Circular Firing Squads

There will always be a certain amount of second-guessing after an election defeat, and we certainly aren't immune from that impulse. Kevin Drum vents his frustration at statements by Dems offering their take on the Dems' recent losses. One might also look at what's going on on the Rethug side, with newly-elected teahadists making noise about not playing with the Rethug establishment. Teahadist fave Rep. Michele "I See Commies" Bachmann (Loon-MN) has already been snubbed by the House Rethug leadership in favor of nearly-as-mad (but more presentable) Rep. Jeb "Snarlin'" Hensarling (Rethug-Texas Republic) to transition incoming freshmen. Other Rethugs are blaming Winky You Betcha for the Rethugs' missed opportunity to take the Senate. So, it seems circular firing squads come in all political shades, though you won't be hearing this in the "liberal" mainstream media.

Consequences

"The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity." W.B. Yeats

That seems to be the meme so far for this election cycle. We'll wait until all the votes are counted in November to see whether or not enough Democratic "unexcited" votes can match or overcome the Rethug "excited" votes (an unexcited vote counts the same as an excited one, after all). In the meantime, reading the posting about the Orange Boner below reminds us of one of the consequences of a Rethug takeover. Here are, summarized, a few more:

Rewarding bad policy decisions past and future: In a case of mass amnesia, voters would be rewarding the party that "drove us into the ditch" a short two years ago. The Rethugs haven't learned a thing from the market collapse two years ago; if anything, they've painted themselves into a more extremist corner by taking up the outlandish positions held by the tea baggers and Club for Growth crowd: cut taxes for the rich, starve government, repeal health and financial reform. So, to summarize: the more dangerous and destructive our actions and ideas, the more you want to support us. Hmmm.

Rewarding bad behavior: Even occasional readers of this blog don't need to be reminded of the Rethugs' bad behavior over the past 18 months. The hate, innuendo, and fearmongering at both the level of Rethug officeholders (Bachmann, DeMint, McConnell, Boner, et al) and their surrogates (the teahadist nation, Fux "News" Nutwork, hate radio, etc.) has reached unprecedented levels from our 40-plus years perspective in political observation. Voters would be rewarding and asking for more obstruction, deceit, reactionary retrenchment, and unfettered access to pols via massive plutocrat and corporate campaign donations (thank you, John Roberts' court!). Again, hmmm.

Stopping reform dead in its tracks: Notwithstanding progressive angst about the flaws in the health care and financial reforms, and the efficacy of the stimulus, voters would be sending the message that they want these reforms rolled back or repealed, and don't subscribe to the notion that government has a role to play in stopping the economy from going off a cliff. That's a recipe for disaster the next time the economy implodes and, more immediately, for those who are just now starting to benefit from health reform.

And if you need any more reasons to fear these consequences, let these names ignite whatever passionate intensity you may be lacking: (Senator) Rand Paul, (Senator) Christine O'Donnell, (Senator) Sharron Angle, (Senator) Joe Miller, Rick Perry, Michele Bachmann, Jim DeMint, (Speaker) John Boehner, (Majority Leader) Mitch McConnell, (Chairman) Joe Barton, Eric Cantor, Dick Armey, Karl Rove, Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck...Enough?

Shocking News! Rethugs Using Fear to Fundraise!

The "revelation" (via Politico!) that a PowerPoint presentation to Rethug donors in Florida by the Rethug National Committee's Finance Director advising that "fear" and a strong dislike of President Obama were great fund-raising techniques to be directed toward "reactionary" small donors should have come as no surprise to anyone awake during the last, oh, thirty years. Apparently, from the wide-eyed coverage, Villagers are shocked! shocked! at the disdain the RNC held for its base, as well as the shameless, tea-bagging use of offensive caricatures, naked fear-mongering, and simple-minded sloganeering to paint Democrats as the "Evil Empire." They had no idea there was gambling going on in this establishment! (As an aside, as more information becomes available on the right-wing Pentagon shooter, notice how the "mainstream media" refuse to characterize his politics, other than to say "He was anti-government." Yeah, just like Boo Hoo the Hoot Beck.)

Kevin Huffman has a piece in today's Kaplan Daily suggesting how the Rethugs might "retool" their fund-raising technique. Starting with just one positive idea would be helpful.

(Image: Mainstream media looking for a clue)

"That's Their Problem"

Steven Perlstein writes in today's Kaplan Daily that one thing yesterday's health care reform summit accomplished was to demonstrate

"[W]hat Republican 'leaders' really think about health care and health insurance...The most important thing Republicans think is that if there are Americans who can't afford the insurance policies that private insurers are willing to offer, then that's their problem -- there's nothing the government or the rest of us should do about it."

To hear House Minority "Leader" Boner talk about how a $950 billion investment in the health of fellow Americans over a 10-year span would bankrupt the nation, as opposed to the hundreds of billions of dollars a year that former Rethug Preznit Chimpy's unnecessary war in Iraq cost this nation (not to mention the lives and terrible casualties), is to hear the squeaking sound of a moral mouse. Shame on Rethugs for saying we can't afford this. Oh, sorry - we forgot. They have no sense of shame.

What should one expect, though, from a Party and movement "long on anger, short on coherence."

Stupanity

Stupanity - the combination of stupidity and insanity - seems to be afflicting a large proportion of the Rethuglican party, according to a recent poll by Research 2000 for Daily Kos. Looking at this poll provides insight into the Rethug mind-hive, to wit:

36% still continue to think Obama was not born in the U.S.

31% think Obama is a racist.

A whopping 63% think Obama is a socialist.

Sure, you have a lot of low- and- no- information people out there, you have your garden variety racists, authoritarians, crackpots, and other sociopaths. An overwhelming percentage of the crazies seem to reside in the solid Rethug South. But the extent to which this is commonplace in Rethug ranks cannot help but send a chill down your spine. Having these people -- or rather their cynical representatives -- back in power again would mean setting the clock back decades in this country.

(Image: One of the saner thinkers on the Rethug right.)

Rethug Accomplishments? That's a Trick Question!

Tweety corners Rethug strategist Todd "Toad" Harris, who can't name anything the Rethuglicans have done for the country in 20 years:



(via Firedoglake)

Give Props to Tin Man...Or Else!

Gangsta Rethug National Committee Chair Michael "Tin Man" Steele is upset he wasn't given enough credit for the November Rethug wins in New Jersey and Virginia (we won't mention the two Democrats who won Congressional special elections - we don't want his head to explode). How upset? Enough to fire his communications director, Trevor Francis after only 8 months on the job. Seems, in Tin Man's eyes, Trevor didn't do enough to flog the story line that it was he, the Gangsta cow-on-the-tracks Tin Man, who led the Rethugs into the Promised Land.

I personally feel Tin Man was correct in his decision to terminate Francis. After all, wasn't Tin Man the main draw on the ballots in New Jersey and Virginia? Wasn't it his organizational genius that brought victory home? His stature in the party that made him such a valuable vote getter?

Props to you, my man!

50,000 More Reasons to Hate Little Danny Snyder

We always suspected the little turd running the Washington Redskins into the ground for the past decade was a Rethug. He had all the characteristics: incompetence, greed, arrogance, selfishness, more money than sense, etc. He also seemed all too willing to shut down progressive voices on his radio stations. But it wasn't until we saw a WaPo listing of contributions to the campaign of Blowdry Bob McDonnell, the Rethug/ Pat Robertson candidate for governor of Virginia, that we had more reasons to hate the little m-f-er: a $50,000 contribution to Blowdry's campaign by "the Washington Redskins."

From now until Little Danny is disassociated from the franchise, this Hackwhacker will be a Packer fan. (Today: Go Chiefs!)

Footnote: The WaPo had a strong editorial endorsement today of R. Creigh Deeds, the Democratic candidate for Virginia governor. Fred must be on vacation.

UPDATE: Chiefs win 14-6!!! Yay!!!! Packers win 26-0!! Double yay!!

(to the tune of "Danny Boy") "Oh, Danny Boy, the Skins, the Skins are all effed up; and you and Vin* are the tools that must be blamed; For the fish, the fish stinks from the head on down; And you and Vin are the fish heads for the Skins"

* Vinnie Cerrato, Director of Player Personnel and Danny's handball partner.
(Photo: 'Nuff said)

Congressional Rethugs to Tin Man: Shaddup!

The GOP's gift that keeps on giving, Tin Man Steele, has been told by Rethug leaders in Congress to stop meddling in policy. The heated discussion, which took place last month according to Politico, may have been prompted by Tin Man's release of his own seniors' "health care bill of rights," which included a robust defense of Medicare. The dim bulb has been under the delusion that he, not Pills Limpballs, Boo-Hoo Beck, or Winky You Betcha, is the nominal leader of the Rethugs; that, mixed with his irresistible desire to be in front of a camera or microphone, has been a problem for the Rethugs from day one. We wish them more of the same!

Continue to speak out, Tin Man!

Advice from Bubba on Health Care Reform

Former President Bill Clinton has some advice for President Obama on the health care reform battle:

"I wouldn't even worry about the Republicans. I'd worry about executing."

He goes on to say in this Esquire interview that the Rethugs are "in la-la land." We think they passed throught la-la land months ago and are now in Batshitcrazy Land.

Fighting the Depression

There are a few reasons (new time constraints being chief among them) why this Hackwhacker has slowed down in recent weeks (fortunately, his brother Hackwhacker has been more than keeping up the struggle). As to other reasons, it would be less-than-honest (and therefore Rethuglican) if I didn't also mention my increasing gloom at the resurgence of our modern-day Know-Nothing party and the incomprehensible willingness of a large portion of the American public to give the Rethuglicans four more years to continue the damage they inflicted in the last eight. Talk about being dumber than a sack of hammers. Makes it kind of hard to get up the juice to blog.

While pondering my malaise (not the Jimmy Carter kind), I came across a short piece in Firedoglake wherein the point is made that part of the Turdblossom Rove strategy being pursued by the McBush campaign is designed to demoralize the opposition, and that it's our duty to fight back against the depression. It's not easy. (Now for some non-PC venting: It's easier fighting the dishonest and hypocritical than it is fighting the stupid, the lazy, the proudly uninformed --and yes, the racist-- who seem to make up a large chunk of the electorate. I'm speaking of those who cannot or will not connect the dots - who operate on "gut feelings" and disinformation provided by the scurrilously dishonest McBush ads and hacks. How else to explain the ease with which the Rethug team has been able to convince so many that they will bring change? Are they that easily swayed by demonstrable lies and exaggerations? So far, that would seem to be the case.)

You have to be hopeful that the current situation turns around before Election Day. Hopeful, yes. Sanguine, no.

The Rethugs Pursue the Women's Vote...

...And here's how. Well done, "morans!"

Screen shot: GOP-TV's "cat fightin' wimmen."

From Conservative to Rethug: A Lexicon

Every so often we think it's useful to define some of the terms we use when referring to our fellow Americans of a rightward tilt. As we have said in the past, the Hackwhackers have friends and family who count themselves as Republicans. We still love them and we think that's fine, although misguided. After all, Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower, and many other fine Americans past and present have the same party identification.

But over the course of the last 40 or so years, American politics has been degraded by a relentless march downward to the lowest common denominator; it has witnessed a growing "us" vs. "them" dynamic, where both "us" and "them" are Americans. Many on all sides have contributed to this phenomenon, but we believe that a strong case can be made that, beginning in the '60s, there's been such a concerted effort to demonize one side -- liberalism -- to the extent that the word has almost become pejorative. Nixon, Agnew, George Wallace, and the rise of the right under Ronald Reagan and the Bushes were fueled in large measure by caricaturing Democrats/ liberals as soft, elitist, race-mixing, out-of-control tax-and-spenders. In short, when ever they could, they played on peoples' fears rather than their hopes.

During the Dumbya Era, liberals (or progressives, as we prefer) have admittedly taken a great deal of pleasure out of the reversal of fortunes of the "conservative" movement. But we would have to lay on the ridicule non-stop for 30 years in order to match the vitriol that's been, and continues to be, heaped on Democrats/ liberals in the GOP playbook. So with that as a bit of a rationalization, we would like to make some distinctions in the terms we often use here, moving from the sublime to the ridiculous:

Conservatism: A political philosophy based on a belief in limited government and the primacy of the individual. Its ideological forebears are Edmund Burke and Adam Smith. Its modern exemplars are Robert Taft, Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan. George "Born 200 Years Too Late" Will is a notable flame-keeper.

Republican: One of two great American political parties, representing (in the past 80 years) the conservative viewpoint.

Rebunglecans: Republicans who have demonstrated incompetence or ineptitude (see Dumbya, "Brownie," George Allen, and neocons Dead Eye Dick, Rummy, Wolfowitz, Kristol, and Feith -- we could go on, but our fingers would fall off). This is often the result of favoring "style" (eg., Dumbya as a "compassionate conservative") vs. "substance," or of a mindset that refuses to be confused by the facts or reality (eg., the neocons).

Rethugs: A growth sector within the Republican Party over the past 20 years, Rethugs are the win-at-all-costs, hypocritical, authoritarian, hyper partisan, divide and conquer cynics that have been in control of the GOP since the mid-80s. Think Karl Rove, the GOP House and Senate leadership ("Man Tan" Boehner, Missy McConnell, etc.), the entire Rupert Murdoch/ Fox News/ NY Post empire, hate talk radio (Michael "Wiener" Savage, for example), and the wingnut blogosphere (the Townhall crazies, Michelle Malkin, Doughy Pantload, etc., etc.). A not-insignificant part of this is the so-called Christian Right, which is neither Christian nor right: Tony Perkins, "Rev." Dobson, "Rev." Hagee, Diamond Pat Robertson, etc.

Well, we've gone on for quite enough. But hopefully this explains the shorthand terms we use and the distinctions we make.

Politics of Personal Destruction

Today, Sen. Barack Obama will address the controversy surrounding widely viewed statements by his former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright. As we've noted, the issue is being fanned by both the Clinton campaign (surreptitiously for now) and the wingnut/MSM media. Brave New Films has documented how the Rethug outlet, Fox News, is gleefully pouring gasoline and lighting matches while dimbulb MSM types like Timmeh and Wolfman Blitzer mimic Fox's attacks.

Those who have followed politics, especially since the Nixon/Agnew years, are familiar with the notion of the "politics of personal destruction." This is the tactic employed when you know your argument won't win, but smearing your opponent will do just fine. The Rethugs have been the prime users of this tactic over the past 25 years (Watergate/McGovern, Willie Horton, Clinton impeachment, Gore-the-resume- enhancer-and-environmental-elitist, Swift Boaters). Now they and their surrogates at Fox and the MSM are at it again with Sen. Obama, much to the delight of the Clinton camp, of course.

This will continue beyond Obama's speech today. He may calm the waters of the current fluff up, but doubtless will face more unscrupulous attacks, guilt by association, innuendo, and outright smears as the political season continues. We hope he will aggressively fight back and keep reminding voters what this election is really about: undoing the catastrophic incompetence of the Bush Rethug years and setting America on a firmer, fairer path to our future.

Happy Birthday, Tricky Dick

Is it hot where you are?

The Mephistopheles of American politics would have been 95 today. The Rethuglican Party has so much to be thankful for. Sock it to me, Tricky! Slap my hand, white soul man!

(hat tip: Lawyers, Guns and Money)

Another Rethug Perp Walk

Michigan Young Rethug "rising star" Michael Flory has pleaded guilty to sexual battery charges, stemming from an incident last July. Flory's Rethug supporters had been waging a scorched earth attack on the victim of his assault, up until his guilty plea. Typical of slimy Rethugs: 'anything goes in the defense of our warped political ideology.' Lying, smearing, avoiding responsibility, and so on.

So few of these cowardly creeps have enlisted in the quintessential cause they so fervently support: Bush's Iraq war. Fewer still stand for what's right when faced with the corruption and degeneracy of their fellow wingers. Give him the max.

(h/t to Roger Ailes's blog)

Man Crushes

Digby has an amusing piece today on the drooling, swooning, and loss of other precious bodily fluids over some of the Rethug presidential candidates. Tweety's love of Fred "Foghorn" Thompson's manly manliness has already been documented. Seems Roger Simon has one on Willard "Mousse" Romney now. Not to mention Ann Althouse's (though she's technically a woman, we hear) continuing lubricity over Rudy. All this coming from the same genus of hyenas that love to mock John Edwards' looks.