So, was it "internal pressure," or as Rachel Maddow suggests, fear of the dreaded cots?
[Excerpt]
Bowing To Internal Pressure, GOP Allows Debate On Financial Reform
Without a single objection, Republicans tonight dropped their three day filibuster of financial reform legislation, agreeing unanimously to debate the Democrats' bill on the Senate floor.
Though clearly a big defeat for the Republicans, their line tonight is that they endured this week's political maelstrom for a substantive reason: to allow Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) to extract as many concessions out of Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd as he could. When Dodd said no more, they relented. . .
When the GOP isn't saying "NO!" they're saying "Start over!" About just about everything. Now, when I hear Sen. Mitch McConnell or John Boner Boehner say something, my spidey sense always starts tingling. But when you hear the very same words echoed by the lesser lights in the Senate and House, and then by FOX "News" and Karl freakin' Rove, I automatically know it's b.s.
With the seeming new-found cooperation on financial reform, I was beginning to think that the Republicans were shedding their "party of no" reputation. Sadly, no is still the order of the day. I'd get it it there were legitimate concerns about certain judicial appointments. But, c'mon, 97 of them? Really? That just spells o-b-s-t-r-u-c-t-i-o-n pretty clearly, doesn't it?
[Excerpt] Republicans Block Votes On 97 Federal Nominees In A Single Day
And by Republicans, I mean the slim slice of the more rational, reasonable set of prominent GOPers. This would include David Frum and apparently now Sen. Tom Coburn, both of whom have pointed out the reality of FOX "News" to the public at large. Combine this with the schisms between the traditional GOP and the tea baggers (not to mention the schisms among the 'baggers themselves), the unpopularity of RNC chairman Michael Steele, Sarah Palin's tightrope walk between all of them, and countless other recent events, and you have to wonder. . . Is the Republican Party, which historically should win big gains in November, be coming apart at the seams?
[Excerpt]
Coburn Implores Audience To Not Be ‘Biased By Fox News’
Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) regularlyappears on Fox News. But at a recent town hall meeting, he accurately criticized the network for pushing misinformation about health care reform. When an audience member said that she believed the false claim that the new health care reform law meant that the IRS “can put us in prison” for not having health insurance, Coburn cut her off, saying that despite what they may have heard on Fox News, “the intention is not to put anybody in jail”. . .
Ronald Reagan used to say that the scariest words in the English language are, "I'm from the government, and I'm here to help." No problem! The Republicans are not about helping people. Clearly.
I haven't posted a Steven Weber piece in a while, and this one is pretty good. Once again, he writes what I'm thinking, only better.
[Excerpt]
Wasted
It must be a nightmare, clinging to beliefs that are regularly refuted by empirical facts, embracing myths of a country which only exists in the febrile Right Wing imagination, cringing in fear of contrived boogie men and having the world look upon you with a mixture of amusement and pity.
Because that is the reality of being a Republican today. . .
David Shuster and Rachel Maddow (as well as Keith Olbermann) have been the focus of a right-wing jihad of sorts over their use of the term "tea bagger." The now considered slur of the fractured, unfocused "Tea Party" movement was not invented by the MSNBC hosts. It was in fact being used by the tea partiers themselves. They were using the sexual double entendre intentionally, in an attempt to slam Democrats, Pesident Obama, and the Democratic Congress.
So why are they so upset about its use now? I'll tell ya why. Because in a rare case of the left intercepting the ball, and running it down to their own goalposts, the left managed to reverse-engineer the slur, and turn it on the tea baggers. And it stuck. And it's funny. And every time a tea bagger gets offended and whines about it, it becomes funnier.
I've read some of the weak protestations about this phenomenon on right-wing sites. How immature of MSNBC. How insulting, unfunny, how very gross to appropriate a sexual double entendre (and an unnatural one at that). No one on the right knew of the vulgarity (how could they?), so it just isn't the right's fault, and it is so NOT funny! Bull crap. Go to any right-wing commentary on anything to do with Rachel Maddow or any other gay subject matter, and you will see immature "humor" so far down the taste (and funny) scale, as to make the tea bagger humor seem like the absolute zenith of comedy.
I don't really give a whit about what Sen. Orrin Hatch thinks about anything. But this statement is so profoundly dim, I had to post it. I know we as a public are capable of being snowed sometimes. I know that often an event will happen, and then a political opportunist like Karl Rove will try to make us think it didn't happen. . .or happened differently. But are our memories really so short that we think the Republicans would be doing so much better right now with America's huge slate of issues? I sure hope not.
[Excerpt]
Hatch: If GOP Controlled Government, We Would ‘Get This Country Under Control’
. . ."I dream some day of having the Republicans have 60 votes. I’ll tell you one thing, I think we would finally have the total responsibility to get this country under control and I believe we would. But we never come close to that. . ."
The excerpted article below--I'll confess--is here primarily for the knee slapper of a headline it contains. It has the added beauty of being true.
[Excerpt]
Sarah Palin Is Like Crack For The Republican Party
The GOP is quickly becoming a regional party with little chance of capturing the White House is the foreseeable future. In 2008 the Republican's geriatric presidential nominee was soundly rejected by a public weary of the GOP's divisive rhetoric. . .
For a while, the GOP faithful were getting jazzed about their chances in the 2010 elections and beyond. They've been pretty open about rooting for President Obama's and the Democratic Congress' to fail, so that their waning popularity could usher in a new conservative age. But increasingly, with their slate of cartoon characters (Palin, Huckabee, et. al), and the prominence of the tea bagging fringe, their chances don't look too promising.
I'm not 100% thrilled with the state of politics today, either. There are things Obama and the Democrats have done (or not done) that make me unhappy. Democrats seem to lose their will to be Democrats once they have power. They come off as too wimpy, too eager to please right wingers. From my perspective, the right wingers aren't going to be happy no matter what Democrats do, so ignore them, and do what you promised! Still, my unhappiness doesn't change my will to vote, and to vote Democratic. No way am I going to help vote Republicans back into power. My memory isn't that short.
[Excerpt]
Newt Gingrich warns of 'destructive' GOP primaries
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich predicted disaster for his party if the conservative wing of the GOP continues to field independent candidates to the right of the party’s nominee. . .
Are we sure this isn't some early spin to get in front of a more salacious story? Something like the Appalachian Trail, perhaps? Or maybe the GOP realized how old and pasty they are, and decided to get a buff, young studly dude front and center? Either way, he's making a splash!
[Excerpt]
Roughing It
Seven days alone on an island was enough for him. On the final day of his trip, Flake catalogued a few things he missed while away from home. Atop that list was his wife, Cheryl, their children and human companionship. . .
"Laugh or cry?" That quote from the HBO program, Nurse Jackie, has quickly become a favorite in our household. And it couldn't be more apt, in relation to the excerpted article below. Liz Cheney is seriously being considered a "fresh face" of the GOP, a rock star.
On one hand, my heart sinks at the notion of a continuation of the Cheney legacy. On the other, she is only slightly less cartoonish than the rest of the roster (Sarah Palin, Bibby Jindal, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, Michelle Bachmann, ad infinitum). So, a good thing, or a bad thing? Laugh or cry?
[Excerpt]
Liz Cheney, 'Red State Rock Star'
Although former Vice President Dick Cheney has taken a lower profile recently, his eldest daughter, Liz Cheney, has become an in-demand spokeswoman for conservative causes and a hot property on network and cable news shows alike.
Monday, the New York Times put Liz Cheney on its front page, with an in-depth profile of the woman one Republican described as "a red state rock star. . ."
GOP leader Michael Steele has done very little that has been good for his party--though Democrats love him!--but he's right on this one. I know that disenfranchised Republicans and conservatives are puffing their chests about all of the attention they are getting. But I just can't imagine that this ugly display is having the intended effect.
As a Democrat, when I see them they just look like idiots. But what about Republicans or independents? Some of them are digging it, surely. But all or even most of them? I kind of doubt it. For one thing, all of these rabble-rousers seem rather unfocused, and sometimes unintelligible. This would really work if they were intelligent, well-spoken, and made a little sense. But they're coming off as. . .well. . .more than a little bit crazy. Which from my side of the aisle, is actually a good thing!
[Excerpt]
Steele Distances Himself From Town Hall Mobs: "We’re Not Encouraging People To Be Angry"
STEELE: I had nothing to do with that, I did not encourage that. And we’re not encouraging people to be angry I mean to the point of being nasty and brutish and ugly. That’s not what this is about. There’s no upside for the Republican Party or the people involved to do that. Now some people, you know, that’s how they express their frustration, that’s how they express their frustration. But that’s not something deliberately coordinated by me or any one state party. . .
Perhaps you've heard that the Republican National Committe is convening an emergency session, to vote on a new name for the Democratic Party. There's enough for a WTF? segment right there. But what they're actually doing is voting on what the RNC will call the Democratic Party, instead of using their actual name. Yes, they want to call it the "Democrat Socialist Party" instead. This constitutes an emergency, apparently. That's some grand plan!
Funny that the Democratic National Committee came up with this ad. Because yesterday when I was flipping through the Sunday political gabfests, I wondered, why are they trotting out these old has-been Republicans to speak for their party? This is what they've got?
Wow, is it Monday again already? The weekend just flew by. Now it's time to do the shoulder-to-the-wheel thing, whatever that means. So, to make things a little better, here's the new edition of "Top 10 Conservative Idiots" from Democratic Underground. It's a fun way to start the week.
[Excerpt]
The Top 10 Conservative Idiots, No. 364
May 11, 2009
Party Poop Edition
Okay - let's get started. The GOP (1,2) is in trouble, and the Wingnuts (3) are disintegrating, but it's okay because Rush Limbaugh (4) is living large. Elsewhere, Michael Savage (8) boycotts the British, and the folks at Pajamas TV (9) try their hand at comedy. . .
Much has been written about the current sorry state of the Republican Party. But the article I've excerpted below says it better than I've seen anywhere. Aside from great analysis and an enjoyable writing style, the author doesn't spare Democrats in the equation. Quite rightly, it is pointed out that the Democrats' key strength is that they aren't Republicans. There's some good stuff here.
[Excerpt]
Requiem for the Republican Party
The experts think the Republican party can get up off the canvas and stage a comeback, but don't bet on it. The poor GOP isn't really even a party anymore; it's more like a vaudeville troupe scuttling from one backwater to the next performing the same worn slapstick. They've simply become irrelevant, a "non-party" that no one pays much attention to apart from the occasional zinger on the Daily Show or Letterman. In truth, the GOP is so deeply-traumatized from their shocking fall from power, they'd probably benefit from a spell on the couch. Perhaps if they spent a few weeks in therapy, they'd see what a mess they've made of everything. . .
As a graphic artist, I was impressed (and more than a little jealous) at the creation of this new emblem for the Republican Party.
[Excerpt]
The Goposaur
Republicans have been hilariously trying to give Democrats branding suggestions as of late, as if their problem has been a lack of fresh new insults. Well, why we haven't had much of a shortage of insults of late (all we have to do is point at the latest Republican hilarity), that still doesn't mean we can't offer our own branding advice. . .
