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| California Republican Party Convention |
I didn't watch Bob Schieffer on Face the Nation yesterday, so I have no idea if he ended his broadcast with his usual, "Both sides do it" - whatever "it" is at any given time. I hope not. I hope by now he has finally come to realize just how lazy, shallow and misguided he and the rest of the main stream media have become.
To keep saying "both sides do it" is wrong and irresponsible. As Aljazeera reports, "This sort of false equivalence is not just a failure of journalism. It is also a failure of democracy."
The Atlantic goes so far as to charge the "broken media" of actually aiding and abetting in breaking the government: "There's a direct connection between the shutdown and hyperbolic, partisan journalistic outlets driven more by profits than the search for truth."
Back in January 2011 Parsley's Pics featured an in depth look at bias in the media entitled The Main Stream Media Can't Do Their Job Wearing Blinders. Apparently they weren't listening because they're still wearing them.
No, Democrats do not "do it, too" and both sides do not have an over-abundance of liars and loons.
On the loony side are the conservatives who hate Obamacare but think the Affordable Care Act is acceptable:
Even loonier, there are a number of petitions going around to fire John Boehner. I always ask, "replace him with whom? Eric Cantor?" Oh no, no, no. "Ted Cruz"? Nope. How about Sarah Palin? You bet'cha!
The Democrats pride themselves on their diversity but Republicans have their diversity, too. I'm just not sure how you measure it because they all look alike to me: Old. White. Men. The few women who remain in the party all walk, talk, think and dress alike: no pant suits for them, no independent thinking, no war on women. Their battle cry: Submit!
I guess you have to look a little deeper than age and skin color to find the diversity - maybe a brain scan or a coronary angiogram - assuming they have one or both organs.
Even some of the slow-to-come-to-Jesus-media are beginning to blame the shutdown on the Republicans but due to their ineptness and self-delusion, the Republicans who believed Romney was leading in the polls in 2012 seem to be completely unaware that they are the ones who brought it about.
Despite voting for the shutdown, Rep. Renee Ellmers (NC) expressed outrage that "needless, needless suffering" is happening at Fort Bragg which, of course, is in her district, and of course, it is Obama's fault.
Then we have this Republican bully from Texas displaying his brass when he berates a U.S. Parks ranger, who just happens to be a woman, for the shutdown of the World War II Memorial on the Washington Mall. This is the same Randy Neugebauer who once shouted "baby killer" at Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich) on the floor of the House of Representatives. A real class act.
I don't know the name of the longest book ever written but I do know that if one were to write a book listing the Republican hypocrisy and lies from just the last decade, it would surely be longer than War and Peace. Obviously, there's no way to adequately cover them in a blog piece but here's a small sampling.
Martin Bashir, a British journalist and one of the most astute political commentators today, calls out "Professor" Cruz after he delivered a "masterclass in duplicity, self-contradiction and rank hypocrisy" to the senate. Right before the vote on the government shutdown Bashir focused on the "GOP's lunatic hypocrisy." There's plenty of both.
The lies that emanate from the TPGOP keep the fact checkers hopping like a bunch of Mexican jumping beans. Little old women squirm around in high anticipation waiting for their daily dose of fright wing chain emails and squeal with delight when they finally arrive. They just love to get all "skeert". Here's just a few but please try to contain yourselves:
-- Spiteful Obama blocks off Mt. Rushmore with a sheet suspended from helicopters.
-- A dire warning about Obamacare (one among thousands)
-- One of my favorites from Fox News: Obama is personally funding Muslim Museum
-- Obama declares November National Muslim Month
-- Pants On Fire: A man who opted out of Obamacare charged a $4,000 fine
-- 15 myths the media (and fright wingers) should ignore during Obamacare implementation
-- Top 16 myths about the health care law
-- Obamacare myths explored from FactCheck and reprinted in Huffington Post
If all this depresses you, imagine how this poor guy feels.
I wish I could remember which pundits were ripping ol' Louie last night!!! They were priceless!!!! Glad to see ya, girlfriend!!! I missed ya!!!!!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Kay. I wish you could remember those pundits, too. I'd love to watch them.
DeleteOf course the Republicans have diversity. They have deranged morons (Gohmert, Bachmann, this guy) and also cowards who don't dare stand up to the deranged morons (Boehner, McConnell). Too bad the distinction doesn't make any observable difference in their behavior.
ReplyDeleteHahaha. None.
DeleteOh, and those anti-Hillary buttons are totally disgusting. I hope the Republicans produce many more like them, so that Hillary wins a 45-state landslide in 2016 instead of just a 40-state one.
ReplyDeleteI haven't made up my mind about 2016 but am leaning toward Warren. The more I listen to her the more impressed I am and I kind of think Clinton is carrying a lot of access baggage with her. But in either case, You're absolutely right - especially in light of the fact that women are drifting away from the TPGOP. Wonder why. Those buttons say it all.
DeleteWarren would be my own first choice to be President, but my assumption is that Hillary will run (if she does, the nomination is hers for the taking). If she doesn't, it will depend on how close the general election looks and how electable Warren looks in light of the general mood of the country then. The highest priority has to be to make absolutely sure a Republican doesn't win.
DeleteI wrote about some of those issues here. A woman candidate might actually be advantageous in that that seems to bring out the worst of the Republicans (I'm sure if we nominated Warren, they'd soon come up with buttons about her just as bad as the ones above), thus turning off more voters.
A Clinton/Warren ticket might be ideal -- and just think of all the Republican exploding heads.
Thanks for the link. You write "...the shape of the 2016 election can actually be seen a lot more clearly than 2014 can." Yes, and that worries me because we need to pay more attention to midterm and local elections, including who we send to Congress. I hope to hell those lazy, fickle and ticked off Democrats who went fishing in 2010 have learned a valuable lesson because we're all paying for their petty sniveling.
DeleteI like Joe but his propensity for tripping over his tongue might be an issue. It never has bothered me particularly but the anal types might be a bit uncomfortable with it.
As for a Clinton/Warren ticket, I really don't think that would fly. And as much as I'd like to see a woman at the helm, my top priority is to get the most qualified person in there we can find - man or woman. But if the TPGOP keeps alienating everyone in sight who isn't old, white and male, we could run my dog and probably win.
Not digging this shutdown of yours and the looming debt default.
ReplyDeleteProspect of another bout of global financial instability…
… just because one bunch of assholes doesn’t want the country to have even a 3nd rate version of what a lot of the industrialised world already enjoys.
Quote of the day from Daily Kos:
“The only thing that mollifies that crowd is defeating a president they deem illegitimate. That's how a Heritage Foundation idea backed by Newt Gingrich and first implemented by a Republican governor becomes the second coming of Stalin.”
I'll try to find a link to that DK piece.
Delete""Shortly after President Obama started his second term, a loose-knit coalition of conservative activists led by former Attorney General Edwin Meese III gathered in the capital to plot strategy. Their push to repeal Mr. Obama’s health care law was going nowhere, and they desperately needed a new plan.
Out of that session, held one morning in a location the members insist on keeping secret, came a little-noticed “blueprint to defunding Obamacare,” signed by Mr. Meese and leaders of more than three dozen conservative groups.
It articulated a take-no-prisoners legislative strategy that had long percolated in conservative circles: that Republicans could derail the health care overhaul if conservative lawmakers were willing to push fellow Republicans — including their cautious leaders — into cutting off financing for the entire federal government."
Read more here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/06/us/a-federal-budget-crisis-months-in-the-planning.html?_r=0
Personally, I feel that this seditious activity goes back to the 60s and the John Birch Society. The Koch Brothers received early training at the knees of their father. This has been a long range plan and the black man gave them the rallying cry they needed.
I read that piece today.
DeleteA lot of the commentary here is that it won’t go all the way to a debt default, but I’m not so sure, because that assumes rational behaviour.
Back in the day of Hoover and Mellon, people on the Right in the US were prepared to let everything go to hell in the belief that what rises from the carnage must be better than what leads to the carnage. It’s one of US conservatism’s horrible leaps of faith which they make knowing full well that they personally don’t have to jump or be one of those who gets wiped out.
The shadow of the John Birch Society is long and dark, but ‘thought’ of that strain is poorly understood in my country – because it is so alien to anything we have here or observe in other countries which are politically familiar to us.
It always amazes me that you seem to know more about our politics and history than most people in this country! Yes, I have visions of the Koch Brothers standing at their father's knees when they were little tykes - all scrubbed and starched - getting their daily dose of Birch Society fascism.
DeleteThe TeaPublicans have utterly damaged the GOP brand. But the strangest part about that fact is that they either don't seem to care, or they're so insulated that they don't see it. Those buttons are symptomatic of an irrelevant political party. They've lost the women and youth vote; they never had the critical thinking vote. It's just a matter of time before the GOPT lumbers off to a field of dry old bones to meet its end.
ReplyDeleteI think their demise is pretty clear, especially after the events of the last 24 hours. They really do have their heads up a very dark hole and it is definitely impeding their vision - much like the last presidential election. I don't think this will be the end of them - regrettably - but I think they're going to be taking a huge hit. For the first time in a long while I actually feel a little hopeful.
DeleteMy problem with assorted assumptions assibilated by GOP assailants should be obvious. In short, congress critters like Cruz, Boehner, Cantor, and Florida yahoo Yoho are ignorant and pompous asses. Which brings me to the purpose of my visit:
ReplyDeletePredatory cephalopods!. Since my natural habitat precludes my kind from enjoying an open flame or home cooked meal, we eat our food - not just raw - but alive as a matter of necessity. Table etiquette is a simple matter of “catch-n-crunch.” Nevertheless, we measure fine cuisine by a higher standard: What dies in our mouths melts in our mouths, and our taste buds are finely attuned to the five stages - and flavors - of death and dying: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance.
Bon appetite!
Hahaha. Bon appetite yourself. ; )
DeleteIt is all too depressing. I just spent five days with my daughter and her family, broke my ankle, and had daughter's four children as my minions. I had no access to tv since I couldn't climb stairs, and was too distracted by cute children to read the internet. Now I am home and, lo and behold, nothing in DC has changed. Some woman congressperson said that we might find we like less government---sure, as long as we aren't poor, don't mind unsafe food, didn't want to go to national parks anyway, and on and on and on. Selfish, selfish people, these Republicans.
ReplyDeleteI think that the Congresswoman you refer to is probably the Tennessee Twit known as Marsha Blackburn. She hails from Mississippi originally. Need I say more?
Delete"“Should any political party attempt to abolish social security unemployment insurance and eliminate labor laws and farm programs you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group of course that believes you can do these things. Among them are a few other Texas oil millionaires and an occasional politician or business man from other areas. Their number is negligible and they are stupid.” Dwight Eisenhower-1954
ReplyDelete...their number is growing, but they are still stupid, Ike.
Stupid and delusional.
ReplyDeleteBut still dangerous.
Delete