14 October, 2009

Happy Hour Discurso

Today's opining on the public discourse.

ZOMG, are you guys ready for Con 2.D'oh?  That's right.  Michael Steele took the GOP "beyond cutting edge."  It's... uniquely Con:

[snip]

So, did the RNC get its money's worth with its newly-redesigned site? A few things jump out.

* The site includes a new two-page section on Republican "heroes." It features quite a few historic African Americans -- note to the RNC: you're trying way too hard -- including legendary baseball player Jackie Robinson, who wasn't actually a Republican.

* Steele has a blog on the site. It's called "What Up." The first sentence reads, "The Internet has been around a while, now." Seriously, that's exactly what it says.

* The site features a timeline of Republican Party "accomplishments," dating back to 1860. The last entry is from 2004, and refers to directing federal funds to private religious schools in D.C., in a voucher program that's failed in a variety of ways. The previous "accomplishment" was the launch of the Iraq war in 2003 (the piece also spells "Iraq" incorrectly). According to the RNC's own new website, the Republican Party hasn't had any accomplishments in the last five years.

* The RNC created a page for "future leaders" of the party. It's literally blank.

* Steele's first blog post asks readers, "Why are you are Republican? Think about that for a minute."

That's good advice, actually.
And there's moreMuch more. And as for Jackie Robinson's support of the GOP, Greg Sargent dispatches that rather nicely.

I think it's a perfect website for them, actually.  It's a beautiful demonstration that everything the Cons touch turns to shit.

Awesome.

I wonder if linking to Hitler videos is also "beyond cutting edge"?
It's quite a classy bunch Republicans have hired to staff their House campaign committee.
Hitler hearts Pelosi? That seems to be a view the National Republican Congressional Committee [which brought you the put-Pelosi-in-her-place statement last week] seems to be endorsing, judging from what the committee posts on their Twitter account.
On Tuesday morning, as the Senate Finance Committee prepared to vote on the Baucus bill, someone at the NRCC posted a bizarre Tweet linking to an altered three-minute section of the 2004 Hitler biopic "Der Untergang" from the conservative site Moonbattery -- with a voice-over of the The Fuhrer ranting about how only Nancy Pelosi shares his vision of health care reform.
In the insane video clip, Hitler is seen ranting about how Pelosi is on his side, and how much he likes "socialized medicine." Hitler, in the video, concludes "Like Pelosi, I don't give a s**t about the American people."

The NRCC described the video as "funny," and encouraged folks to check it out.
Steve Benen later noted, "The National Jewish Democratic Council believes conservative use of Nazi rhetoric to criticize Democratic policies has reached 'epidemic proportions.'"  No kidding, right?

Speaking of "epidemic proportions," here's our next installment in "But really - they're not racists!"
The Georgia Peach Museum and Restaurant — which boasts that it is “the original Klan bar” on its website — caused a media firestorm last week when it put up a sign that read, “Obama’s plan for health care – [n-word] rig it.” The restaurant’s owner, Patrick Lanzo, told a local paper that his sign is “strictly about free speech,” and noted that he has in the past been a member of the NAACP and has marched on behalf of gay rights.

Yesterday, radio host Alan Colmes hosted Lanzo and gave him a chance to explain why he chose to use the n-word on his sign. When Colmes chided Lanzo for using the word to refer to Obama, an African American, the restaurant owner responded that Obama isn’t an African American but a “half breed"....


But really, he's not a racist.  He said so himself.  I don't think the man knows the definition of the word "racist."

Let's return to our Con-spanking festivities.  New Jersey gubernatorial hopeful Chris Christie demonstrates "fiscal responsibility" as Cons practice it:
The Corzine campaign appears to have found some dirt in their searches through Chris Christie's records during his time as U.S. Attorney -- relating to some apparent lavish spending on the taxpayer's dime:
The Republican candidate for New Jersey governor, who has campaigned on a platform of ethical integrity and cutting government waste, regularly spent beyond federal guidelines on business travel while U.S. attorney, records show.

The newly released travel records show that Chris Christie occasionally billed taxpayers more than $400 a night for stays in luxury hotels and exceeded the government's hotel allowance on 14 of 16 business trips he took in 2008.

And I'm sure he'd display the same fiscal restraint as governor.  Think about that before you vote, New Jersey.

Another Con assclown joins the endless parade of hypocrites:
Earlier this year, Congress passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) — commonly referred to as the stimulus — without a single Republican vote in the House of Representatives. Since then, a whole host of legislators who opposed the stimulus have jumped on the chance to personally deliver stimulus funds to their cash-strapped districts.

The latest member of Congress to engage in this hypocrisy is Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-GA). Earlier this month, Gingrey appeared in the city of Cedartown, Georgia, to present a giant check of $625,000 in stimulus funds to the city commission to help fund the the city’s Streetscape project, which will install new sidewalks and infrastructure...
 Amazing how fast their little hands shot out for the cash as soon as they'd finished voting against it, innit?

You can sleep better tonight, my darlings.  Liz Cheney's looking out for our safety:
Liz Cheney and Bill Kristol have created a new right-wing political organization. What could possibly go wrong?
Former Vice President Dick Cheney's eldest daughter Liz will launch a new group aimed at rallying opposition to the "radical" foreign policy of the Obama administration which it says has succeeded only in undermining the nation's security.
The new group, Keep America Safe, will make the case against President Barack Obama's moves to wrench America away from Bush era foreign policy on issues from detaining alleged terrorists at Guantanamo Bay to building a missile shield in Eastern Europe.
"The policies being proposed by the Obama administration are so radical across the board," Cheney said. "Whether you're a Republican or a Democrat, you want the nation to be strong and so many steps this president is taking are making the nation weaker."
[snip]

Liz Cheney added that the group would defend and promote Bush-era policies: "There's no turning away from that legacy at all."

That's not unexpected -- self-reflection is not one of the neocons' strengths -- but it does offer an opportunity to remind the Cheney/Kristol crowd that we tried it their way, and it was a spectacular failure. "Keep America Safe" looks back at the Bush era and sees a national security record to be proud of. Except for the catastrophic events of 9/11, and the anthrax attacks against Americans, and terrorist attacks against U.S. allies, and the terrorist attacks against U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, and Bush's inability to capture those responsible for 9/11, and waging an unnecessary war that inspired more terrorists, and the success terrorists had in exploiting Bush's international unpopularity, they may have a point.
Indeed.

If that didn't make you sick enough, you may visit here and contemplate the horror of "Glenn Beck - Spawn of Rush Limbaugh."

And, finally, they of the forged letters shall have their day answering to Congress:

This should be fun...

A congressional panel will hold a hearing Thursday into those forged letters urging lawmakers to oppose climate change legislation. The letters purported to come from minority, senior, and veterans' groups, but in fact were sent by Bonner & Associates, a GOP-aligned astroturf lobbying firm, on behalf of a coal industry client.
Who's bringing the popcorn?

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