Happy Hour Discurso

Today's opining on the public discourse.

ZOMG, our President is now a Nobel Laureate.  I don't know about you, but I'm pretty proud that our President won a Nobel Peace Prize.  We have a Nobel Prize-winning President.  Any way you turn that around, it looks wonderful.

Unless, of course, you're a Con.

Instead of taking some pride in America and President Obama, Cons are in an uproar.  Their bullshit over the Olympics - tempest in a teapot. The viciousness, the cheering for America's failure and booing America's success, is on incredible display.  And keep in mind, what follows is just a drop of the right-wing invective spat at the President today.

Glenn Beck said, and I shit you not, that the Teabaggers should've gotten the Peace Prize.  Beck's officially a hysteric narcissist now - no other explanation for such a deliberately provocative, whiny little scream.

Rush Limbaugh thinks winning a Nobel Prize makes our President "a world-wide joke," and, furthermore, "Folks, do you realize something has happened here that we all agree with the Taliban and Iran about and that is he doesn't deserve the award. Now that's hilarious, that I'm on the same side of something with the Taliban, and that we all are on the same side as the Taliban."  To which Steve Benen said:

Well, Rush, not all of us.

It's been quite a strange year in this regard. In February, Rep. Pete Sessions (R) of Texas, chairman of the Republican Congressional Committee, said he'd like to see his party emulate the Taliban and possibly "become an insurgency."

And now Limbaugh thinks it's hilarious that he, the Taliban, and the Ahmadinejad regime are all criticizing the U.S. president in the same way.

That is really all you ever need to know about the Con party.  It's too bad there will be people stupid enough to vote for them anyway. People like Erick Erickson, who tweeted that he didn't realize "the Nobel Committee had affirmative action quotas it had to meet."

But really, folks, they're not racists.  Pay no attention to the fact they constantly offer evidence that they are.

Con strategist Chris LaCivita, also a condescending douchebag but one who can't be as obvious as Erick, said Obama only won because he gave "a couple of nice speeches."

And - oh, hell, there's too many of them to keep up with here.  If you want to see just how outrageous and unhinged the right got, go here, here, and here. But don't go to the Con elected leadership, because they haven't quite figured out how to respond yet, despite a few scattered Cons having the class to actually congratulate President Obama on his prize.

These people are fucking sad.

The Dems aren't taking their bullshit lying down, either:

There were certain similarities between the Taliban's reaction to President Obama's Nobel Peace Prize and the Republican National Committee's reaction. When one GOP congressional leader said earlier this year that he'd like to see the Republican Party emulate the Taliban, this probably isn't what he meant.

Nevertheless, the Democratic National Committee is taking off the gloves this morning.

"The Republican Party has thrown in its lot with the terrorists -- the Taliban and Hamas this morning -- in criticizing the President for receiving the Nobel Peace prize," DNC communications director Brad Woodhouse told POLITICO. "Republicans cheered when America failed to land the Olympics and now they are criticizing the President of the United States for receiving the Nobel Peace prize -- an award he did not seek but that is nonetheless an honor in which every American can take great pride -- unless of course you are the Republican Party.

"The 2009 version of the Republican Party has no boundaries, has no shame and has proved that they will put politics above patriotism at every turn. It's no wonder only 20 percent of Americans admit to being Republicans anymore -- it's an embarrassing label to claim," Woodhouse said.

As DNC statements go, it doesn't get much harder hitting than this.

Not really.  Something tells me they're a wee bit pissed.  And Claire McCaskill delivered a very nice knock-out punch:

Now comes Senator Claire McCaskill, who becomes the first elected Democrat to hit back at Republicans for criticism of Obama’s Nobel:

I feel that I’m in an alternative universe. For eight years some people called anyone who disagreed with the President’s foreign policy or war in Iraq unpatriotic. Then in the course of two weeks, those same people cheer when the United States does not get selected for the Olympics and boo when our President is the unanimous choice for the Nobel Peace Prize. Go figure.

Congratulations Mr. President for standing up to the scorn and derision of your opponents in the election when you firmly stood for the proposition that strength meant being willing to talk to your enemies, not just your allies. Thank you for the confidence and wisdom to say that a hand will be extended when their fist is unclenched. And thank you for understanding that our national security rests on our principles, the example we set for the world, and our alliances along with the excellence and strength of our military, rather than exclusively the latter. God Bless America.

Well said.

I suppose it's no surprise that the right wing is this hysterical over Obama winning the Nobel.  This is a movement so unhinged over a black Democrat winning the White House that they're already on about impeachment:

While the international community is heralding President Obama for his leadership, right-wing activists here in America are clamoring to impeach him. Republican operative Floyd Brown, “one of the nation’s dirtiest political strategists” and the architect of the racially-charged Willie Horton ad against Michael Dukakis, has launched a campaign to impeach Obama. Brown, who registered his impeachment website in August, worked closely with congressional Republicans to push a similar crusade against Clinton, starting in 1994. During the 2008 campaign, Floyd ran commercials claiming Obama is Muslim.

Rather than cite any specific crime, Brown is demanding Obama’s removal for pursuing progressive agenda items like health and clean energy reform. His website blares: “Are you willing to let [Obama] construct a totalitarian regime… fascism, socialism, Obamaism… take your pick?”

These people, they aren't sane.

If you're wondering how desperate they are to drum up a controversy, any controversy, regarding Obama, they're also busy attacking Obama's choices in White House art.  It should come as no surprise that they're completely fucking wrong and have no idea how fine art works.

And, just in case you haven't had enough stupidity for the day, we've got a Con candidate target-shooting an effigy of his rival, Democrat Debbie Wasserman Schultz.  I think this needs to be asked of every Con in or running for office: why the fuck are you dumbshits so keen on encouraging violence?

It's too bad we can't treat them like children just because they're acting like two year-olds.  The whole lot sorely needs some quality time in a corner.