Texas Idiot Louie Gohmert Mulling Presidential Run

I'm pretty sure he was a character on Green Acres.
Image from source, Raw Story.

Oh, come on... There can not be a gift to the comedy gods this ripe, when Jon Stewart is leaving The Daily Show, and with The Colbert Report already gone! I have ripped on the fact that every four years there is a brand-new model of clown car stuffed full of GOP contenders for nuttiest nutbar to run for President. But never has one of them been quite so obviously both nutty and stupid as Louie Gohmert.

Gohmert is Exhibit A for many things, from "What's wrong with Congress," to "Why we should DEFINITELY mess with Texas." He's a gibbering, laughable, ridiculous, plain-as-day idiot. And if he--like fellow nuts before him, like Rick (don't Google me) Santorum, Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain and others--manages to rise to the top of the Republican primary polling, even for a nanosecond? It will prove that conservatives will follow anyone with an (R) after their name. And the run, however brief, will be hilarious, regardless.

[Excerpt]

Louie Gohmert is weighing a presidential run — here are 5 reasons we hope he goes for it
 
dds are that there are people hoping Tea Party Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) joins Sen. Ted Cruz in the presidential field. Namely, progressive comedians. So his statement to The Hill on Thursday indicating that he is at least considering it should be cause for celebration. When asked if he was considering supporting his fellow Texas Republican’s burgeoning candidacy, Gohmert said, “Ted is a good friend and would be an outstanding President; however, I haven’t ruled out an exploratory committee myself. . .”

Read more at: Raw Story

Sen. Minority Leader Harry Reid Will Not Seek Re-election

As a former Nevadan, I have a love-hate relationship with Harry Reid. No, wait, that really isn't right. Harry doesn't ever really inspire hatred in me, only frustration. He's famously milquetoasty, and can come off as weak and whiny. If you follow him at all, you know he's quite capable of being fiercely defiant, steadfast and resolute when he needs to be, but always with his quiet, Mormon demeanor. At his angriest, Harry is like a really annoyed schnauzer or something, he could bite and do damage, but he's not particularly scary about it.

There have been times in the past, where he pulled a maneuver that had me standing up and cheering, "THAT'S my senator!" and as many or more times when I was annoyed that he let the likes of Mitch McConnell steamroller him. Worse, Harry is a true old-guard member of Congress, who respects the traditions and history and storied past of both chambers. He has a romantic notion of what the Senate was, what it could/should have been, often to the detriment of the reality of the situation. He's never been the villain that Right Wing World tries to make him out to be, and I think Rush Limbaugh's nickname for him--"Dingy Harry"--belies that notion. He was a wax-coated, non-venomous thorn in their sides, that's all.

I don't blame him for retiring. His last election was terribly bruising, and he came a hair's breath from losing to a supreme nutjob named Sharron Angle. In recent years, the bruising has been quite literal, up to and including a gym accident that broke bones in his face, and threatened his vision. I'd quit too, enjoy the time he has left, and leave the shambles that Congress has become to others. But Nevada will certainly drop in its Congressional power level. And I'm not sure either party has a candidate who is a sure thing to replace him. I'm sure they'll pull Angle and Chicken Lady Sue Lowden out of mothballs, to give it a go. Has John Ensign lived down his sordid affair yet? I can't even think of a Democrat who they might put up, though Dina Titus will likely give it a shot, and Shelley Berkley may not be so far out of the public's consciousness to give it another try.

Either way, good luck Harry. Ride off into that gorgeous Nevada sunset. Just don't fall off the horse any more!


Read: Reid won’t seek re-election to Senate in 2016

 

Schocked! Congressman Aaron Schock Resigns Amid Multiple Scandals

Well, helllloooooo, Mr. Schock!

The hottie Congressman from Illinois has finally stepped in so much doody, that his backtracking and backpeddling is only spreading it all around. The sexually ambiguous Representative is in it up to his eyeballs (balls deep, as it were), and has decided it's all just too much. And so, he's stepping down from Congress. Which is pretty amazing. And it makes me wonder how long it'll be until the coming out party.

[Excerpt]

Aaron Schock, Politically Dead at 33

Aaron Schock painted his office to look like landed gentry, but at the end a series of damaging stories he was reminded he was a public servant. And as of March 31, he won’t even have that title. Schock’s sudden resignation on Tuesday ended a 44-day free fall from power that began after a reporter from The Washington Post noticed his brightly hued-office made to look like the set of Downton Abbey. . .

Read more at: The Daily Beast

Maddow: Iraq Engagement on "Constitutional Autopilot" with Absent Congress

GOP Congresswoman: We Need To Talk "Down To A Woman’s Level"

Image from source, TPM

It isn't often that I hear a woman speak, and my mouth hangs open. I'm long immune to the ramblings of the Sarah Palins and the Michele Bachmanns of the world. But this lady did it.

[Excerpt]

GOP Congresswoman: We Need To Bring Policy Talk ‘Down To A Woman’s Level’

Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-NC) said on Friday that in order to connect with female voters, the Republican party needs to bring policy explanations "down to a woman's level." During a panel discussion on issues that women face and how the GOP can better reach women voters, the chair of the Republican Women's Policy Committee said that members of the party need to better "articulate ourselves," according to the Washington Examiner. . .

Read more (with audio) at: Talking Points Memo

Obama's 5th State of the Union Address

Image from source, MSNBC

If you're counting on your fingers (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014)*, you can be forgiven for thinking this was the sixth SOTU for President Obama, but the first one is the inaugural address. But whatever, as these things go, it was a good speech. There were memorable moments, nothing particularly controversial, some strong, firm words but little to throw Right Wing World into a tizzy (beyond. . .you know. . .usual). It was okay.

The things I like--Obama's acknowledgement that he's going to have to do as much as he's legally able to do himself, and without Congress--is one of the things the right wouldn't like. They're calling him an "imperial" president, apparently forgetting the Bush/Cheney years completely. But what else is the man to do with an intractable, do nothing Congress? Good for him.

*And, sidenote: Wow. Hard to believe that we're that deep into the Obama era, isn't it? This blog was started in nearly the same part of the Bush Era. Time flies.

[Excerpt]

Obama: Time for Congress to get out of the way

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

 
It took more than 6,840 words. But President Obama’s State of the Union address to Congress really boiled down to one anodyne message: I have led—and so can you! The central theme of the address was familiar: Economic opportunity has eluded too many ordinary Americans despite the progress the country has made so far. And Obama made special mention of the long-term unemployed, making the case once again for extending federal benefits. . .

Read more at: MSNBC

Nice Work if You Can Get It: Congress Done for the Year?

Image from source, Politico

There's been lots of talk in Congress about companies cutting people's hours "because of" ObamaCare (in reality taking advantage of the situation to maximize profits, usually). But there's a group of part time workers with platinum health care for life. Congress!

But tell me something. If this Congress suddenly stopped legislating. . .how would that be any different from what they're doing?

[Excerpt]

Congress seems to be done legislating for the year

 It’s just mid-November, but it’s quickly becoming a reality: Washington could be mostly done making laws for the year. If it isn’t evident by looking at the thin congressional calendar, top sources in both chambers are downright grim that the final eight weeks in 2013 will produce any legislative breakthroughs, like a broad budget agreement or an immigration deal. . .

Read more at: Politico

The Gay Thing: ENDA on Track to Pass Senate

ENDA, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, is poised to be passed by the Senate, with the unlikely help of a few Republicans, notably Nevada's Senator Dean Heller. The bill has been around since 1994, but hasn't had much of a chance of passage until now. Still, John Boner Boehner promises to kill the bill in the House, claiming that it's unnecessary, and--irony of irony--kills jobs. See, ENDA was created to save jobs, specifically the jobs of gay, lesbian and transgendered people who are currently not protected from being fired for their gender identity or sexual orientation in a majority of states. Boehner either doesn't know this, or is banking on his constituents not knowing this.

It's still an important vote, symbolically showing progress.

[Excerpt]

Senate Passes ENDA on Procedural Vote

For the first time since it was originally introduced in 1996, the U.S. Senate took an important step toward passing the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, voting in favor of cloture — a procedural move intended to overcome any attempted filibuster — in a bipartisan vote of 61-30. . .

Read more at: The Advocate

Senate & House Vote: Debt Ceiling Lifted, Shutdown Over

"We had to do this" was a refrain often uttered in response to why this ridiculous, self-inflicted dual crisis has overtaken everything in the last three weeks. It's a shitty answer. Because, beyond the desire to shut down the government, and the desire to refuse to raise the debt ceiling, I've yet to hear a coherent envisioned end-game to all of this from the GOP.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

We know that a) they despise the President, in a white-hot, irrational way; b) Democrats are a proxy for the President, and thus compromise with them is tantamount to making a deal with the Devil; and c) because of a and b, they despise "ObamaCare." That's just a taste of their motivations of course, and already there are multiple problems with their so-called reasoning. Chief among them was the fact that the Affordable Care Act is already law, passed by Congress, affirmed by the Supreme Court and vindicated by Obama's re-election. It doesn't have a blessed thing to do with the continuing budget resolution or the debt ceiling. It was also a non-starter, non-negotiable to both the President and the Senate.

So, the reasoning for why the government was shut down, and the debt ceiling default imminent, kept shifting. The demands kept changing, and like Bette Midler in Ruthless People the ransom kept going down. All along, the votes have been there in the House for a clean budget bill and debt ceiling raise. John Boner Boehner was just unwilling to do so. I have to wonder what he's worried about. Who would want to lead these people?

[Excerpt]

ALL ABOARD: CONGRESS PASSES BILL TO REOPEN GOVERNMENT

After weeks of stalemate that shuttered the government for 16 days and brought the nation within hours of a key deadline to renew its borrowing authority, the standoff is finally over.
The House passed a bill 285-144 late Wednesday night to re-open the government and extend the debt ceiling until Feb. 7.  That vote came hours after the Senate approved the measure 81-18. . .

Read more at: NBC News
 

#GOPShutdown: Reign of the Morons

Image from source, Esquire

Oh, this is good.

I pondered what would happen with a red tide in 2010, right here on the blog. I was correct, when I said that 2012 would sweep away some of the damage, after the GOP showed its true colors, and the pendulum swung back. What I didn't know is that the pendulum didn't swing hard enough, and that the tea party--the rebranded crazy right-wing base--would become the GOP's Frankenstein Monster. That a bunch of ideologues who didn't work their way up through local office would find themselves elected Senators and Congress members. When the GOP allowed the newly christened Tea Party to become a force in their party, they really did open Pandora's Box.

[Excerpt]

The Reign Of Morons Is Here

In the year of our Lord 2010, the voters of the United States elected the worst Congress in the history of the Republic. There have been Congresses more dilatory. There have been Congresses more irresponsible, though not many of them. There have been lazier Congresses, more vicious Congresses, and Congresses less capable of seeing forests for trees. But there has never been in a single Congress -- or, more precisely, in a single House of the Congress -- a more lethal combination of political ambition, political stupidity, and political vainglory than exists in this one, which has arranged to shut down the federal government because it disapproves of a law passed by a previous Congress, signed by the president, and upheld by the Supreme Court, a law that does nothing more than extend the possibility of health insurance to the millions of Americans who do not presently have it, a law based on a proposal from a conservative think-tank and taken out on the test track in Massachusetts by a Republican governor who also happens to have been the party's 2012 nominee for president of the United States. That is why the government of the United States is, in large measure, closed this morning. . .

Read more at: Esquire

Daily News Declares Congress "House of Turds"

I couldn't have said it better myself.

Source: DailyKos

Here's What Republicans Were Demanding to Avert a Shutdown

Image from source, Think Progress

When you hear--and you will--that the government shutdown is the result of Democrats not accepting a Republican "compromise," you will be forearmed with this knowledge. Democrats wanted a clean spending bill, no add-ons, no demands. The Republicans wanted a lengthy list of conservative bullet points. This was essentially extortion, and Harry Reid didn't blink. I am often disappointed in my State's Senator, but not tonight.

And one more thing: if the shutdown is the Democrats' fault, why is it that Right Wing World is dancing a jig right now? They're thrilled they got a shutdown. Don't believe their spin for a minute.

[Excerpt]

21 Things Republicans Have Demanded In Exchange For Not Shutting Down The Government Or Tanking The Global Economy

1. A balanced budget amendment [Link]
2. Approving Keystone XL [Link]
3. Eliminating funding for Planned Parenthood [Link]
4. Medicare privatization [Link]
5. Tax reform, as outlined by Paul Ryan [Link]
6. The REINS Act, which would require Congress to approve significant federal regulations [Link]
7. Means-testing Social Security [Link] . . .

There's much more, read here: Think Progress

Facepalm: Michele Bachmann Embarrasses Herself (And Us) One More Time

Michele Bachmann is not running for reelection to Congress in 2014. But that doesn't mean she's going to stop embarrassing herself, or the country. Just take a look at this. Marcus, come get your beard wife! She's doing that thing again!

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Ode to Michele Bachmann (Rocky Mountain Mike Song Parody)

The demise of Michele Bachmann's political career (in no way related to her campaign finance scandals, no, no) gets the Rocky Mountain Mike treatment. Need I point out it parodies Ozzy Osbourne's Crazy Train? Enjoy.

 

Michele Bachmann Not Running for Re-Election in 2014

Wha?!? Really? It's a blow to comedy, that's for sure. Maybe Marcus can now be free to let his glorious rainbow flag fly?

[Excerpt]

Michele Bachmann Will Not Seek Re-Election In 2014


Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) announced early Wednesday that she will not seek re-election in 2014. . .

Read more at: Huffington Post

Louie Gohmert is Apparently Insane

If you put your ear to his mouth, you can hear
the ocean. Image from Business Insider.

Yeah, I know. What else is new, right? I swear, this guy is like Berkeley Breathed character.

[Excerpt]

The Most Bizarre Moment From Attorney General Eric Holder's Congressional Hearing

Attorney General Eric Holder's hearing before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday grew heated, as members of Congress grilled him on everything from the Justice Department's obtaining of Associated Press phone records to President Barack Obama's Labor Secretary nominee, Thomas Perez. . .

Read more: Business Insider

Happy Sequester! What Was the Point?

Image from CBS News

I was going to write something about this, but the headline really says it all. I mean, I can't even. . .



[Excerpt]

Sequester: What was the point?

It's March 1, and President Obama today will have to set in motion the sequester cuts that will slash $85 billion from the budget this fiscal year and $1.1 trillion more over the next 10. Lawmakers this week have been busy arguing over who came up with this lousy policy, but the better question is why. . .

Read more at: CBSNews

On a side note, no matter what I do to this photo, only half appears, and I have no caption. Which I find extremely strange. I have to wonder if there is some new image embedding technology that sabotages "fair use" on blogs? Or maybe I'm paranoid. Or maybe Google's Blogger software just has a bug. AHA! It's the deliberate re-use of CBS's enlarged font what did it! Isn't digital detective work fun?

Joe Heck Considers Gabby Giffords a "Prop" for Gun Control Advocates

Image of Gabby Giffords from source, Think Progress

Joe Heck has been a politician in Nevada for as long as I can remember, and I've been here for over 18 years. Sometimes he wins, sometimes he loses. But he hit the jackpot in the 2010 GOP wave election, defeating freshman Congreswoman Dina Titus (who was swept back into congress in the 2012 election), and is now a two-term US Congressman. My take on Heck was mildly negative, for admittedly shallow reasons: he is a Republican, and he reminds me of a sister wife, minus the upswept hairdo. I don't know why, maybe it was just his photo on his campaign signs. Anyway. . .

My negative opinion of Heck has gained a little depth since my original assessment. I've since heard Heck several times in interviews and call-in segments on local Las Vegas talk radio. And from what I've heard, Heck is Meet the Press ready, with canned GOP answers for every question. Sure, the answer may not fit the question to a T, but it is guaranteed to match whatever the talking points of the day are. And now, Heck may have said too much to one of those local hosts, a blowhard named Alan Stock. I think Heck may have gotten to conversational, too comfortable in the right-wing echo chamber.

[Excerpt]

Congressman Considers Gabby Giffords A ‘Prop’ For Gun Regulations

Congressman Joe Heck (R-NV) on Tuesday agreed that he considers former Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-AZ), who was a victim of an assassination attempt two years ago, a “prop” in the debate over gun regulations. . .

Read more at: Think Progress

Irony Alert: Michele Bachmann Retains Seat on Intelligence Committee

Duh. Image from ThinkProgress

Truth is stranger than fiction sometimes. There are GOP science deniers on science committees, and Michele Bachmann--one of the dimmest bulbs in the conservative chandalier--is keeping her seat on the Intelligence Committee. I suppose it's no more ironic than the fact that her husband Marcus runs a de-gaying clinic. . .

[Excerpt]

Bachmann Keeps Seat On Intelligence Committee Despite Discredited Anti-Muslim Witch Hunt

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) will remain a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence during the 113th Congress — despite leading a widely discredited anti-Muslim witch hunt against government personnel last year. . .

Read more at: Think Progress

Unintended Consequences: Recess Appointment Decision Fallout

Image from source, TPM

The decision by the DC Circuit Court of Appeals that called some of President Obama's recess appointments unconstitutional could yield a bevy of unintended consequences. For example, Obama is far from the only president who has used the power, which goes back almost 100 years, and notably includes George W. Bush. If the law is upheld by the Supreme Court, it might not only affect appointments made by Obama, but could wreak havoc over dozens of years. Moreover, severely curtailing Obama's power to make such appointments would also apply to the next Republican president. It would be odd indeed for Congress to seize such a massive change of rules right after the reluctance to radically alter the filibuster. This will be interesting to watch.

[Excerpt]

Will Conservative Judges Help Republicans Nullify The Recess Appointment Power?

An expansive Friday decision by a three-judge D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals panel threatens to cripple two government agencies and significantly limit the president’s power to bypass the Senate confirmation process by making recess appointments. . .

Read more at: Talking Points Memo