Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Republicans leaders - so inconsequential Republicans don't talk to them.


QOTD, from commenter
Mr Blifil | at Plum Line:
  1. Did anyone check to see if the marsh mouse lives in aluminum tubes?


Essential QOTD2, Joe Sudbay about the "base box" repugs are in: The big problem is the GOP really has nothing to work with. They've got no ideas. And, they can't do anything that will make Rush Limbaugh mad. Cable news talking heads just can't get their brains around that.


DKOS' SusanG:
The Republican governor of Utah on Monday said his party is blighted by leaders in Congress whose lack of new ideas renders them so "inconsequential" that he doesn't even bother to talk to them. "I don't even know the congressional leadership," Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. told editors and reporters at The Washington Times, shrugging off questions about top congressional Republicans, including House Minority Leader John A. Boehner of Ohio and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. "I have not met them. I don't listen or read whatever it is they say because it is inconsequential - completely."



Ex-Wingnut John Cole:
I’ll Take “They’re Not Very Bright” for 1000, Alex

Eve Fairbanks discusses the theatrics and cunning stunts of the last few weeks from the GOP and asks a fair question:

Why are Republicans taking so many pages out of their failed candidate’s campaign playbook?

...

I honestly think it is because of the echo chamber, and because they simply have not had to think for so long that the echo chamber just rules. As far as I can tell these days, there are only three events Republicans remember throughout history, and those three events are the basis for every decision they make. The events are WWII (in which a damned furriner, Churchill, is the conservative hero), the Reagan administration, and the Republican take-over of Congress in Clinton’s first term. It doesn’t matter that they “misremember” those three cherished memories and don’t seem to have the ability to accurately assess those time periods.

...

Let’s just take one of these to prove the point. As WWII is one of the pivotal moments Republicans remember, every enemy is Hitler -Saddam Hussein? Hitler.

Putin? Hitler.

...

And on and on. So what you have is a movement centered on a fictional history based on three events they don’t remember too well, and they are completely at the mercy of the echo chamber, which has them completely dumbed down by talk radio and the circle jerk of self-referential pundits that tells them exactly what they want to hear.

...

In other words, they think they won because “conservative values” still rule the day. Now what are they doing? Well, since they were told they won, they believe it, and they are continuing to do the same things they did during the “winning” election, spicing that up with their favorite memories from their three events- ...

Like I said- they aren’t very bright. Break out the celebratory tire gauges, bitches!

*** Update ***

And this.



atrios notes that "It seems Obama does have his limits."


Benen on DEPT. OF POTS AND KETTLES....
Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) still hasn't figured out the benefits of quiet time.

Louisiana Sen. David Vitter (R), who survived a 2007 sex scandal, called on Sen. Roland Burris (D-Ill.) to resign Tuesday for his ethical shortcomings.

Oh my. ...


Great News!. KOS' DHinMI: McConnell Backs Down, Submits to Up-or-Down Vote on Solis

A few minutes ago Harry Reid announced that there will be a final confirmation vote at 4:30 EST today. That means that Republican leader Mitch McConnell—husband of Elaine Chao, George W. Bush's secretary of labor, whose appointment was never subject to a cloture vote—determined it was futile to try to block the confirmation of Secretary of Labor designate Hilda Solis.

This is great news for at least two reasons. First, with the economic crisis, we need a strong Department of Labor led by a strong progressive with the right priorities. Second, as Meteor Blades described yesterday, Hilda Solis could turn out to be a great Secretary of Labor:

...

  • UPDATE: Sudbay - Hilda Solis confirmed as Secretary of Labor by huge margin: 80 - 17
    This is a huge victory for progressives and, especially for working men and women. They'll have a Secretary who is on their side. And, it's also the first victory in the campaign to pass the Employee Free Choice Act. The Republicans made this nomination about that legislation -- and Solis won big despite their repeated efforts to block her. Congratulations to Secretary Solis. She's got her hands full trying to restore the Department of Labor, which was pretty much eviscerated by Bush's Labor Secretary, Elaine Chao, wife of Mitch McConnell.

brownsox on Gary Locke for Commerce?

Since leaving office, Locke has continued to be involved with US-China relations, and his deep ties with one of the nation's biggest trade partners make him a fairly compelling choice for the position of Commerce Secretary.

Certainly more so than, say, Judd Gregg.


Beltway msm and politicians keep being surprised by Obama because, as it is increasingly apparent, he simply is who he appears to be: decent, honest, prudent, capable, respectful, smart. He actually is doing the right thing because it is the right thing to do (as he sees it), where others are always always always working the angles. Which leads to delightful moments like this one highlighted by Steve Benen (and many others) : MCCAIN'S SALVO FALLS FLAT....
At the closing session of the "fiscal responsibility summit" at the White House yesterday, President Obama graciously introduced John McCain and invited him to go first in raising a point or asking a question.

McCain apparently thought he'd get in a little dig at his former campaign rival, and began talking about the bloated Pentagon budget. "We all know how large the defense budget is," the Arizona Republican said. "We all know that the cost overruns, your helicopter is now going to cost as much as Air Force One. I don't think that there's any more graphic demonstration of how good ideas have cost taxpayers enormous amount of money."

The president, taking away the senator's fun, agreed.

"I've already talked to [Defense Secretary Robert] Gates about a thorough review of the helicopter situation. The helicopter I have now seems perfectly adequate to me. Of course, I've never had a helicopter before. So, you know, maybe -- maybe I've been deprived and I didn't know it. But I think it is an example of the procurement process gone amuck, and we're going to have to fix it."

This almost certainly isn't what McCain had in mind.
...


More on the fiscal responsibility summit, with Rachel's guest host Alison Stewart joined by former Clinton labor secretary Robert Reich. Reich on Obama at the summit: "... more importantly a sense that he was completely and totally in control and in command. And he's not only commander-in-chief of the military, he's commander in chief of the economy ... and there was no doubt about that today."



Couldn't resist copying this piece of profound journalistic stupidity in its entirety. The more I see of em, I'm not sure if political journalists are actually more stupid than repuglicans. The comments at the post are priceless.

What if?

Sorry but I have to indulge my WaPo chat fixation again today:


Washingotn, D.C
.: Tonight, Obama will no doubt say he inherited this mess, not his fault, etc. What would have happened if Bush, after 9/11, got up there and said. We need to understand this was Bill Clinton’s fault for gutting our intelligence agencies in the mid 90s, being attacked three times and doing nothing and refusing to take bin Laden when Sudan offered him in the 90s. How do you think that would go over?

With such a hypothetical question, it’s really hard to say how that might have gone over, right?

Update: I googled “Bush blamed Clinton for 9/11” and here’s the first thing that came up:

“They looked at our response after the hostage crisis in Iran, the bombings of the Marine barracks in Lebanon, the first World Trade Center attack, the killing of American soldiers in Somalia, the destruction of two U.S. embassies in Africa, and the attack on the USS Cole. They concluded that free societies lacked the courage and character to defend themselves against a determined enemy… After September the 11th, 2001, we’ve taught the terrorists a very different lesson: America will not run in defeat and we will not forget our responsibilities.”




Tee double hee, from TPM: Schumer To White House: GOP Govs Can't Turn Down Part Of Stimulus

Chuck Schumer is calling on the White House to disallow governors from "arbitrarily" picking and choosing parts of the stimulus to accept or reject, arguing that the law is all-or-nothing.
  • BERNANKE: If unemployment benefits are not distributed to the unemployed, then they won’t spend them and it won’t have that particular element of stimulus.

    SEN. JACK REED (D-RI): So if this was done on a wide basis, it would be counterproductive, not productive?

    BERNANKE: It would reduce the stimulus effect of the package, yes.



From Clemons: Guest Post by George Lakoff: The Obama Code

As President Obama prepares to address a joint session of Congress, what can we expect to hear?

The pundits will stress the nuts-and-bolts policy issues: the banking system, education, energy, health care. But beyond policy, there will be a vision of America--a moral vision and a view of unity that the pundits often miss. What they miss is the Obama Code. ...


Stunner! DKOS' DemfromCT: CNN Poll: People Trust Politicians More Than Business People Read the whole post, but this excerpt demonstrates we are in uncharted territory now:

CNN adds this interesting and important tidbit:

You know times are tough when Republicans have more confidence in a Democratic president than they do in bankers or Wall Street investors, but that's what the poll is showing now," said CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. "Among Republicans, 37 percent say they are confident in Obama's ability to make the right economic decisions, but only 31 percent of Republicans feel that way about Wall Street."

"Labor union leaders don't fare badly either," said Bill Schneider, CNN senior political analyst. "Nearly half the public has confidence in them. But Wall Street investors? Bankers and financial executives? Auto company executives? No more than 30 percent have confidence in them.

"Right now, Americans trust political leaders more than business leaders. That's new and it has consequences."


This represents important movement from conservative Andrew Sullivan (post in full):

Obama vs. The Left, Ctd.

John Cole responds to my post on entitlements:

Only a fool can not see the writing on the wall- we are going to have to move to single-payer at some point, because businesses can not compete and the largest problem for Detroit is… their health care obligations and other retiree benefits. Likewise, we spend an enormous amount of our GDP on health care yet have rankings that look third world on issues like infant mortality. Something has to give.

And before the morons start saying I have switched positions on this, I haven’t done anything of the sort. My consistent position the last few years has been that this is sort of inevitable, and whether I want this to happen or not is irrelevant. It will happen.

I fear John is right.


Josh Marshall on RW outlets in the msm just makiing shit up in Dangerous Brew
That's what happens when you mix poll numbers from Rasmussen and whackadoodle editorializing from The Politico. If you go to the front page right now you'll see this splash headline for an article which argues that Obama has his work cut out for him tomorrow night because most Americans, even most Democrats, see the president's mortgage adjustment program like Rick Santelli, CNBC's fat cat populist whose rant against the mortgage program last week had everyone in a twitter.
...

Now, the thrust of the article gives you the sense that unlike Obama's other programs, this is one the public is not supporting. Unless you read some other polls that pose a more straightforward question. Do you support the program or not?

The Post asked this question and got: 64% support, 35% oppose.

The Times asked it and got: 61% yes, 20% no.

In other words, the plan appears to have not just majority but something approaching overwhelming support. ...


Joe Subday says this is pretty embarassing: Rep. Joe Barton tattles to Obama that he thinks Nancy Pelosi is mean to the Republicans
Rep. Joe Barton used his question at the fiscal summit yesterday to whine about Nancy Pelosi. The House Republicans were bullies for years. Years. They were never, ever bipartisan. For Christ sakes, they impeached Bill Clinton.
...
Cable news is obsessed with the subject of bipartisanship. Andrea Mitchell did a segment on her show today asking: Can GOP work with Obama? The big problem is the GOP really has nothing to work with. They've got no ideas. And, they can't do anything that will make Rush Limbaugh mad. Cable news talking heads just can't get their brains around that.

Benen on THE LOW ROAD TO HIGH OFFICE....
When I think back to the fight for the Republican presidential nomination last year, I tend to think of Mike Huckabee as a radical ideologue with a very pleasant veneer. I disagreed with him on practically every issue under the sun, but I seem to recall him being rather nice about his vacuous, far-right, vaguely-theocratic worldview.
I don't recall him being such a hack ...


On the running theme of repuglican stoopidity, John Aravosis offers this: Steele discusses "retribution" against Specter, Snowe and Collins; open to cutting their funding next election
This is why the GOP usually votes in lock-step. They're viciously brutal if you don't. It is interesting, however, that the chairman of the Republican party is talking about supporting primary challenges to Specter, Snowe and Collins simply because they supported the stimulus package. ...
  • Steele is going to be the gift that keeps on highlighting how far out of mainstream thought the repuglican base really is. Benen says CIVIL UNIONS MUST NOT BE CUTTING EDGE....
  • ... STEELE: "No, no no. What would we do that for? What are you, crazy? No. Why would we backslide on a core, founding value of this country?" ... Keep in mind, this represents another step backwards for the Republican Party. After all, both George W. Bush and Dick Cheney have publicly expressed their support for civil unions, as have most Americans, and even conservative governors of very "red" states.

    It is an entirely mainstream position. And yet, for the chairman of the RNC, to even ask about Republicans "considering" civil unions is "crazy."


John Cole on crazy Repuglicans: At Least This Time They Aren’t Calling It The War of Northern Aggression
Fun times in wingnuttia:
  • "These states—“Washington, New Hampshire, Arizona, Montana, Michigan, Missouri, Oklahoma, California…Georgia,” South Carolina, and Texas—“have all introduced bills and resolutions” reminding Obama that the 10th Amendment protects the rights of the states, which are the rights of the people, by limting the power of the federal government. These resolutions call on Obama to “cease and desist” from his reckless government expansion and also indicate that federal laws and regulations implemented in violation of the 10th Amendment can be nullified by the states."
...

God help us if Obama ever lies about a blow job.

Bonus thought: Can you imagine what kind of “insurgency” these guys would be running if they had lost in 2008 the way the Democrats did in 2000? Here, they flat out got kicked out of office, rejected by large majorities, and they have decided the solution is to get their freak on.




dday on twittering Twits

The Politico, seeking to prove its commitment to substantive journalism, had an article today about the 10 most influential DC Twitterers. Enough said on their claims to substance. But they do hit on a mini-phenomenon; unlike blogs, which the Beltway media was slow to accept and embrace, Twitter has become something of a hit. Which makes perfect sense. After all, if you knew nothing about a topic except the barest outlines of the "who's winning/who's losing" dynamic, you'd want to limit yourself to 140 characters, too.

...

This is the by-product of a media utterly consumed with self-regard and groupthink, who cannot conceive of talking about politics without sports analogies and scorecards. And the head Twit of them all, Tweety, has been unwittingly exposed by Chuck Todd:

NBC White House Correspondent Chuck Todd has a theory on why MSNBC's Hardball host Chris Matthews begged off from running for the Pennsylvania Senate seat held by Republican Arlen Specter. "Because [Chris] had a really good friend of his say to him, 'What are you going to do when you get there?' and he couldn't answer the question and he realized that, and that's why he didn't run," says Todd. "It was a childhood dream to be a senator, but he didn't know what he was going to do if he got there."
Eric Boehlert is quite rightly astounded.
...



Eric Martin on the tragedy that is Iraq: She Walks these Hills, in a Long Black Veil

Some more ungrateful Iraqis that - like the Democrats - won't admit that the Surge worked and we won in Iraq:

  • "Her twin sisters were killed trying to flee Falluja in 2004. Then her husband was killed by a car bomb in Baghdad just after she had become pregnant. When her own twins were 5 months old, one was killed by an explosive planted in a Baghdad market." ...



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