Chris Christie: not an entirely terrible person, the Justice Department chickens out, Young Republicans *snerkt*, the Republican Establishment (or lack thereof), a Big Pile Of Mitt: Paul Ryan edition, Friars gone wild, Sarah Palin breaks irony, “an ultraconservative utopia”, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, actual election fraud (!), Harry Reid’s Deep Throat, “the new birthers”, kudos to the Colorado Republican party, and productivity and wages in the public and private sectors.
Welcome to the Daily Sausage.
First up, Governor Chris “Hamburgler” Christie ended any chance he had for being Mitt Romney’s vice presidential nominee by standing up for the nomination of Sohail Mohammed, a Muslim attorney, as a superior court judge, and calling those that would oppose his nomination on religious grounds “bigots”. Nicely done, Governor.
In financial news, the Department of “Justice” has declined to prosecute anyone from Goldman Sachs in the ongoing financial fraud probe. Of course they have. God forbid anyone working for the Vampire Squid on the face of humanity be forced to account for the tremendous human suffering they’ve caused.
The New York Times has a new article on young Republicans, who, as anyone that interacted with them in college knows are among the most insufferable people to ever walk the earth. However, it does serve to highlight major fault lines within the Republican party; while these individuals may agree with the GOP on financial or tax issues, the social issues that are currently driving the party’s agenda are going to get them killed in the years to come.
In the first of many Charles P. Pierce articles today, CPP postulates that there is no Republican Establishment, just centers of power that occasionally collaborate.
And now, it’s time for everybody’s favorite section, A Big Pile Of Mitt – Paul Ryan Edition.
There are few things that would make me happier than Mitt Romney nominating Paul Ryan to be his vice president. First off, it would overwhelmingly assure the President’s victory. Second off, it would allow us to have a REAL conversation about the state of conservative economic thought and reconcile thirty years of looting and vandalism of the Federal Government. Finally, it would create an environment so toxic for Republicans that Democrats could win control of the House, keep the Senate, and keep the Presidency.
In our second Charles P. Pierce article of the day, we deconstruct Paul Ryan. The man is a fraud, a fake, a charlatan. He wants to deny everyone else the opportunities and benefits that he himself has benefited richly from. His House GOP budget, “The Path To Prosperity”, would decimate America’s cities and states.
However, the clamor for Paul Ryan isn’t just because he’s as wonky as the GOP gets these days; it’s about control. The GOP wants the Ryan Budget, and they just need Mitt Romney to be an empty suit and a pen.
As David Frum puts it, “The platform happens to be suicidal, and the agenda impossible, but that does not matter to the Ryan advocates.”
So go ahead, Mitt Romney. Nominate the zombie-eyed granny-starver from Wisconsin and watch Joe Biden tear his ass up.
A group of Franciscan Friars have criticized Mitt Romney for demonizing people on welfare, and encouraged him to spend more time in low-income communities. C’mon, guys, Mitt Romney does this every day. Compared to his community, EVERY community is low-income.
Sarah Palin broke irony last night, after calling President Obama’s speeches on the issue of civility “nauseating” and “disgusting”. There’s literally nothing I can say to make this any less mind-numbingly stupid. Sure, bagging on Sarah Palin for being a mouth-breathing ignoramus is old hat, but it’s a classic. Moreover, it’s good to remind ourselves that we were this close to having Princess Dumbass of the Northwoods in control of The Button, and that were it not for President Obama and Fightin’ Joe Biden that reality might have come to pass. So really, it’s a “there but by the grace of Sky Wizard go us” kind of thing.
Moving on, moderate Republicans in Kansas got sandbagged by arch conservative groups backed by the Koch Brothers, whose intent is to turn Kansas into “an ultraconservative utopia”. So, the next time you consider voting Republican, as yourself this: do I want to live in Kansas?
Right now, the GOP should be prepping for holding both houses of Congress. It’s exceptionally unlikely they’ll lose the House, and with the Democrats defending twice as may seats (23 to 10), winning the Senate should be cake. Unfortunately, the GOP didn’t learn from their mistakes in 2010 and nominated a bunch of right wing nutjobs that are blowing a bunch of Senate races. There’s Todd Akin who’s trying to unseat Claire McCaskill. Todd Akin is a loony, as previously mentioned. There’s Richard Mourdock, who beat Dick Lugar in a primary and is now tied with Joe Donnelly, who Lugar would have crushed by fifty points. Nate Silver is saying it’s too close to call. As the Romney campaign collapses, conservative voter enthusiasm will collapse with it, handing the Senate back to the Democrats.
Ta-Nehisi Coates has a report on actual election fraud (!), just not the kind we usually read about.
Speculation is running wild that Jon Huntsman, Sr. is Harry Reid’s Deep Throat. Possible? Sure. Probable? No idea. But if it were, it would be a tremendous coup for the Senator, as Huntsman, a conservative Utah billionaire, would probably know what’s on Mitt Romney’s tax returns.
Obvious Anagram and GOP Chair Reince Preibus said that people calling for Mitt Romney’s tax returns are the new birthers. I’d like to point out that President Obama released his standard and long-form birth certificates. He even put them on a coffee mug. So, if asking a candidate for President to release more than one complete year of his tax returns makes me a Taxer or whatever you want to call it, so be it.
The Colorado Republican party has rejected putting a radical personhood amendment on the ballot, and local politicians have already declined to endorse it. So, good job, Colorado GOP.
And finally, we have an article from Wonkblog on wages and productivity in the public and private sectors. A quick summary: productivity has gone up dramatically, and wages have remained stagnant.
