You know that rule about how when you've invoked Godwin's Law, you've lost the argument? Well, DeMint lost all arguments a long time ago, but now it's official:
Far-right lawmakers seem to realize that it's probably going to cost them if they compare Democratic leaders to Nazis, so they've embraced a more subtle way of making the same argument.Oh, yeah, we're just like pre-WWII Germany. That argument's so convincing. There's only a few minor differences, like we're not a struggling young republic just birthed from a kingdom, haven't just gotten our asses kicked by Europe's Great Powers, we're not being forced to pay punishing reparations, suffering from hyperinflation so severe that bread can only be bought with wheelbarrows full of cash, and haven't reached unemployment levels of 26%. Oh, and Obama's not a Jew-hating failed painter promising us that with a little ethnic cleansing and a lot of world war, we'll be Number One again. Yeah, other than almost every single fucking detail, we're just like Germany pre-WWII.Take Sen. Jim DeMint (R) of South Carolina, arguably the chamber's most right-wing member, who promoted his book, "Saving Freedom," at the National Press Club last night, and delivered this doozy:
"Part of what we're trying to do in 'Saving Freedom' is just show that where we are, we're about where Germany was before World War II where they became a social democracy. You still had votes but the votes were just power grabs like you see in Iran, and other places in South America, like Chavez is running down in Venezuela. People become more dependent on the government so that they're easy to manipulate. And they keep voting for more government because that's where their security is. When our immigrants get here, they're worried, because they see it happening here."
DeMint said he does not believe the United States is on the brink of revolution, preferring to see changes made in "a civilized way."
Can someone please explain to me why this assclown is a senator?
Oh, yes, because moral midgets like these elected him:
On MSNBC this afternoon, Firedoglake’s Jane Hamsher engaged in a spirited exchange with Townhall’s Jillian Bandes about health care reform. After Hamsher mentioned that she was speaking out in favor of the public option as “a sixteen-year cancer survivor,” Bandes replied, “I’m sorry I’m not a cancer survivor, but that doesn’t mean I can’t criticize a public plan.” When Hamsher argued that access to health care should be a human right, Bandes interrupted her and threw up her arm, asking “should food be a basic human right?”Um, let me think about that a nanosecond: YES.
The Democratic base is responding to healthcare reform by writing informative posts about proposed legislation and health care in other industrialized countries, working hard to debunk the usual Con bullshit about socialized medicine and grannies on ice floes (apparently, Cons would rather starve Granny to death than freeze her to death), and whipping the public option. The Con base is busy howling out debunked talking points about bureaucrats denying you health care and photoshopping Obama's head onto a tribal African, complete with Soviet reference:
I don't this this was just one layer:You stay classy, GOP: (h/t Oliver Willis)
[snip]And then this morning someone forwarded me this email, which as far as I know is unrelated to the Malkin contest BUT follows a similar vein AND has been "making the rounds," as the kids say, under the subject line Obamacare Healthcare is coming soon!
Today's Conservatives: Just when you think they can't sink any lower, they dredge yet another layer of slime out of the swamp.
But what else can we expect of authoritarian followers so bloody fucking stupid that they overwhelmingly trust Sarah "I Can See Putin's House From Here!" Palin more than anyone else on national security:
... harf?I’m really not sure what to make of this astonishing number from Rasmussen about the 2012 GOP primary:
Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is the top choice for those Republicans who put national security first and ties Romney for first among voters who list economic issues alone as the priority.
Palin is the top choice among Republicans whose top concern is national security? I can see how folks would find Palin appealing as a folksy and combative hockey mom type, an outsider and reformer who dukes it out with coastal elites on behalf of ordinary Everymoms all over the vast middle of the country. But as a military leader?
If memory serves, Palin got roundly pilloried for botching the Bush doctrine and for citing the proximity of Alaska to Russia as proof of her national security cred, among other gaffes. National security was Palin’s glaring weak point in 2008.
*doubletake*
WTF?
*headdesk headdesk headdesk*
You know what, I can't take any more stupid. I just can't. There's a ton more of it - like OK State Rep. Sally "Gays Are Eeevilll!" Kerns whining about intolerant protestors, the ridiculous right's latest fake scandal, Ensign's parent's paying off his mistress and her family, Hannity's deliberate deceptive editing of footage, and Palin's hilarious attempt to quote Plato, but I can't take any more. I just can't. The stupid, it has left 3rd degree burns over 90% of my brain.
I'm going to curl up with some soothing science and hope the stupid burns itself out before they catch the rest of the country on fire.
I've observed over the past few years that if a conservative makes a totally outrageous accusation against a liberal, the accusation is usually true about the conservative, or those s/he supports.
ReplyDeleteThis is often unintentionally revealing on the part of the conservative. What was Bush doing while he was in office? DeMint has helpfully given us a sketch: "You still had votes but the votes were just power grabs..." .. "People become more dependent on the government so that they're easy to manipulate." (think Homeland Security, the PATRIOT Act, the Iraq War...) "And they keep voting for more government because that's where their security is." .. "When our immigrants get here, they're worried, because they see it happening here." ...which of course is why most of them voted for Obama.
The irony of what Sen. DeMint said about power grabs is that, for a moment, I assumed he was referring to the Republican's attempts to suppress votes in Ohio and Florida, among other places. Needless to say, I quickly came to my senses. I don't think Sen. DeMint will be able to say the same.
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