He said this would be Obama’s Waterloo, and I agree!
That wasn’t so bad now, was it?
by John Cole| 91 Comments
This post is in: Republican Stupidity, Clown Shoes
He said this would be Obama’s Waterloo, and I agree!
That wasn’t so bad now, was it?
by John Cole| 74 Comments
This post is in: Republican Stupidity, Clown Shoes
As Democrats frantically tried to cobble together votes to pass their sweeping health care reform legislation Saturday, House Republicans began a victory lap of sorts.
First, in a meeting of the House Republican Conference, the GOP’s leadership rallied the troops with flourishing rhetoric about regaining the majority in the fall.
“I don’t know, quite frankly, whether victory will come on the third Sunday in March or on the first Tuesday in November, but victory will come,” House Republican Conference leader Mike Pence of Indiana told Republicans Saturday afternoon.
They honestly think they are going to take back the house despite the fact that the bill they claimed would kill America passed. The numbers for Democrats will only go up if this bill passes.
Republicans Everywhere Checking Their Mail For Their OJ PrizePost + Comments (74)
by Tim F| 160 Comments
This post is in: Domestic Politics, Politics, Republican Stupidity, Teabagger Stupidity, Wingnut Event Horizon
Per mcjoan at Daily Kos, I think it is important to re-emphasize that I’m not whipping the health care bill because I think that it’s perfect. Compared to what could have been, I wouldn’t even call it great. Here are three reasons why I will still go to the mat for it.
(1) Policy. Whatever you think about good ideas that never had a serious hearing, the bill unquestionably improves the status quo, in many cases by a country mile. Eliminating rescissions and pre-existing condition denials would by itself represent one of the most profound heath care reforms in U.S. history. Even Mary f*cking Matalin acknowledged as much two nights ago on Colbert. The individual mandate is just a necessary mechanism to make the other two elements work; otherwise people would only buy insurance when they get sick. As Ezra points out here student loan reforms make the package significantly better still.
(2) Politics. This bill truly is a do-or-die moment for the Democratic party. If we lose this vote, Democrats will spend the year looking, acting and feeling like losers. Press narratives will debate for months which of the party’s many defects proved the fatal one. Half the party will uselessly search for rocks large enough to hide under. Scared? Now flip that around. The GOP might have made a major mistake with the frantic and hysterical timbre of its opposition. If Democrats win then Republicans as much as anyone will have cemented the idea that Obama scored a massive, thundering political victory.
Imagine that the party gets a taste for winning legislative fights. Now every other aspect of the progressive agenda will get easier to pass. It will get harder for Mitch McConnell for hold his caucus together as effectively while centripetal forces of vindictive teabaggers and frightened moderates messily tear the right apart. Reid and Pelosi will almost certainly find it easier to peel off Republican votes if they win this one.
(3) Us. I honestly cannot say whether, without relentless pressure from you guys, Dems would still have stepped back from the abyss. I can tell you that it unquestionably made a difference. A number of Reps took the courage to talk about health care again, public option and all, because their phones finally lit up with positive voices to counter the constant chatter from angry wingnuts. Numerous staffers have told me that your calls made an impact. Many of you have heard it yourselves.
This fight engaged an entire class of people for the first time. It made many Congresspeople more conscious of their left flank than most have ever felt. It’s fun to make a difference. When this is done, assuming that it gets done, what do you say we do something about ENDA and DADT? We can also get frisky about Guantanamo and accountability for torture. You already know the numbers to call.
***Update***
Some very good arguments made in the comments that the bill is not so much awful-plus-great as it is not quite as good as many people wanted. Now the more I think about this analogy the more I like it. Some people really love a two-layer rueben with hot mustard on rye, and some people (inexplicably) hate it. Most people, however, will at least put up with peanut butter. Allergies permitting of course.
Still A <del>Shit And Banana</del> Peanut Butter Sandwich. Still Worth Passing.Post + Comments (160)
by John Cole| 70 Comments
This post is in: Republican Stupidity, Assholes
Looks like the Virginia Attorney General is a birther:
Q: Is that something you can do as Attorney General? Can you do that or something?
CUCCINELLI: Well only if there is a conflict where we are suing the federal government for a law they’ve passed. So it’s possible. […] Well, that’s a good question. Not one I’ve thought a lot about because it hasn’t been part of my campaign. Someone is going to have to come forward with nailed down testimony that he was born in place B, wherever that is. You know, the speculation is Kenya. And that doesn’t seem beyond the realm of possibility.
I think it is really unfair how the media portrays all Republicans so negatively. I wonder what Cuccinelli’s Free Republic handle is? How long before he gets caught forwarding embarrassing emails through his official website?
This post is in: Republican Stupidity, Assholes
Wingnut extraordinaire, unindicted Abramoff crony, all around asshole, and Senate candidate J.D. Hayworth lowers the bar for Republicans yet again:
Former Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R-Ariz.) said Sunday that the expansion of state laws allowing gay marriage could lead to people marrying horses.
Hayworth, during an interview with an Orlando, Fla., radio station explained: “You see, the Massachusetts Supreme Court, when it started this move toward same-sex marriage, actually defined marriage — now get this — it defined marriage as simply, ‘the establishment of intimacy.'”
“Now how dangerous is that?” asked Hayworth, who is challenging Sen. John McCain from the right in Arizona’s GOP Senate primary.
“I mean, I don’t mean to be absurd about it, but I guess I can make the point of absurdity with an absurd point,” he continued. “I guess that would mean if you really had affection for your horse, I guess you could marry your horse.”
You have to work really hard to make John McCain look like a really compelling alternative that you would rush to vote for, but Hayworth has that special something that makes me feel that way. What about goats, btw?
F**k You and the Horse You Rode In On, J.D.Post + Comments (172)
by Tim F| 17 Comments
This post is in: Republican Stupidity, Teabagger Stupidity
For the most part Senators and Representatives only care what you think if you live in their district. Calling from outside just pisses off their staff and prevents constituents from getting through (that is the point).
Please phone, but try to phone your own elected officials. If you have Republican representation, call them! Their staff would love to know that there is a direction constituents want them to go other than further rightward into crazytown. God only knows what teabaggers demand from Michelle Bachmann.
Switchboard: (202) 224-3121
Guide for first-timers here.
by John Cole| 80 Comments
This post is in: Republican Stupidity, Clown Shoes
Remember the number one concern for Republicans when their own Marc Foley had some issues? For those who don’t, it was… What did Nancy Pelosi know?
I’m sure it will surprise no one that their number one concern in the aftermath of the Massa mess is… “What did Nancy Pelosi know?”
They’re consistent, I’ll give them that.
And just for a dash down memory lane, here is Jon Swift taking on the Foley affair:
Although some in the liberal media claim that recent reports of Rep. Mark Foley’s overeager mentoring of male Congressional pages will be damaging to Republicans in the November elections, I think this incident demonstrates why turning Congress over to the Democrats would be such a disaster for our country. Once people know the truth about this scandal, I think it will actually hurt Democrats more.
Perhaps the most important issue people will be voting on this year is national security. Before the Democrats leaked this story, Republican leaders Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, Majority Leader John Boehner and Chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee Tom Reynolds were able to keep it a secret for months, not even trusting Rep. Dale Kildee the Democrat member of the board supervising the page program, although they did let the Republican chairman Rep. John Shimkus in on the news. (It’s also possible that, as Powerlines’s John Hinderaker claims, the Republican leaders were too busy defending America from terrorists to remember to mention it to Rep. Kildee.) Democrats and the liberal media, on the other hand, just can’t seem to keep a secret, spilling the beans on the National Intelligence Estimate report that said Iraq was actually making the War on Terror worse and leaking information about NSA wiretapping, secret prisons, the treatment of prisoners at Abu Ghraib and many other stories that Republicans tried so hard to keep from the public so as not to give aid and comfort to our enemies. The revelation about Rep. Foley is just another example of Democrats’ being unable to keep their mouths shut.
Gawd, he is missed.
Hear My Song, People Won’t You Listen NowPost + Comments (80)