Today's Cartoon

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(Jen Sorensen, via gocomics.com)

The Republican Makeover -- Skin Deep

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(Clay Bennett, via gocomics.com)

The Onion adds more insight (h/t Washington, D.C., Bureau Chief Brian):

"Mitt Romney’s poor performance among minority voters, single women, and young people has led many top Republicans to call for an overhaul of the party’s image. Here are some options the GOP is considering to extend its appeal:

* Start nominating hipper, more relatable 65-year-old men
* Begin rolling the R’s in 'deportation' and 'border fence'
* A bunch of abortions and stuff—whatever the gals want
* Change nothing and wait for rest of country to come to its senses
* Project youthful vibe by requiring Republican congressmen to walk around Capitol doing yo-yo tricks
* Change party mascot to a Hispanic elephant
* Start one of those Twitter hashtags
* Eh, fuck it—just disenfranchise as many people as possible"

"Not Out Loud"

A Turd Is A Turd Is A Turd

It looks as though the Rethuglican / New Confederate Party has abandoned its quest to rebrand itself. The so-called "National Council for a New America," which was headed by House Rethug Whip Eric "Can't" Cantor, went belly up after the Rethugs decided that "no" was sufficient as a brand.

As expected, the Rethugs are blaming the naughty Dems for "attacking" their efforts to change their sorry image. But once they settled on a strategy of obstructing and lying about anything and everything proposed by the Dems, the Rethugs threw the "big tent" rebranding over board.

(Image: Our proposed official seal for the Rethugs: "Come Share Our Vision")

Department of Unintentional Humor

Wonkette found this campaign ad for Alabama Rethug Tim James, who is all for giving his state's drivers license exams in English, instead of all them farn langiges. The kicker is when he says, "this is Alabama, we speak English." Bwahahaha. . .you do? Is that what you call it, Jethro? Is that why the rest of us need a dictionary to understand you?

(photo: "Ah pass'd mah drivin' tess; less go shootin'")

Rethugs Adopt "New" Spokesman For Party

Would you believe it's former President Saint Ronnie Raygun! Check out The Onion's report.

It's an improvement over their current "leadership."

Worth A Look

John Cole makes the point that the Rethuglican apparatus has nothing to gain from countering the obvious lies and smears of its most extreme wingers, from Pills Limpballs to Winky You Betcha. After all, they are not a governance party (see Dumbya); they have no stake in making the Federal government work for everyone, because the focus of their campaigns for the past 40 years have been to run against "Big Government." They believe it's better for them if America is "ungovernable" politically.

Read Cole's post; in a couple of paragraphs, he distills the destructive and cynical Rethug mindset toward Government, the American people, and good politics.

Rethug Rebranding Effort: Failure to Launch

Yet another Rethug "rebranding" effort has had a failure to launch. Rep. John "Man Tan" Boehner tried to get one up last year (heh). The latest fizzle, initiated by Rep. Eric "The Twit" Cantor, was kicked off with much Villager media buzz in May, but after the initial "listening" stop in Northern Virginia, there has yet to be another gathering or meeting. If only they had taken Stephen Colbert's advice!

"1929"

With apologies to Prince's "1999", we have a new Republican Party song. So...hit-tit!

"(We'll Run the Party Like It's) 1929"

We was sleepin' when we wrote this
So "F___ off" as Dead Eye Dick'd say

But on eleven-four-o-eight
Coulda sworn it was judgment day

The sky was all blue
There were bailouts flyin' everywhere

Tryin' 2 hold off the destruction
U know we didn't even care

Cuz they say two thousand zero eight party over
Oops out of time
So now we'll run the party like it's 1929!

We wuz sleepin' in the Congress
So sue us if we don't go 2 fast

But obstruction is our tactic
And depressions weren't meant to last

Collapse is all around us
Leader Rush says we have to fight

So if we gotta die
We're dyin' with Rush all right

Cuz they say two thousand zero eight party over
Oops out of time
So now we'll run the party like it's 1929!

(Photo: Rethug free market avatar Hoobert Heever)

The Rethug Brand

For a great summary of what ails the Rethuglican Party, you have to read Nobel Prize winner Paul Krugman's column in the New York Times today. From the "Southern strategy", which aimed to win votes through appeals to racism, to the Reaganesque "government is the problem" mantra that led to Rethug mismanagement of government (after all, if government's the problem, why should it be well-managed?), Krugman outlines the Rethugs' path to their current dilemma.

Not your "party of Lincoln" anymore.

Stick A Fork In It

In a new Washington Post/ABC News poll, only 23 percent of the public believe that the Rethuglicans would trust the Rethugs to do a better job of managing the country's problems than Democrats. Fifty six percent believe the Dems would do a better job. That 23 percent is roughly where Dumbya bottomed out in the polls. That's the right wing "base" in numerical terms.

Quote of the Week

"Right now we are devoid of ideas." Utah Republican Gov. Jon Huntsman, Jr. Only if by "right now" you mean "for the past 15 years"!

Rethug Woes Continue

A new Gallup poll indicates that the Rethuglican "brand" has fallen to new lows. Sixty one percent of Americans have an unfavorable view of the party, vs. 55 percent of Americans having a favorable view of the Democratic Party. The Rethug low is the worst in the 16 years that Gallup has been measuring public attitudes toward each party.

What the Rethugs need to do now is to unite behind the Wasilla Winker and American Ayatollah Dobson to stay on the true path, gosh darn it.