The Republican Big Tent
It was great fun listening to Republican House Minority Leader John Boehner today, contorting like an acrobat in pain, stressing to explain just how the political purge of NY Republican congressional candidate Dede Scozzafava was somehow consistent with Ronald Reagan's already mythical Republican Big Tent (though I have to say that by comparison with the current GOP leadership, the old Gipper seems like Mister Tolerance).
No need to recap the whole bloody mess here. But remember that Scozzafava was tapped to run in Tuesday's special election by seven local Republican county chairs who, one assumes, are pretty darn good judges of their local constituencies. But Scozzafava was guilty, guilty, guilty of less than neanderthal views --supporting choice and gay marriage-- and that was enough to bring out the Conservative Base SWAT Team to assassinate her.
Predictable enough that political nitwit "rogue" Sarah Plain would come out early to endorse the ultra-conservative and formerly fringe third party candidate and Teabgger-favorite Doug Hoffman who was running on the Conservative Party line. But then "respectable" Repubs like Minn. Governor Tim Pawlenty joined the anti-Sccozzafava mutiny. As did other supposed moderates like former joke presidential candidates Fred Thompson and and Rudy Giuliani (perhaps the WORST presidential contenders I have ever had the chance to cover, apart from Alan Keyes).
The result, as we know, is that Scozzafava quit the race this weekend (and then got her revenge as she endorsed her Democratic opponent). And, meanwhile, the entire Republican Establishment scurried to endorse and fund Hoffman who --only 24 hours ago-- was campaigning against the GOP.
Be aware that this rural New York district has been a Republican stronghold for decades and so it comes as little surprise that Hoffman is now heavily favored to defeat his Democratic opponent.
That's what makes all this so damn much fun. When and if Hoffman wins, the Republicans will be tempted to believe their own propaganda and will actually convince themselves that salvation resides in moving the party even further to the right, and deeper into the clutches of those who show up at Presidential events armed with semi-automatic rifles and tea-bag stuffed cod pieces.
This is the best thing the Democrats have got going for themselves. A brain dead Republican Party seemingly bent on becoming exclusively a party of Angry White Men (who mostly live in the South). But that's about all the Dems have in their favor.
One year after Barack Obama's historic election, they haven't exactly demonstrated themselves either to be political geniuses (unless playing CYA counts as being smart).
To use a Clintonite phrase, I'm not going to finely parse the less-than-inspiring Democratic performance to date. And, yes, they and Obama were handed a pretty hair set of messes to deal with by the former clown crew that was running the country into the ground. The gigantic deficit, soaring unemployment, a teetering financial system, the twin catastrophes of Iraq and Afghanistan can only be fairly placed at the feet of Bush-Cheney. I don't know how many times during the Bush admin I wrote on this blog that we would be paying for its fug-up for decades if not generations to come. We haven't even paid the ante yet.
The Democrats, though, have done next to nothing to restore much confidence in the system. With firm control of all three branches of government --for the moment-- they have put on garish display the web of special interests, political opportunism, rank duplicity and general fecklessness that defines Beltway politics. They will get a health care bill, that's true. But it has been a disgusting and disheartening process that will leave millions uninsured and decent coverage as remote as ever. They also stand on the verge of reviving LBJ's ghost and plunging us deeper into a modern-day Vietnam at the precise moment when they could and should be transforming the domestic political conversation.
If I were a Democrat muckety-muck right now, I'd be funneling as much money as I could covertly to the RNC. The Republicans remain the greatest strength of the Democrats. The Silly Show in the the New York 23rd only reconfirms that notion.
------------------------------------------------------------
Our Neon Tommy piece of the day comes from reporter Kim Nowacki who looks the Twitter-basecd 140 Conference and really, really, likes it.
------------------------------------------------
Please subscribe to my Twitter feed at http://twitter.com/marc_cooper
Join me on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/marc.cooper1
Jon our Neon Tommy facebook fan page http://www.facebook.com/pages/Neon-Tommy/141769103535
November 2nd, 2009 at 4:04 am
PPP:
Hoffman 51
Owens 34
Christie 47
Corzine 41
McDonnell 56
Deeds 42
Prediction: Angry White Men to be very happy tomorrow.
November 2nd, 2009 at 5:52 am
The fat lady hasn’t even started practicing her scales yet, although Virginia is a lost cause.
November 2nd, 2009 at 7:20 am
Marc – I understand and share most of your angst over the current Beltway political pigfuck of half-measures, BUT the Dems don’t control all three “branches” of government (in classic civics class speak one of them is the judiciary, which isn’t really controlled by any party right now, and theoretically isn’t a partisan branch – although we know better), but if you’re talking about the Congress, Senate and White House as the “3″, the facts on the ground are that the absurd rule of “60″ is blocking decent legislation on health care. That’s all it is – and all of the rhetoric by Obama or good will on Reid’s part can’t make the problem of Lieberman and a couple of scared Blue Dogs go away. Unfortunately to “control” the Senate one needs 60 Dems who won’t stray, not 55 relatively decent Dems, one guy who supported McCain for President and a couple of Dems who got lucky in Reddish states who consider clutching their chair more important than decent policy. I don’t see any point in describing the situation as anything other than what it actually is. Unless you’ve got a plan to get better Democrats elected in swing states, we’re just dealing with a political reality related to a handful of Senators, an “opposition party” that cares about nothing but obstruction and an undemocratic process that allows it to happen. The solution to this is – assuming the Senate can’t be convinced to change “historic” rules – is to be found, alas, in local politics of a handful of very tough states crowded with “low-information” voters who are easily turned by demagogy. To be clear, it’s some cohort of “us”, i.e. the voters, not “them” who are ultimately holding the balance. (Although it’s really time for a rules change by the Senate, with the “60″ rule allowing an extension of debate, but not a total block. But the Senate seems impervious to modernization. Which is definitely a fault of “them.”)
November 2nd, 2009 at 7:30 am
The Hoffman race is particularly instructive of what a Leninist operation the GOP is becoming – he doesn’t reside in the district, knows nothing about local issues (which his handler, DickArmey, called “parochial”) but he’s reading out of the Little Red Book and has all of the self-appointed fundamentalist ideologues in his corner. Also, great to see Giuliani on board. I hope he gets elected, so they keep this “strategy” moving forward. What fun !
November 2nd, 2009 at 8:19 am
I don’t see what the there is to be jubilant about the Brown Shirts getting their first win…
Everyone laughed at Hitler and his thugs, too.
The thugs became useful to the money boys. The thugs are still being propped up by the money boys to whip up the crazies as that is what gets the publicity and alters perceptions.
Huff Po published a cool list of the 30 Senators who voted for rape..i.e. against the Franken amendment– which did pass.
Watch yer back thats all I gotta say.
November 2nd, 2009 at 8:27 am
Better hope this is just an aberration of the weirdness of rural New York– which is like another planet. I mean its like the gene pool died. Hoffman looks like some sort of rodent an unbelievable specimen of mutant mayhem.
November 2nd, 2009 at 9:19 am
I mean its like the gene pool died. Hoffman looks like some sort of rodent an unbelievable specimen of mutant mayhem.
Giggles. But we’re the Party of Nice People.
November 2nd, 2009 at 10:02 am
“But we’re the Party of Nice People.”
Not me. I feel no more responsibility to be “nice” toward Republicans than Limbaugh and Hannity feel to be either sane or decent or truthful in their ugly nasty ranting. Fuck rightwing assholes. No more Nice! That’s been my battle cry for years – a necessary tactic which became obvious to me when I started reading internet knuckledraggers like Roper and Woody making the assumption that they could say stupid, glib, insulting things about liberals without having it doubled back on them.
While I think far worse things can be said about Hoffman than his obviously pinched facial features, as a general rule “Nice” has no place in political games with contemporary “conservatives” (aka, reactionary ideologues.) They don’t know the meaning of the words – so it’s just bullshit unilateral disarmament if liberal critics act “nice.”
November 2nd, 2009 at 10:03 am
‘But we’re the Party of Nice People.’
Not according to James Ridgeway who said Democrats were the meanest bunch of motherfuckers he ever came across.
November 2nd, 2009 at 10:08 am
The bad Democrats take duplicity to a new meaning…right of the map.
And my take on those who get into office as “Democrats” but clearly are not…I think a distinction has to be made about calling a democrat a Democrat. And I think there are a lot of Dems in office now who had to be part of some strategy to run Rethugs as Dems. And local Dem groups and at the national level were to dumb to rout them out.
November 2nd, 2009 at 10:39 am
That’s been my battle cry for years – a necessary tactic which became obvious to me when I started reading internet knuckledraggers like Roper and Woody making the assumption that they could say stupid, glib, insulting things about liberals without having it doubled back on them.
reg, you are amusing if nothing else… and nothing is a pretty good description come to think of it.
The growth of conservative voters and the destruction of RINO’s and other “moderate” and “liberal” republicans is strictly the responsibility of TEH WON. He has screwed up everything he’s touched so far, the economy, Chevy, Chrysler, Banks, the so called “stimulus,” Afghanistan policy (remember when it was most pressing and urgent in the war on terror?), Iran, Israel, Pakistan (could Clinton be more inept?), etc., etc.
The only thing he’s been real successful at was getting Sotomayor confirmed and she’ll be the source of more laughs and chuckles in the coming years.
He’s all yours reg, I’ll just sit by and watch y’all’s circle jerk AKA the Obama Administration.
Now, you can reply in the truly nasty way to which you are so accustomed.
November 2nd, 2009 at 10:41 am
Oh, and since it obviously makes you feel superior, feel free to use language as blue as you can.
November 2nd, 2009 at 10:53 am
Roper, you’re an ass and you always have been. But worse, you’re a hypocrite.
And good luck reaching Obama’s ankles with your silly little nips…
Now crawl back into the sewer with Michelle Bachmann and the rest of your party of pervs and wingnuts.
November 2nd, 2009 at 11:38 am
He has screwed up everything he’s touched so far, the economy
Wow. You mean there was no growth in the last quarter? You mean manufacturing did not have its fastest growth in the past three years last month?
November 2nd, 2009 at 12:20 pm
Roper is a total fool – fact-free as a Michelle Bachmann rant – and his last pool of drool shows it to an embarrassing degree.
November 2nd, 2009 at 12:28 pm
I have to say that Roper’s “list” is rather stunningly reflective of the absolute childish inability to take any responsibility for their own unpleasant pantloads that GOPers exhibit with their simpleton ideological masturbation. These are not adults – mere bundles of resentment, unthinking, “oozing.” The more they parade their tawdriness before the rest of the country, the more obviously infantile and irrelevant they become.
November 2nd, 2009 at 1:36 pm
“Everyone laughed at Hitler and his thugs, too.”
Well I think there’s nothing to worry about for now. But if the Republican Party begins to form a well armed military wing then things could get ugly. Would that be even legal?
November 2nd, 2009 at 1:56 pm
Since when does legality matter?
And in case you hadn’t noticed there are millions of armed private citizens in this country and most of them are extremists not to mention the groups that are survivalists etc.
And its not the Republican party per se…
Funny article on the profile of ‘birthers’. Essentially a bunch of zenophobic, parochial cretins who believe in alien abductions.
The US has to own its Brown Shirters as does the UK– ;which are having a field day there now.
Americans by nature are Brown Shirters or lets call them BSers (ha ha) And there is always the tension for the opposite to occur its the friction that makes us the ever fascinating place.
November 2nd, 2009 at 1:59 pm
Here is my two cents: I think these people need to be watched not because on their own they would gain traction but because they will be used an financed by entrenched interests desperate not to loose their stranglehold. We are in a time when the idea of a cabal of entrenched interests co opting everything is a mainstream notion and breaking the back of this way of doing things IS on the agenda.
These fuckers will not go quietly into the good night.
November 2nd, 2009 at 2:00 pm
hmmm ‘gently’ into the good night, I believe is what it should be.
November 2nd, 2009 at 2:01 pm
these guys dont rage against the DYING of the light…they rage AGAINST the light.
November 2nd, 2009 at 2:19 pm
Dylan Thomas!
(Not bad for a hayseed, huh?)
November 2nd, 2009 at 4:03 pm
I think it’d be beyond foolish for anyone to believe that GM is a good person to listen to about what is and isn’t Obama’s responsibility. Less than two months into the administration, GM was already talking about “the Obama economy” and approvingly posting this type of nonsense: “The Obama stock market had its worst January in 113 years,” and, “The Dow has dropped faster under Obama than any other new president in 90 years,” and even titled one of his posts, “Can Kristallnacht be far behind?” (And should you think for a moment that title is a joke, check out the post: http://www.gmsplace.com/?p=913)
You get the sense GM is perhaps looking for something to hang on the prez.
November 2nd, 2009 at 4:45 pm
The strange psychosis known as “contemporary conservatism”…
http://tinyurl.com/yc8d6o4
Roper’s just another inmate in the asylum. Despicable prick or demented poseur ? (The correct answer is, of course, another question – “Why would I give a shit?”)
Thanks, Mavis. I knew there was a reason I held this idiot in contempt…but sometimes one forgets just how creepy and…uh…terminally stupid these clowns really are.
November 2nd, 2009 at 4:58 pm
You know, there’s something instructive about a certain mindset when guys who have accused me of being a child molester (that guy from GA who used to post his racist garbage here did this serially on Celeste’s blog) or of following Stalin, no less, and who compare the “plight” of Wall Street bankers in the US circa 2009 to the terror against Jews in Germany circa 1934 (!) also have the nerve to attack me for using “blue language” or being over-the-top when all I’ve done is tell these shit-heads to go fuck themselves for being monstrously obscene in a way that “fuck” or “shit-head” barely even begins to compare to in the level of monstrous indecency on display. Bizarre…
November 2nd, 2009 at 5:21 pm
I love this “Update” from the Roper post that Mavis linked:
“Update: Please do not think I am calling Obama a Nazi or that I am minimizing in any way the horrors of the Holocaust.”
Okay…my own “Update” – Please do not think that I am calling this rancid turd a steaming pile of feces or that I am in any way suggesting that his comparison of strictures on executive bonuses to the era of Nazi Kristallnacht is some combination of sickeningly depraved and hopelessly moronic. Oh no…no way!!!
November 2nd, 2009 at 6:08 pm
You get the sense GM is perhaps looking for something to hang on the prez.
If you have the facts on your side, pound the facts. If you have the law on your side, pound the law. If you have neither on your side, pound the table – or just make shit up.
November 2nd, 2009 at 6:57 pm
Watch PBS tonight. My sister says at 10 pm on West Coast.
Very poignant doc on the CCC. Also a very clever kick up the backside for what needs to be done NOW.
November 2nd, 2009 at 8:21 pm
Lets see what was that I was saying about the Brown Shirters being used by the money boys to push forward an agenda:
The Washington Independent :
It’s no secret that national fundraising has buoyed the campaign of Conservative Party candidate for the NY-23 special election Doug Hoffman. But the full extent is remarkable. We crunched the FEC contribution numbers this afternoon to discover that 95 percent of Hoffman’s donations came from individuals and PACs based outside of the district. (Hoffman himself doesn’t even live in NY-23.) Only $12,360 of the $265,341 he’s raised came from potential constituents…
Read the whole story: The Washington Independent
http://washingtonindependent.com/66153/ny-23-95-percent-of-hoffman-cash-from-out-of-district
November 3rd, 2009 at 2:16 am
I don’t see any point in describing the situation as anything other than what it actually is.
Career advancement.
November 3rd, 2009 at 6:54 am
b4 – you’ve got a nasty piece of the puzzle described perfectly accurately. But what burns my ass is that the system – leaving the lobbyists, etc. aside – creates a situation where the Senate can pass a huge tax bill that causes extreme pain for the country and its future without a “rule of 60″ but we can’t get moderate – very moderate – health care reform because a tiny handful of Senators who happen to be far removed even from public opinion in their own states want to grandstand and garner the spotlight to enhance their sense of self-importance. It’s crazy. I’m not even sure this is in the interest of long term “career advancement” so much as some absolutely bizarre self-absorption.
November 3rd, 2009 at 7:33 am
“I mean its like the gene pool died. Hoffman looks like some sort of rodent an unbelievable specimen of mutant mayhem.”
Damn your good when your mad Anna. Although your politics suck, your prose rocks.
Now lets put the NY 23rd in perspective shall we? There was no Republican Primary. The cigar smokers hand picked a more liberal candidate than Hoffman thinking she would stand a better chance in NY. Is that fair? Is that democracy?
This whining by the democrats is only because their RHINO got gored in their pasture. Oh, and to demonize the candidate the people will like choose instead.
Go ahead and do your name calling and insulting. You are name calling and insulting potential voters in future elections.
Keep blowing holes in your clay feet. Injuring yourself out of spite for others. I think there is a name for this psychological disorder…..childishness.
November 3rd, 2009 at 8:04 am
“the cigar smkers hand-picked…”
Jim R – none of the candidates were chosen in a primary, because it was a special electioin and NY state doesn’t provide for a primary in those circumstances. But what do you call DickArmey, who escorted this guy Hoffman – who doesn’t actually reside in the district – dismissing questions about local issues as “parochial” when Hoffman couldn’t answer them. You want a list of “cigar smokers” that make the local GOP committee chairman’s credibility soar in comparison:
Club for Growth (!), Fred Thompson, the American Conservative Union, New York Right to Life, Michelle Malkin, Bill Kristol, the blog Red State, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, Hugh Hewitt, Michele Bachmann, Sarah Palin, Rick Santorum, Steve Forbes, the Family Research Council, Tim Pawlenty, James Dobson, the New York Post, Jim Demint and the Gun Owners of America ( http://gunowners.org/clinger.htm )
That’s the alliance of cranks, careerists, neo-Cons and $pecial Intere$t$ supporting the non-resident Hoffman in the 23rd. But run with this and convince yourself you’re bringing a credible alternative to America with this lovely crew. Pleeeeeze.
But
November 3rd, 2009 at 8:40 am
“None of the candidates were chosen in a primary, because it was a special electioin and NY state doesn’t provide for a primary in those circumstances.”
If you are right about this reg, then this is a major point. Political parties have a right to have some control over who they run as candidates. I am even an opponent of allowing independent voters to vote in a political party’s primary.
There should be some penalty when a party member leaves the party to run independently. They should not be allowed back in frivolously.
November 3rd, 2009 at 8:48 am
This is purely a function of the fact that the incumbent GOP congressman was chosen by Obama to be Secy of the Army. Normally there would be a primary and this brouhaha would never have happened because the voters would already have a vested interest in their candidate (although we all know congressional incumbents have the advantage, no matter what voters say about wanting more choices.)
November 3rd, 2009 at 3:12 pm
Roper, you’re a racist!
November 3rd, 2009 at 6:31 pm
Randy:”You mean manufacturing did not have its fastest growth in the past three years last month?”"
Randy, there are lies, damn lies and statistics.
The “fastest growth in the past three years” is like having a 100 Dollars in stocks, it dwindles to value around a buck and a half and then triples to $4.50 300% growth… from where?
Mavis, you bet I was talking about the Obama economy. He may have been in office for only a couple of months, but he was talking down the economy for better than two years. Besides, the point of that post wasn’t about obama’s economy, and you really are aware of it if you read the post… it was about demonizing others for being well off.
Besides, in the nine months, it has continued to slide because of his efforts, and not, as many would have it despite his efforts.
Reg, you are just a pissant so who gives a shit what you think?
November 3rd, 2009 at 6:31 pm
“The growth of conservative voters and the destruction of RINO’s and other “moderate” and “liberal” republicans is strictly the responsibility of TEH WON. He has screwed up everything he’s touched so far, the economy, Chevy, Chrysler, Banks, the so called “stimulus,” Afghanistan policy (remember when it was most pressing and urgent in the war on terror?), Iran, Israel, Pakistan (could Clinton be more inept?), etc., etc.”
Admiteddly, I’m here simply to Roper bash, an activity that I enjoy from time to time and something which has been made so much easier by the fact that Rope a Dope has long ago soiled the very idea that he is anything but some kind of knee jerk, partisan fool who can barely conjure up a coherant thought. For can anyone here decipher what he is even talking about beyond some kind of rhetorical and religious like objection to “TEH WON”. What’s up with the weird grouping together of Iran, Pakistan and Israel and why doesnt he enlighten us about how Obama has mucked all this up. I have my own suggestions on this, and Hillary’s squadering on the settlement issue, genuflecting to Bibi, has something to do with it but Rope doesnt even offer up anyhing. And given that he supported the foreign policy of Bush are we to imagine that its this which he is offering as an example. Afghanistan is thrown in there and the banks too, again with no explanation as to what on earth he is talking about. Dude seems to have gone brain dead and his blog is now made up by a team of nutters
November 3rd, 2009 at 7:14 pm
Randy, there are lies, damn lies and statistics.
Please cite where I’m wrong with a factual source. FYI: Bombast is not a source.
November 3rd, 2009 at 9:16 pm
It looks like the Dems have increased their congressional majority by knocking off a historic GOP district in upstate New York. I’m waiting for someone to explain to me how this election is great news for the right-wing. Oh yeah. Obama was only able to pull an extremely unpopular Corzine up about 16 points and a terrible Dem candidate in VA – who distanced himself from Obama until his campaign appeared terminal – lost that governor’s race. But this was, somehow, a great night for the “nutters” as Ahmed so felicitously puts it. My advice to the “conservative” Teabag rebellion: More suicide belts. The upside of this shootout between the GOP establishment, the teabag base and sane voters in the 23rd is that it will have a very positive impact on Sarah Palin’s book sales. Nothing like the sweet smell of success.
November 3rd, 2009 at 9:20 pm
Roper – go fuck yourself. Nobody cares about your resentments and half-baked, ignorant assertions. You’re a loser.
November 3rd, 2009 at 9:27 pm
So sorry to see Woody back. Hopefully this isn’t going to become a trend…