Today’s post will be especially shrill.
“We fuckin’ stole it, man” – Ed (Gin And Tacos)
This is all I’m really asking for. Honesty. Transparency. For someone in the GOP to stand up and say “Look, our party is run by old white people that are all gonna be dead in the next thirty years. This is our last hurrah as a national party, because we’ve royally pissed off every single demographic that’s not “old white people”. It’s in our best interests to disenfranchise the young, blacks, hispanics, women, and everyone else that doesn’t vote for us. So, when we get into power, we’re gonna enact laws and policies that will strip these people of their rights, because taking a dump on the Constitution is basically the only way we’re gonna win elections from here on out.”
“This Republican Economy” – Paul Krugman (New York Times)
To go back to a Bill Maher segment from a few weeks ago, I really don’t know what conservatives are so angry about. President Obama is functionally governing as a moderate Republican. He’s thumbed his nose at pretty much everything liberals want. The only reason we’re voting for him is because even if he’s a center-right President, Mitt Romney is a far right Candidate.
“George Romney for President, 1968” – Benjamin Wallace-Wells (New York Magazine)
This might be one of my favorite things I’ve ever read:
They were to return to the Romney home on a horse and buggy, and Moore signaled Kissinger over; the horse released a “warm, moist” fart right into the professor’s face. “Kissinger gave a little cough,” Moore says, “and then sort of looked off into the distance and said, ‘I see we have a lot of ground to cover.’?”
It is ironic that for as deeply principled as George Romney was, his son is such a spineless ninny. This is really a terrific look at George Romney, who might have been the GOP nominee instead of Barry Goldwater, and how his life influenced his son’s.
“The Presidency” – Atrios (Eschaton)
People like this make me angry. I will argue with the most ardent conservative until we’re both blue in the face because at least they believe in something. But the idea that there are people so intellectually incurious as to have no beliefs and be willing to pick elected officials like American Idol winners is profoundly infuriating.
“Can New York’s Governor Decriminalize Marijuana?” – Dashiell Bennett (The Atlantic Wire)
If Cuomo pulls this off, I’d start putting money on him as the Democratic nominee for President in 2016. Legalizing gay marriage in New York and decriminalizing pot would net him a lot of votes.
“Did Artur Davis not pay attention to Obama’s 2008 platform?” – Conor Friedersdorf (The Atlantic)
My guess is that Artur Davis tried to repudiate a popular president and was thoroughly rebuked by the electorate, and rather than learning from the experience he decided to take his toys and go home.
“Krugman: Reagan was more Keynesian than Obama” – Sahil Kapur (TPM)
As I’ve previously said: Ronald Reagan couldn’t win a GOP Primary today, much less the Presidency.
“Justice Stevens: Citizens United ruling will fall apart” – Sahil Kapur (TPM)
This was always a given. It’s just a question of whether Roberts and Co. can be shamed by the actions of their own party into doing it.
“Some Republicans willing to defy anti-tax pledge to preserve military spending” – Ali Gharib (ThinkProgress)
And now we see what the pecking order in the GOP is. Above all else, defense spending must be maintained and must always increase, regardless of what the generals and Pentagon say, even if it means raising taxes.
“5 Facts about the Massachusetts Economy under Mitt Romney” – Travis Waldron (ThinkProgress)
Well, let’s take a look: terrible job growth, massive labor force declines, lost manufacturing jobs, economic growth near the bottom of all states, and piles and piles of debt.
Yeah, sounds exactly like George W. Bush, Scott Walker, and every other Republican economic pariah. Conservative economic policies have been tried, and have failed spectacularly.
“Paul Krugman: ‘I’m sick of being Cassandra. I’d like to win for once'” – Decca Aitkenhead (The Guardian)
If I ever get invited to the White House, I’m bringing Paul Krugman with me.
“Conservative courage and other myths” – Cliff Schecter (Al-Jazeera)
To answer the question posed by the article, there are two reasons why Republican politicians fail to repudiate the lunacy that comes out of the right wing of their party.
The first reason is that because their victory strategy has shifted from inclusion of new groups to maximizing turnout of existing groups, they must pander to the base. This is utterly craven, but for creatures such as John Boehner, Mitch McConnell, Eric Cantor, Mitt Romney, etc., this is what they have to do to keep getting themselves and their friends elected.
The other reason is that they actually believe the lunacy.
I see someone like Michele Bachmann, Allen West, etc., and I don’t think they’re cravenly political creatures, shrewdly using the ignorance of their constituents to get elected. They actually believe it. I think Allen West genuinely believes that there are 78-80 actual honest-to-God Communists in Congress, because to him, progressive equals communist. I think that Michele Bachmann actually believes that Obamacare includes language authorizing death panels. And I think there are a hundred other Republican politicians just like them that have drunk the Kool-Aid.
