QOTD, John Cole: Jon Huntsman, you all will recall, is the Governor of Utah, and he has an
Commenter El Cid at Balloon Juice:
In the 2nd of the modern Fly movies, the girl sees the guy who’s progressively turning into a giant fly-human monster, and she says, “You’re getting worse.”
He replies, clearly frustrated at her lack of understanding, “I’m getting better.”
Today’s GOP.
Video from C&L, Amato. Snowe interview with Andrea Mitchell in which she says they need to "ignore denial" of the reason for the problems. Hah - good luck with that. :-) !!
Kleefeld (TPM): Inhofe: Specter's Switch Is "First Visible Evidence" Of GOP Comeback!
Now here's an interesting spin on the Arlen Specter switch. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK) appeared on Fox News today, where he presented the case that Specter's switch is the first evidence that people are rebelling against Obama, and that the Republican Party is coming back!
Inhofe explained that this was a sign that Obama and the Democrats were overreaching, just as Bill Clinton did in 1993, and the people are rebelling against it just as they did in 1994:
"Now the evidence of this was found out when Arlen Specter made his decision," Inhofe explained. "And that is all of a sudden, we find out that Arlen Specter is down in the Republican Party, down in terms of his popularity. The guy that ran against him and was defeated by Arlen Specter in, six years ago, now is so far ahead of him that Arlen Specter's own advisers said there's no way that you can win this thing unless you change to the Democratic Party. Now to me, that's the evidence it's coming."
Inhofe appears to be thinking here that the state of opinion in the Republican Party is tantamount to the nation's opinion overall. This might be true enough if it's just applied to his home state of Oklahoma. But as we've learned in 2006, 2008 and recent months, this doesn't exactly apply to the whole country.
- Think Progress: Fox Nation responds to Snowe’s op-ed: ‘Don’t let the door hit you…’
Yesterday, after Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) announced he was leaving a Republican Party that he said had "moved far to the right," ThinkProgress noted that another moderate Republican, Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME), piled on his criticism of the GOP, raising questions about her future in the party. In a New York Times op-ed this morning, Snowe wrote that as a moderate Republican "you often get the distinct feeling that you’re no longer welcome in the tribe." Seemingly demonstrating her point, Fox News' new Fox Nation website linked to the op-ed under the headline, "Don't let the door hit you...."
Bradley Smith might be on to something here:
Now that Specter’s gone, we can turn to the real enemy – Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe! Then the only thing between us and victory will be Graham, Lugar, McCain, Murkowski, Grassley, Hatch, and some of the RINOs in the House. And the Governors, like Crist and Douglas and Lingle and anyone not named Palin or Jindal. And the Supreme Court Justices like the radical Kennedy. But time is on our side. If we get small enough, voters will finally see true conservatism, and then we’ll have to win.Go read Red State and Hot Air and other “conservative” bloggers and tell me Smith’s sarcasm is wrong.
Aravosis: Republican congresswoman says Matthew Shepard's murder was "a hoax"
The House Republican chosen to lead the charge against including women, people with disabilities, and gays in America's already-existing hate crimes law - existing law already counts violent crime based on the race, religion or national origin of the victim as a "hate crime" - just referred on the US House floor to Matthew Shepard's murder as "a hoax."Think Progress: House passes budget with zero GOP votes.
You will recall that Matthew Shepard was the young gay man in Colorado who, a decade ago, was tied to a fence, Jesus-like, pistol whipped in the head some 50 times, then left for dead in the cold fall night, only to be found a day later clinging to life. Shepard died five days later. Even though Shepard's murderers admitted that they killed him because he was day, the far-right bigots who control the Republican party couldn't resist the opportunity to gay-bash Shepard one last time. Now by referring to his brutal murder as a hoax.
Here is what North Carolina (figures) Republican had to say about Shepard's horrific murder:If you didn't vote for this bill -- against this bill and against this rule for anything else, you could vote against it because we are spending additional money. i also would like to point out that there was a bill -- the hate crimes bill that's called the matthew sheppard bill is named afte a very unfortunate incident that happened where a young man was killed, but we know that that young man was killed in the commitment of a robbery. it wasn't because he was gay. this -- the bill was named for him, hate crimes bill was named for him, but it's really a hoax that that continues to be used as an excuse for passing these bills.Now read what really happened:During the trial, Chastity Pasley and Kristen Price (the pair's then-girlfriends) testified under oath that Henderson and McKinney both plotted beforehand to rob a gay man. McKinney and Henderson then went to the Fireside Lounge and selected Shepard as their target. McKinney alleged that Shepard asked them for a ride home. After befriending him, they took him to a remote area of Laramie where they robbed him, beat him severely (media reports often contained the graphic account of the pistol whipping and his smashed skull), and tied him to a fence with a rope from McKinney's truck. Shepard begged for his life. Both girlfriends also testified that neither McKinney nor Henderson was under the influence of drugs at the time. The beating was so severe that the only areas on Shepard's face that were not covered in blood were those where his tears had washed the blood stains away.Media Matters has lots of links, and quotes, from the mainstream media attesting to the fact that Shepard was murdered because he was gay.
A hoax? Belittling the brutal murder of a 21 year old college student? And Republicans wonder why their angry, hateful, pathetic party is now only 20% of the US population.
Watch the video for yourself. Then feel free to call this sorry excuse for a human being and tell her what you think of her bigotry.
Phone: (202) 225-2071
Phone: (336) 778-0211
Phone: (828) 265-0240
I wonder where Virginia Foxx stood on letting blacks swim in our pools fifty years ago. Actually, I think I already know.
Today, the House passed President Obama's $3.4 trillion budget outline by a vote of 233-193. However, all House Republicans voted against the plan:kos says:Not a single Republican voted for the measure; 17 Democrats, mostly from GOP-leaning districts, voted against it. The Senate will vote on the measure Wednesday afternoon.
The House GOP also voted in unison against the stimulus package in February -- despite President Obama's aggressive bipartisan outreach. In January, Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) said that "it would be a great mistake for the House GOP to turn inward and simply become the party of 'no.'"
UpdateYglesias writes that “there still are quite a few House Republicans who represent districts Obama won. Some of them, like Joseph Cao and Mike Castle represent districts that Obama won handily. When you add into the mix the fact that John Boehner really has no inducements at his disposal to offer to members, it’s a real testament to the success of the Club for Growth and others at inspiring fear of primaries into every single Republican member.”
- Steve Benen adds:
Republicans don't really want to cooperate the majority party. They don't want to negotiate; they don't want to find bipartisan solutions; they don't want to form a credible governing partnership. Rather, the GOP sees Democrats as an enemy to be defeated, and the Democratic agenda as manifestly misguided. It's why we hear Republican lawmakers argue they should emulate the insurgency tactics of the Taliban. They see themselves as "freedom fighters" taking on the "slide toward socialism."These same officials then denounce reconciliation because it means Democrats might be less inclined to work with Republicans on bipartisan solutions. Imagine that.
What matters is that Democrats appreciate this, and stop pretending the GOP minority is serious about working on policy solutions. It's just not going to happen anytime soon.
The folks over at the National Review need to stage an intervention with K-Lo, because she's become completely incomprehensible. Seriously, I dare anyone to make sense of this:
Well . . . or this is a great opportunity for real grounded leaders who know who they are. The problem right now is the guys up front may not be real grounded leaders who know who they are. The real grounded leaders who know who they are might not have the ambition or we don't know their names because they are doing real work on the ground in the states, in business . . . making real legitmate livings and raising families. But we better hope we see them soon. And I don't doubt we will.Put another way, we need more partisanship, not less.
Max Blumenthal visits a gun show.
Fueled by the screeds of radio hosts Michael Savage, Glenn Beck, and the lesser-known but increasingly influential online conspiracist Alex Jones, many gun-show attendees I spoke to were convinced Obama planned to usher in a Marxist dictatorship. They warned that the president’s power grab would only begin with mass gun seizures. “If Obama takes away our guns,” a young, .45 pistol-toting man from Reno told me, “it’s just a step into trying to take away everything else.”
Indeed, in their minds, average Americans opposed to the Obama agenda would be herded into FEMA-run concentration camps by a volunteer army of glassy-eyed liberal college graduates. “When they start imprisoning Americans, and people start seeing that we’re the enemy, then that’ll make it hot,” predicted one Antioch-based young man sporting a button for former Republican presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul. “People talk about a revolution,” the young man continued, “an armed revolution. I think police crackdowns on individuals will tip the scales.”
More than a few gun dealers and attendees echoed the young man’s seeming enthusiasm for armed revolt. One Contra Costa, California-based gun dealer named Rich predicted during an otherwise casual off-camera conversation that “some nut” would assassinate Obama within one year of any Democratic attempt at gun-control legislation. While the prospect of organized right-wing violence against the federal government seems far-fetched at this point, the paranoid rhetoric I documented suggests the militia movement that organized against President Bill Clinton’s policies during the 1990s could experience a dramatic resurgence by mobilizing resentment against Obama.
Benen: AN ABSURD LITMUS TEST....
The 2012 elections are obvious very far away, but Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman certainly seems to be running for president. This week, he's makingcampaign stopsappearances in three key Michigan counties over five days.It would have been four counties, but one of them refuses to listen to what Huntsman has to say. He'd already been invited to speak in Kent County, but then local GOP activists learned Huntsman supports civil unions.
Utah Gov. John Huntsman (R), seen by many as a potential top-tier presidential candidate in 2012, has been uninvited from a local Michigan Republican club after announcing his support for civil unions between gay couples.
Huntsman is touring Michigan this week and stopping at several county party events as he slowly raises his national profile. But the Kent County Republican Party this week canceled Huntsman's appearance, with the county party chairwoman saying his appearance would amount to an abandonment of party principles.
Joanne Voorhees, chairwoman of the party in the Grand Rapids-based county, emailed party members to announce the cancellation of the Saturday fundraiser.
"The voters want and expect us to stand on principle and return to our roots," Voorhees wrote in an email. "Unfortunately, by holding an event with Gov. Huntsman, we would be doing the exact opposite."
The Campaign for Michigan Families, an anti-gay group in the state, applauded the decision and encouraged other county Republican Parties in Michigan to also disinvite Huntsman.
Keep in mind, we're not talking about an event to deliver an endorsement. Huntsman -- a conservative Republican governor from a conservative Republican state -- just wanted to stop by and talk to these folks. But since he supports civil unions -- not marriage equality, just civil unions -- they don't even want Huntsman to walk in the door.
This really isn't healthy.
Republicans in Kent County, Michigan, might want to consider a more open-minded approach. In 2004, George W. Bush won the country by 55,000 votes. Four years later, Barack Obama narrowly won the same county.
If local GOP leaders don't even want to be in the same room as a Republican who supports civil unions, this is likely to get worse.
- John Cole adds:
Jon Huntsman, you all will recall, is the Governor of Utah, and he has an
82%84% approval rating as Governor and is a very viable way forward for the current GOP. Say it again. He supports civil unions and has an 80+% approval rating. In Utah. He is conservative on almost every issue, but because he supports civil unions, he isn’t pure enough for the current GOP. A telegenic, authentic outsider who isn’t batshit insane. You would think the Republicans would be running to him.This is the big problem for Republicans. Almost the entire party apparatus at the state level has been taken over by a bunch of lunatics, and few people outside of Georgia and Texas can win a state primary and then go on to win a statewide election. The reason Specter switched yesterday was because the dwindling band of sociopaths who still call themselves Republican in Pennsylvania are so detached from reality, so far removed from the mainstream, and so convinced of the utter infallibility of their own bizarre brand of “conservatism,” that someone like Jon Huntsman or Arlen Specter, who deviated slightly on a few issues here and there, just isn’t pure enough for them. This is the essence of wingnut, the kind of guy Larison was talking about yesterday:
That said, we should not simply dismiss Huston out of hand. He and those like him are the political equivalent of Darwin’s discoveries on the Galapagos: strange, unusual creatures cut off from the rest of the world that deserve to be studied and understood as the weird evolutionary offshoots that they are. It is rare to find people who seem genuinely unaware that Cheney is deeply unpopular and also implicated in atrocious crimes, and rarer still to find people who know this and still think it wise to have him making the rounds on television serving as a leading Republican spokesman. Some might say that Huston is simply a pitiable product of the conservative cocoon, but I say that he can offer us evidence for the strange mutant varieties of conservatism that have developed in isolation from reality.
The only people left in the Republican party are crazier than an outhouse rat and have teabags hanging from their hunting cap. They are the people who feverishly emailed each other stories about Obama’s birth certificate, and who are convinced that joking about Obama’s teleprompter and making impassioned speeches about earmark reform are the only route to electoral recovery. They think Michelle Bachman is on to something and the Colbert Report is truth.
This is only going to get worse.
I've read quite a few columns from Byron York over the years, first during his tenure at the National Review, and more recently as the chief political correspondent for the Washington Examiner. I've seen plenty of commentary I strongly disagree with, but none has offended me quite as much as his latest column.On his 100th day in office, Barack Obama enjoys high job approval ratings, no matter what poll you consult. But if a new survey by the New York Times is accurate, the president and some of his policies are significantly less popular with white Americans than with black Americans, and his sky-high ratings among African-Americans make some of his positions appear a bit more popular overall than they actually are. [emphasis added]
For crying out loud, what the hell does that mean, exactly? I read the rest of the piece, hoping to see York explain why the president's seemingly popular positions are exaggerated or inflated. Why, in other words, these positions "appear" more popular "than they actually are."
But all the piece tells me is that African Americans tend to support Obama in greater numbers than white Americans.
The problem, of course, is that damn phrase "than they actually are." York argues that we can see polls gauging public opinion, but if we want to really understand the popularity of the president's positions, and not be fooled by "appearances," then we have to exclude black people.
There's really no other credible way to read this. York effectively argues that black people shouldn't count. We can look at polls measuring the attitudes of Americans, but if we want to see the truth -- appreciate the numbers as "they actually are" -- then it's best if we focus our attention on white people, and only white people.
Adam Serwer added, "This is another example of a really bizarre genre of conservative writing, which I call 'If Only Those People Weren't Here.'"
This is unacceptable.
JedL: President Obama mocks Fox’s teabagging When you’ve had a succesful first 100 days, you’re entitled to take a shot or two at the fools at Fox ‘News’ — and President Obama took full advantage. From his town hall in Missouri earlier today:
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