"You Indians Speakie English?"

Rethuglican Party voters in Florida's 19th Congressional district keep sending real gems to Washington.  In 2012, they sent former Rep. Trey "Snow Nose" Radel, who had a recurring problem with cocaine that ended his brief career as a teabagger know-nothing.  Replacing the resigned Radel last month was newly-elected Rethug teabagger Rep. Curt "Namaste" Clawson, whose main work experience appears to have been heading an auto parts company.

Flash forward to Thursday's hearing of the House Foreign Affairs Committee's Asian and Pacific subcommittee.   Testifying before the subcommittee were Assistant Secretary of State Nisha Biswal and Assistant Secretary of Commerce Arun Kumar, whom Namaste assumed were representing the government of India, but who are both senior U.S. officials.  Namaste launched into a goofy recitation of how much he liked India and Bollywood movies, and how he hoped relations could be improved upon, addressing the stunned witnesses as if they just got off the plane from New Delhi.  Embarrassed silence ensued.  This, despite the fact that witness lists are routinely provided by staff to Congressmen so that they know the names and titles of those who are testifying.

Namaste later apologized for the gaffe.  Well done, voters of Florida's 19th district.  Check out the bemused look on Assistant Secretary Kumar's face at about 33 seconds into this video:

Matt Drudge Is Now Officially A Moocher

Right-wing media nitwit manure-spreader Matt "Sludge" Drudge would like us to know not "getting covered" is all about "liberty":

While it would be utterly no surprise if Drudge is lying, his false bravado reveals something more to the point, as Karoli over at C & L puts it:

The mandate penalty isn't a "liberty tax." It's a small contribution to the Matt Drudge and Followers Moochers' Fund to help defray the costs for those people who decide they're just going to be a burden on the rest of us and not hold up their individual responsibility to get covered.

Freedumb!

Quotable Quotes

The Teathuglicans have tarnished their party so badly that, despite cynical and transparent photo ops by Sen. "Tailgunner" Ted Cruz and Winky Palin, the public knows who is to blame for this manufactured crisis (74% oppose the Stupid Party's tactics).  Savor the humiliation of the teabaggers as the vote in the House today is expected to accept the Senate bill to re-open the Government and lift the debt limit.  Some thoughts from some nominally sane Rethugs:

"Nothing positive will be achieved by prolonging this shutdown any longer, or crossing the debt limit threshold.  It’s time for my colleagues to face reality." -- Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (WA)

"This party is going nuts.  So many people I run into who are normal people -- and I hate to use that term -- they just can't understand what's going on. On this one they can't even see both sides. They just think Republicans are crazy. That's it. They see no justification for any of this."  -- Rep. Peter King (NY)

“Republicans have to understand we have lost this battle, as I predicted weeks ago, that we would not be able to win because we were demanding something that was not achievable.”  -- Sen. John McCain (AZ)

The only regret is that the 2014 mid-term elections aren't this November, because many Americans (cough low-information voters cough) have a short memory.

Deja Vu Cartoon of the Day

(click to enlarge)

As we noted Monday, today will witness the 37th time the Rethug House will vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act, despite the fact that the measure will go absolutely nowhere.

Living in an alternate universe can be so repetitive sometimes.

(cartoon: Mike Luckovich via GoComics.com)

Today's Dispatches From The Stupid Party

They'll never run out of The Stupid.

New Mexico Rethuglican State Rep. Cathrynn Brown has a neat idea:

"If you’re looking for evidence that the differences between men and women are greatly exaggerated, the fact that women are equally capable as men of mind-blowing misogyny should erase all doubt. New Mexico state Rep. Cathrynn Brown proved that this week by introducing a bill aimed at throwing rape victims in jail if they refuse to honor their rapist’s right to control their body by carrying his child." (our emphasis)

Pennsyltucky Pennsylvania:

"... Rep. Lou Barletta (R-PA) was outraged that lawmakers reacted to the mass murder of school children by an armed gunman by trying to prevent similarly disturbed individuals from obtaining guns. The Congressman claimed that limiting firearms will have as much impact on reducing gun violence as banning spoons will on preventing obesity..."

At least, that's what the NRA told him to say.

The Conservative Con Men

Welcome back, Bill Maher!

Today's Dispatches From The Stupid Party

Today's stupid (it burns!) from the heartland of the Stupid Party * :

Idaho:

"A [Rethuglican] state senator [Sheryl Nuxoll] in Idaho is expressing her distaste for President Obama’s health care reform law by drawing a comparison between the private insurance companies participating in Obamacare and the 'Jews boarding the trains to concentration camps' during the Holocaust."

Missouri:

"A Republican state senator [Dan Brown] in Missouri has proposed legislation that would make gun safety a mandatory part of the first-grade curriculum."

Tennessee:

"The bill, SB 234, still bars Tennessee teachers from discussing any facet of “non-heterosexual” sexuality with children in grades K-8. But the newest iteration also includes a provision requiring teachers or counselors to inform the parents of some students who identify themselves as LGBT." [More about the bill's author here.]

And last (but we're sure won't be the last), Mississippi Rethuglican Jeff Smith:

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* Thank you, Gov. Bobby "Kenneth" Jindal!

Why We Call Them Rethugs - Hee Haw Edition

Clueless asshat and Allegheny County (PA) Rethuglican party chairman "Catskill" Jim Roddey whings a "funny" to a crowd of 200 laughing numbnuts at a Rethuglican dinner last night:

"There was a disappointment tonight. I was very embarrassed. I was in this parking lot and there was a man looking for a space to park, and I found a space for him. And I felt badly —- he looked like he was sort of in distress. And I said, 'Sir, here's a place.' And he said, 'That's a handicapped space.' I said, 'Oh I'm so sorry, I saw that Obama sticker and I thought you were mentally retarded."

Aside from the stunning use of mental retardation as a punch line, let's pause for a moment to ask ourselves, which party has Princess Dumbass of the North, Gov. Rick "Hair" Perry, Herman "Herb" Cain, and Pennsylvania's own Frothy Mix as its leaders, and the entire exotic fauna of birfers, climate change deniers, dinosaur-riding-Jesus freaks, etc., ad nauseam? If you guessed the one with "thug" in the name, you would be right.

The Rethug Mask Slips, Cont'd.

Maybe Rethuglican National Committee Chairclown Shizzle Steele is secretly running the Rethug advertising operation, or incompetence is contagious among the Rethugs. To wit: the Rethugs started running an ad against West Virginia Dem Gov. Joe Manchin, who's running for the late Sen. Byrd's Senate seat, that depicts three good ol' boys chatting about how Manchin would be an ally of President Obama if elected to the Senate. So far so good, but then the casting call and script were leaked. The Rethug ad agency said they were looking for "a 'Hicky' Blue Collar look" and went on to describe the clothing the "good ol' boys" should wear (including John "Deer" caps). The actors hired were found in Philadelphia.

The main point is that the Rethug politicians and the elites they represent never met a real working-class West Virginian; even their multi-millionaire candidate running against Manchin maintains his residence in Palm Beach, Florida. They think West Virginians themselves buy the stereotypical image that the Rethug elites have of them. Sadly, some low-information voters will buy the Rethuglican garbage, but it's always good to see the mask slip away -- if only for a moment -- to reveal the face of the Rethug / New Confederate Party.