commentators, suggesting that this is somehow a new and sinister development that threatens our democracy. This is, of course, ridiculous. Just to be clear, the job title “czar” doesn’t exist in the Obama Administration. Many of the officials cited by conservative commentators have been confirmed by the Senate. Many hold policy jobs that have existed in previous Administrations. And some hold jobs that involved coordinating the work of agencies on President Obama’s key policy priorities: health insurance reform, energy and green jobs, and building a new foundation for long-lasting economic growth
DougL (frmrly: Conservatively Liberal)
Yes, it would have. As I said after Obama won, I am going to enjoy seeing (and sad to say, I have) wingnut heads exploding across the country. There is no way these assholes could contain themselves. With these fuckwits politics isn’t the art of the possible, it’s outright take-no-prisoners war. Life or death, no holds barred winner take all. It’s their way or the highway, they are not going to work with the evil others (anyone not like them) who they believe are the enemy of our country and work with terrorists. Especially not with that BLACK GUY in the WHITE HOUSE who “pals around with terrorists!”
There are various groups who oppose Obama for various reasons but the problem for the legitimate critics of Obama is that they are joining up with the crazies and racists to oppose him. It’s a if you hate, oppose or want Obama dead, come join in our fun party! Come (to oppose The) One, Come All! This seems like a shortsighted the enemy of my enemy is my friend embrace and I think it is poisonous both to the Republican party and our nation.
There are various legitimate (from their point of view anyway) reasons to oppose this president and his administration but it would be ignorant to say that racial intolerance and hatred isn’t one of them. I believe it is the driving force in the current public discourse.
arguingwithsignposts
I like it when they do these kind of co-sponsored bullshit bills. It makes it easier to spot teh crazy and work to drive it out of office.
arguingwithsignposts
@DougL (frmrly: Conservatively Liberal):
Well, I can’t say I’ve enjoyed it. I just wish payback was more of a bitch like advertised. They suffer no noticeable consequences and pretty much keep on screaming. Hell, I think they like being the permanent minority, as it fits their asshole dispositions better (They’re overgrown Cartmans: “Screw you guys, I’m going home!”)
Woodrow "asim" Jarvis Hill
@The Grand Panjandrum: No, there is Absolutely no Need To Apologize for bringing it.
I have the Right-Wingers on my Facebook SCREAMING about being accused of racism, saying “they” are accused of being racist “just for opposing Obama.” I’m reading around, trying to find these accusations by anyone of import in the Democratic Party, and…well, you know how far that goes.
It’s…beyond mind-boggling. It is, as a African-American who (unlike most of these bastards) actually worked for a Conservative, Strom Thurmond, as a kid — it’s terrifying. And I can’t get them to see how this plays out, can’t even reason like I used to. Just starting the discussion makes my stomach knot, makes me want to weep. Just thinking about having to, one more time, prove the basics of how the GOP interacts with African-Americans, explore the hell that is the outcome and reality of the Souther Strategy….and realizing that these discussions are with people who deny and foist off and claim that actually pointing out crap racial attitudes is “playing the race card”, and that THAT — and not calling someone a “watermelon eater” — is somehow the worst evil, because they just wanna talk, come on, don’t take it so serious, you know we aren’t racist…
…but we’re not going to do a damned thing about the people we’re allied with who ARE spewing hate. And that, in the long run, is what hurts the most. I understand and accept that people are prejudiced against me because of the color of my skin. You’d be amazed how living with it in South Carolina for nearly 20 years, and then with “white liberal guilt” in Mass for college, and then back to NC, can make you OK with something that’s pretty fucking horrific.
But as God is my witness, I cannot grasp why these so-called “moderate” Conservatives can’t understand how Rush and his ilk represent the hurtful, hateful face of the GOP,and how that face is what the mainstream thinks of the GOP now.
Unlike a lot of people, I don’t think they “hate” Blacks. I think it’s far more complex…but I also think they are, at best, beyond clueless, and throughly unaware of how much their silence towards they fellow party members hurts people who do want to make common cause, or at least a common conversation.
Anyway. Thanks again, because fuck yes, it hurts.
Ash Can
At this point I simply wonder if there’s anything the Republicans won’t be throwing against the wall to see if it sticks.
Sm*t Cl*de
There damn well better be shuriken and exploding tests, though.
I am disappointed by the lack of ‘exploding testes’ clips on Youtube.
gocart mozart
The above #46 was posted by an ACORN staffer.
gocart mozart
Do you know who else hated Czars, Lenin and Trotsky that’s who. I find that interesting.
gocart mozart
It is a made up title. I could just as easily say that Obama has a Culinary Czar to cook his food and a Janitorial Czar to scrub his toilet. We do need a Shit Moat Czar though to build a giant moat of shit around the Republican party. You know, to protect the children. . . and little kittens. Don’t forget the kittens.
Nellcote
@The Grand Panjandrum:
>If the race-baiting and thinly veiled racism I see cropping up every day is wearing my ass out, I can only imagine what it must be like for a person of color.
Speaking for myself, it’s felt like a dagger to the heart each and every time for months now. My fear for the personal safety of the Prez. and his family is never far from from my thoughts. I’m grateful to Jimmy Carter for the simple honesty in finally speaking up. I have the sad though that his remarks were immediately distorted by (most of) the media.
gocart mozart
OT but Oily Taint has lost her case and the judge ripped her a new one. You can read the decision here.
http://ftpcontent.worldnow.com/wtvm/ConnieRhodesvsArmy.pdf
latts
@Woodrow “asim” Jarvis Hill:
Sure, just like “liberal guilt,” which often boils down to social anxiety in some form or another. But what they do… not hate necessarily, but resent, is anyone who doesn’t validate their self-image, whose existence mars the reflection they feel entitled to see in the mirror. And more often than not, people revise the reflection to their even greater advantage instead of accepting the flaws. Think of it as a sort of Michael Jackson-level plastic-surgery addiction, except in sociopolitical terms instead of strictly physical ones.
Okay, that might be a bit too strange an analogy. But my Grand Unified Theory of Conservatism essentially rests on what I see as excessive self-regard. The Jon Chait piece at TNR on Randism/objectivism on the right said it nicely:
Mike P
I don’t know if anyone happened across this today, but check out Megan McArdle’s (sensible) post on the lastest Limbaugh dustup and the massive pushback against her by the commenters. Am I missing something or is Rush really just lampooning liberal hysteria on this issue? (TIC)
arguingwithsignposts
@Mike P:
Even her comment is full of false equivalency:
She’s never heard “wicked” before, but she knows about “horrible bullying” in Reagan’s America?
I guess we’re supposed to give her a bone for hating Limbaugh, but that’s a hypothetical, not a statistic.
Nellcote
@arguingwithsignposts:
>since at least 1978.
??? What’s magical about 1978?
arguingwithsignposts
@Nellcote: I assume that’s when she read “Atlas Shrugged.” :)
RareSanity
@The Grand Panjandrum:
For me (did I need to say I’m a black guy?), what is so soul suffocatingly painful, is to watch national political leaders not only tacitly approve of this disgraceful behavior, but to explicitly condone and encourage it.
These are the same people that want affirmative action stricken from the books because “racism doesn’t hold minorities back anymore”.
I was having a conversation with my boss the other day when he made a comment that he didn’t understand why the instances of high blood pressure and hypertension where so much higher in blacks than whites. I told him, “Because having life’s most basic activities made more stressful be some bigoted asshole, adds up, and gives you hypertension. Things that my white counterparts don’t have to deal with.”
…deer in headlights…
So, you may ask what it may be like to see what is going on? I say, “It gets my blood pressure up.”
RareSanity
Dammit! No edit button…
The sentence was supposed to be “…stressful because of some”
That is all.
Left Coast Tom
@arguingwithsignposts:
1978 is when the Religious Right decided that Democrats were Satan, because the Carter administration floated the idea that institutions which won’t recognize civil rights as defined in federal law shouldn’t get federal tax breaks for their donations.
Why anyone would bring 1978 up in the context of justifiably bashing Limbaugh for (continuing to walllow in) racism is beyond me. Maybe McCardle would care to explain it.
Mike in NC
McMegan’s obviously not a Bostonian…
arguingwithsignposts
@Mike in NC:
LOL!
@Left Coast Tom:
Thanks for that. I was still in jr. high at the time, so didn’t quite get the connection. And I could pull up “from non-vivid memory” bullying that went back waaaaay farther than 1978.
Soylent Green
When all of his followers cheerfully line up to drink poison and die, then you can compare Beck to Jim Jones.
Or they can all put on their matching Nikes and take a nice phenobarb ride to their flying saucer, whichever. Either approach works for me.
Sadly, the craziest of these loons are more likely to take someone else’s life than their own.
Roger Moore
@Nellcote:
It was when McMegan started school and started to see bullying firsthand. She can’t personally vouch for anything before then because she didn’t see it first hand.
Mnemosyne
@Soylent Green:
Next time it’s on, catch the Jonestown episode of “American Experience” on PBS. Very few people there willingly committed suicide. It was more like, “Would you rather have a relatively quick death from cyanide or be hacked to death with machetes?” Jones separated out all of the children from their parents and killed them first. Squirted poison in the babies’ mouths and handed the dying infants back to their parents.
Yes, it gave me nightmares, especially since they played the audiotapes.
Anne Laurie
@Left Coast Tom:
Since it’s not the year she was born, I’d guess it was something like the year she started middle school and first noticed other kids getting bullied. (Probably because she was one of the born minions who set up the victims for the sixth-grade Alpha Bitches.)
kelly
fucking right wing hypocrite Russ Feingold:
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0909/27265.html
Michelle
I heard someone say on Keith Olbermann that the word “Czar” had no particular meaning. Every word has meaning and the word “Czar” is an inappropriate job description in our democracy. Get the right words to description the proper duties of a public servant and the problem is solved. I’m really glad that this issue was brought up even if by the right. It needs correcting for the benefit of all.