Happy Hour Discurso

Today's opining on the public discourse.

Here's a thought sure to give you screaming nightmares:

There are more than a few possibilities for a post-presidency career for George W. Bush, but National Review’s Kathryn Jean Lopez has a suggestion that I really hope the president chooses to ignore.

A totally crazy Saturday-morning thought: Wouldn’t George W. Bush make an awesome high-school government teacher? Wouldn’t it be something if his post-presidential life would up being that kind of post-service service? How’s that for a model? Who needs Harvard visiting chairs and high-end lectures? How about Crawford High? (Or wherever?)

Reach out and touch the young before they are jaded, or break them of the cynicism pop culture and possibly their parents have passed down to them. Whatever you think of President Bush, he’s a likable guy in love with his country with some history and experience to share.

I need an airsick bag. The thought of Bush up in front of a high-school class is appalling.

Here's a totally crazy Sunday afternoon thought: how about we throw the son of a bitch in prison for war crimes? That would be a post-presidency career he'd be perfectly suited for.

Continuing our theme of batshit insanity, there's a group out there claiming - get this - that Martin Luther King Jr. was a Republicon:

Two years ago, in the midst of a competitive Senate race in Maryland, the National Black Republican Association went to work in support of Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele, a conservative black Republican. As part of the group’s efforts, the NBRA ran ads insisting that Democrats were responsible for Jim Crow laws, the KKK, and releasing vicious dogs and fire hoses on black people. Martin Luther King Jr., the group said, was a Republican, and it was Republicans who “freed us from slavery and put our right to vote in the Constitution.”

Voters were not fooled, the African-American community in Maryland found the ads deeply offensive, and Steele was easily defeated. This year, with the first African-American presidential nominee on the ballot, the National Black Republican Association has an even more difficult task, so it’s pushing the old talking points even more aggressively.

A black Republican group has put up billboards in Florida and South Carolina saying the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was a Republican, a claim that black leaders say is ridiculous.

The National Black Republican Association has paid for billboards showing an image of the civil rights leader and the words “Martin Luther King Jr. was REPUBLICAN.” Told about the billboards, the Rev. Joseph Lowery let out a soft chuckle that grew stronger as he began to think more about the idea.

“These guys never give up, do they?” said Lowery, who co-founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference with King. “Lord have mercy.”

Well, my dear Rev. Lowery, redefining reality is a full-time, nearly impossible job, so no. They don't ever give up. As CB said:

I’d just add that in some ways this right-wing group’s message reveals more than it should. When Republicans want to demonstrate to the African-American community that the GOP can be trusted, it doesn’t point to its agenda, its values, or its candidates. And why not? Because it wouldn’t make any sense — even putting aside the GOP’s humiliating record on civil rights and race relations, today’s Republican Party has very little to offer black voters.

So, we end up with stunts like these. It’d be funny if it weren’t so pathetic.

Crazy fuckers. I've always wondered why people allow themselves to be persuaded to vote for a party that would take their rights, dignity and freedom away in an instant if the Constitution and civil-rights watchdogs would let them get away with it. How stupid do you have to be to believe the Republicons are good for the black community?

Argh.

How morally bankrupt is the Republicon party? How little do they offer America? Not only must they try to persuade black voters that Rev. King was one of them, they're having to run screaming from actual issues and wield the baseball bat of teh gays!!!11!!1!

Discussing Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) struggling campaign on Fox News Sunday today, Weekly Standard Executive Editor Fred Barnes argued that McCain “needs to pay attention to the right.” “Here’s what he needs to do, he needs to touch on some of the social issues which energize the right,” declared Barnes.

Barnes specifically said that McCain is “going to have use” gays in the military and gay marriage as wedge issues:

BARNES: In particular, gays in the military for one. We know Barack Obama is for allowing gays in the military, and Bill Clinton tried to do, but backed off. This is not a popular issue. Gay marriage is another one. These are both issues that I think McCain’s going to have to use. You can’t ignore the right. If he does, he’ll lose.

Yes, America! Never mind that we fucked up the country beyond recognition, shot the national deficit through the roof, slammed you into the worst recession since the Great Depression, and sunk America's standing in the world so low countries in the gutter are waving down to us. You can't vote Democrat because they'll let gays get married! Oh, the horror!

You want to know how credible Barnes is? This credible:

On Fox News Sunday, Fred Barnes argued that war in Iraq is “so much more important” than the war in Afghanistan. Iraq is a “country in the heart of the Middle East, one of the most important countries there, an oil-producing country.” He added, “Compare that with there’s a Taliban offensive in southeastern Afghanistan. You talk about the middle of nowhere!”

Yeah, Afghanistan. That's just where all the terrorists are, no big deal. Who the fuck cares about holding a war in a country where there's no oil, right?

At this point, a lemming would make a more credible president. At least if it wasn't a Republicon...