Today's Cartoon - Trumpy The Snowman

(click on image to enlarge)



(Brian McFadden, via gocomics.com)

Republican Racist Blood Money (Updated)

This offers another clue why Republicans want to avoid acknowledging the primacy of racial hatred in the Charleston murders.  The right-wing group noted here is the "Council of Conservative Citizens" (which, by the way, says the Charleston killer had "legitimate grievances"):

The leader of a rightwing group that Dylann Roof allegedly credits with helping to radicalise him against black people before the Charleston church massacre has donated tens of thousands of dollars to Republicans such as presidential candidates Ted Cruz, Rand Paul and Rick Santorum.

Earl Holt has given $65,000 to Republican campaign funds in recent years while inflammatory remarks – including that black people were “the laziest, stupidest and most criminally-inclined race in the history of the world” – were posted online in his name.  (our emphasis)

It's their base, and they don't want to offend them!  Even Ben "On Meds?" Carson can see that.

In the great scheme of things, with Republicans awash in Koch brothers and Adelson millions, this is a drop in the bucket.  But it's hard to imagine this is the only racist dumbass that's been lining Republican pockets at the local, State and Federal levels.  And, more importantly, it defines what you are as a party if you rely on any support from low-life white supremacists, financial or philosophical.

BONUS:  Charles Pierce knows this isn't an anomaly for the right.

BONUS II:  Michelle Goldberg on the Council of Conservative Citizens/ Republican Party connection.

BONUS III:  Seems like this Earl Holt dolt gave to 48 Republicans in a number of states. 

Republican Campaigns Already Coming Apart

All is not well in the Republican presidential pool;  someone throw them an anchor!

Ben "On Meds?" Carson:

The presidential candidacy of Ben Carson, a tea party star who has catapulted into the top tier of Republican contenders, has been rocked by turmoil with the departures of four senior campaign officials and widespread disarray among his allied super PACs.

In interviews Friday, Carson’s associates described a political network in tumult, saying the retired neurosurgeon’s campaign chairman, national finance chairman, deputy campaign manager and general counsel have resigned since Carson formally launched his bid last month in Detroit. They have not been replaced, campaign aides said.

"Ayn" Rand Paul:

Rand Paul’s presidential campaign, by many recent accounts, is sputtering. The candidate, according to the Atlantic’s Molly Ball, is “flailing.” His campaign, reports National Journal’s Josh Kraushaar, has been called a “disaster.” 

Future clown car entrant John Ellis "J.E.B." Bush:

Jeb Bush is just days away from formally launching his presidential campaign and already a shake-up is underway.

In a surprise move Monday, Bush tapped Republican strategist Danny Diaz to serve as his campaign manager, shoving aside another aide, David Kochel, to head his still-unofficial presidential operation.

Diaz’s promotion is a frank acknowledgment that Bush’s six-month “exploratory phase” has not met expectations and that the former Florida governor needed a new consultant to take the reins ahead of his campaign kickoff in Miami on Monday.

Rick "Frothy Mix" Santorum:

When just one Iowan showed up to Rick Santorum's 2 p.m. campaign stop at a restaurant here Monday, the winner of the 2012 Iowa caucuses made a quick decision: Might as well order lunch.

"I haven't eaten, actually, all day," he said to his guest, Peggy Toft, an insurance agent and chair of the county's Republican Party.

For Santorum, who's making a second go at the Republican nomination for president, the low turnout wasn't surprising, he said, but all part of the plan.

Yes, yes, "part of the plan."  Genius, I tells ya'!  Bwahahahaha.

Meanwhile, the campaign of prohibitive Democratic favorite Hillary Clinton continues to hit the right notes on "dreamers," income inequality, and voter enfranchisement, with more policy broadsides to come.  A campaign based on real issues about real people.  What a novel concept.

BONUS:  Michael Tomasky on Hillary's big roll-out this weekend in New York.

How The Republican Party Was Built - Indulging One Lunatic At A Time

Charles P. Pierce is in rare form today, as he reacts to the rantings of a Rick "Frothy Mix" Santorum questioner at a recent "summit" in the Home of American Sedition, South Cackalacky Carolina.  The transcript is via Nick Field at the PA Politics blog.  First, here's the lady nutball's comment/ question:

Why is the Congress rolling over and letting this Communist dictator [Obama] destroy my country? Y'all know what he is and I know what he is. I want him out of the White House; he's not a citizen; he could have been removed a long time ago...Ted [Cruz?] told me I've got to wait for the next election. I don't think the country will be around for the next election. Obama tried to blow up a nuke in Charleston a few months ago! And the three admirals, and generals. He has totally destroyed our military. He's fired all the generals and all the admirals that said they wouldn't fire on the American people.

Hoo-boy. Needless to say, Santorum avoided telling the lady she needed professional help, instead saying essentially, "Don't blame me, I'm not in Washington any more."  Now here's Charles' response:

This is the party that modern conservatism has built, brick by brick, one indulged lunatic at a time, over the past 60 years. I leave the details to Rick Perlstein, but there is no question that this was a conscious choice made over time by one of the only two political parties that we have allowed ourselves. It began with the decision to side with the remnants of American apartheid. It continued with the decision to ally itself with the most virulently retrograde elements of American Protestantism. It was energized by the tragic historical truth that this stuff is an effective means of gaining political power. The thinking became more and more magical. The rhetoric became more and more unhinged. The willingness of the Republican party to tolerate an almost limitless amount of sheer public lunacy has led us to this moment, where the only answer Santorum dares give to a woman who believes the president intended to nuke an American city was to say that he wasn't in Washington at the time. 

There is no Republican middle any more. Pundits go searching for it and never return. Their bleached bones are found two years later in a ditch surrounding an Iowa cornfield, or their entrails are discovered hanging from a pine tree in northern New Hampshire as a warning to anyone else who dares undertake the quest. Just over the past few days, we have seen two alleged Republican "moderates" take positions that, a decade ago, would have marked them as fringe nuisances.

Progressives have long noted, to little avail, what Charles is saying here:  there's been no counterbalance to the mad rush the Republican Party has made to the ultra-right in recent decades. The Jacob Javits, Nelson Rockefeller, Charles Percy, Clifford Case, Ed Brooke brand of Republicanism has been dead and gone for two generations (thanks, St. Ronnie of Hollywood!). There's been a slow but steady migration out of the party by people who no longer want to be associated with the ever-stranger nuttery (as high-profile examples, Colin Powell, Arlen Specter, Charlie Crist, James Jeffords).  The void has been filled by generation after generation of "indulged lunatics" of the sort listed above, all the while tolerated embraced by the Republican Party in its quest for political power, and by the spineless "mainstream media" in its quest to never question or offend the cherished hobgoblins of a subscriber or viewer.  With Citizens United opening the floodgates for right-wing plutocrat mega-bucks, we can be assured there will always be a party that's a haven for such "indulged lunatics" (thanks, "Justice" Kennedy!).

Republicans Air-Brushing History Again: Nelson Mandela Edition

It didn't take very long for them to segue from their historic antipathy towards Nelson Mandela and his lifelong anti-apartheid struggle to making him their comrade-in-arms, but you knew the right-wingers would try (and anger some of the mouth-breathers in their base in the process).  But, history is facts, y'know:

Via Think Progress, here's a long timeline of their red-baiting Mandela and, more tellingly, their opposition to sanctions and other means of ending apartheid.

Via Mr. Pierce, here's how the administration of Saint Ronnie of Hollywood actively supported the apartheid regime.

And finally, historical footnote and Google legend Rick "Frothy Mix" Santorum thinks he's found a soulmate in Mandela because.... Obamacare!?

Sunday Reading: "Go, Rick, Go"

John Heilemann writes in the New York Magazine about "The Lost Party," and how the Rethuglicans are splitting between the culture warriors (represented by Pope Rick "Frothy Mix" Santorum) and the establishment/country club types (Willard "Ann Drives Two Cadillacs" Romney). It's a long article, but worth the read. Here's why Heilemann thinks it would be best for anyone who wants to foster a more responsible Rethuglican party (oxymoron?) to favor a Santorum candidacy:

"But if it’s Santorum who is the standard-bearer and then he suffers an epic loss, a different analogy will be apt: Goldwater in 1964. (And, given the degree of the challenges Santorum would face in attracting female voters, epic it might well be.) As Kearns Goodwin points out, the rejection of the Arizona senator’s ideology and policies led the GOP to turn back in 1968 to Nixon, 'a much more moderate figure, despite the incredible corruption of his time in office.' For Republicans after 2012, a similar repudiation of the populist, culture-warrior coalition that is fueling Santorum’s surge would open the door to the many talented party leaders—Daniels, Christie, Bush, Ryan, Bobby Jindal—waiting in the wings for 2016, each offering the possibility of refashioning the GOP into a serious and forward-thinking enterprise.

"Only the most mindless of ideologues reject the truism that America would be best served by the presence of two credible governing parties instead of the situation that currently obtains. A Santorum nomination would be seen by many liberals as a scary and retrograde proposition. And no doubt it would make for a wild ride, with enough talk of Satan, abortifacients, and sweater vests to drive any sane man bonkers. But in the long run, it might do a world of good, compelling Republicans to return to their senses—and forge ahead into the 21st century. Which is why all people of common sense and goodwill might consider, in the days ahead, adopting a slogan that may strike them as odd, perverse, or even demented: Go, Rick, go."

Even in the highly unlikely event of a Santorum nomination, we think Heilemann might be a wee bit too optimistic that a Santorum drubbing in November would lead to the Rethuglican Party becoming a "serious and forward-thinking enterprise." Maybe if they un-plug Fox "News," the hundreds of hate-radio stations, and the telebangelist industry, and force the Rethug base to deal with the real world for a change... in other words, I doubt I'll see it in my lifetime.

BONUS: More Sunday reading, courtesy of Maureen Dowd (h/t Silver Spring Bureau Chief Brian):

"The Republicans, with their crazed Reagan fixation, are a last-gasp party, living posthumously, fighting battles on sex, race, immigration and public education long ago won by the other side.

"They’re trying to roll back the clock, but time is passing them by."

Cartoon of the Day - Pastor Rick Edition

(click to enlarge)


(Tom Tomorrow, via Daily Kos)

BONUS: While we're on Pastor Rick, please check out this excellent piece by David Atkins.

Sanctimonious Santorum, Cont.

Rethug front-runner of the moment Rick "Frothy Mix" Santorum set up a charity about 10 years ago, "Operation Good Neighbor." In the spirit of Brother Santorum's deeply held religious views, one should expect the charity did great things for the poor and downtrodden it was supposed to help. Huh? What?

"[H]omeless families and troubled children were not the biggest beneficiaries of Operation Good Neighbor. Instead, the foundation spent most of its money to run itself, including hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees for fundraising, administration and office rental paid to Santorum’s political allies.

"The charity also had significant overlap with the senator’s campaigns and his work on Capitol Hill. Among the leading donors to the foundation were Pennsylvania development and finance firms that had donated to his election efforts and had interests that Santorum had supported in the Senate.

"Santorum, whose last-minute surge in the Iowa caucuses has brought new attention to his presidential bid, portrays himself as a common man concerned about the gap between the nation’s rich and poor. But in the case of his charity, his efforts ended up mostly helping his cadre of political friends. [emphasis added]

"Before it folded in 2007, the foundation raised $2.58 million, with 39 percent of that donated directly to groups helping the needy. By industry standards, such philanthropic groups should be donating nearly twice that, from 75 to 85 percent of their funds.

“'That’s exceptionally poor,' Ken Berger, president of Charity Navigator, a national organization that rates charitable groups, said of the Santorum group’s giving. 'We would tell donors to run with fear from this organization.'” [emphasis added]

I think Mr. Berger's advice would also apply for anyone thinking Santorum is an honest, salt-of-the-earth politician -- run with fear from this sanctimonious hypocrite.
(via today's Kaplan Daily - we don't need no stinkin' link)

(Photo: "(sniff) Daddy won't cut me in on the skim.")

Santor-momentum?

Cyborg opportunist Willard "Mittens" Romney's march to his coronation hit a three-state speed bump yesterday as American Talibangelist candidate Rick "Frothy Mix" Santorum swept the votes in Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri. Votes for Mittens were less than those he received in 2008, tending to confirm a lack of enthusiasm for the flip-flopping phony among the wingnut core of the party, and the belief that the more you see of Millionaire Mittens, the less you like him. Frothy Mix has now won 4 state contests, one more than Mittens.

We love the turbulence in the Rethuglican / New Confederate Party, with winners and losers trading places from week to week. Nothing would please us more than seeing the Rethugs go to their August convention with a 3-way split of delegates, and with a frustrated Ron "Race War" Paul deciding to go third party on their butts. Time for popcorn!

Sanctimonious Santorum

Maureen Dowd today on Rick "Frothy Mix" Santorum (Rethug-Vatican City) and his situational conservatism:

"16-year-old Jessica Scharf asked Santorum how her handicapped brother could be cared for without help from the federal government. He replied, as The Times’s Katharine Q. Seelye reported, that he and his wife 'bear the cost' of a handicapped daughter; he said family, friends, neighbors and the church could help, and that caring for someone would knit them closer. [snip]

"He bashes President Obama as a European-style socialist and preaches fiscal conservatism. Yet in the Senate, he made sure dollars from the socialistic Medicare program went to Puerto Rico on behalf of a hometown firm — United Health Services — that later gave him nearly $400,000 in director’s fees and stock options.

"He was among the pay-for-play Republicans who tried to strong-arm lobbyists and say that if you wanted to have influence you had to cough up campaign money.

"While Karen Santorum was home-schooling their seven children in Virginia, Santorum soaked the Pennsylvania taxpayers to the tune of $100,000 by enrolling the children in a Pennsylvania cyber charter school."