Those Unlikeable Rethuglicans

(click to enlarge)

(Jim Morin, via gocomics.com)

(Mike Luckovich, via gocomics.com)

Year in Review: Rethugs Gone Wild

We can't let 2011 slip into the past without acknowledging the contribution Rethuglicans have made to the devolution of mankind. At the risk of giving them more time and thought than they deserve, here are a few memories and observations:

Gone But Not Forgotten: Snowbilly Grifter Sarah Palin, Donald "Rump" Trump, Herman "Horndog Herb" Cain, Glenn "Boo-Hoo the Hoot" Beck, all of whom over-stayed whatever welcome they had, but still live on in the hearts of "millions" (at least in their minds) of their followers.

Forgotten But Not Gone: Jon Huntsman, Rick "Oops" Perry, Michele "Crazy Eyes" Bachmann, and the Tea Party "agenda," all but forgotten, but still somehow providing enough shiny surface to get minimal media attention (at least, for the pols listed, until the Iowa caucus).

Read 'em and Weep: Weeper of the House John "Orange Boner" Boehner, who absolutely cannot get a handle on his teatard House Rethuglican caucus. Remember the "grand bargain" that he had to walk away from? The related debt ceiling fiasco? The payroll tax cut extension debacle? If Boner plays his cards this well in 2012, he may end up as former Weeper of the House.

Inmates Running the Asylum: (See above)

99 Red Balloons: Newt "Poot" Gingrich, "Crazy Eyes" Bachmann, "Rump" Trump, Gov. Chris "Bag o' Donuts" Christie, Rep. Paul "Lyin'" Ryan's budget plan to end Medicare, all Rethug balloons that rose and then went "pop!"

Gifts for the Needy: A functioning "gaydar" scope to Michele Bachmann (not that there's anything wrong with you, Marcus!); a heart, a soul, and at least one principle to stand for to Willard "Flip Flop/ Mendacious/ Millionaire Mitt" Romney.

To the Manor Born: Who else but the aforementioned Millionaire Mitt, the plutocrat's plutocrat.

A Gift Certificate For A Moving Van: To Wisconsin's Koch-head Gov. Scott "Take A Walk" Walker, who should be evicted from the Governor's mansion in Madison after a recall election this spring. Not to worry, Take A Walk will certainly find employment at Koch Industries.

Rick Perry - The Perfect Rethug Combination

"(Texas Rethug Gov. Rick "Hair" Perry) talks a lot and he's not very bright. And that's a combination I like in Republicans." -- Democratic attack dog James Carville on CNN Tuesday (via Chron.com). We like that all-too-common combination, too, except when it comes to voting in the national, as opposed to partisan, interest.

Your Moment of Zen

BONUS: Here's why it's ok to gloat for a while, and why we call them "Rethugs."

BONUS II: Rethugs are cynically trying to shift the credit from Obama to Dumbya; here's a recap of how Dumbya walked away from hunting bin Laden.

BONUS III: Sully comments:

"In my view, the president who found and killed Osama bin Laden will be very hard not to re-elect. Now the association between his name and his enemy's [ed. note: a favorite and continuing Limpballs ploy] will be an asset: Obama killed Osama. A few tea-party fanatics will have their heads explode. And the Big Lie that Obama is somehow not a strong president is debunked - because strength doesn't actually mean being inflammatory on Fox News, it mean exercising patience, quiet and resolve to get what you want. That Obama also helped prevent a Great Depression - with zero Republican votes - and brought universal health insurance to America? All we need now is a debt deal. And the only way that's possible before the election is if Obama looks highly likely to win it. That likelihood just increased today."

Quote of the Day

"Though for a time they prospered, in the end the infection must prove fatal. This unholy union is now reduced to a mashup of Dixiecrat legatees and fellow travelers: prairie gunslingers, anti-tax fetishists, end times Rapturists, militiamen and Millenarians, jingoists and misanthropes, survivalists and skinheads, and the odd secessionist witch doctor." - - Thomas Yunck, via the Atlantic's Andrew Sullivan, describing the make-up of the current Palin base of the Rethuglican Party.

In the 1960s, following the success of the Civil Rights Act and the enactment of many "Great Society" programs, many Southern right-wing Dixiecrats flocked to the Rethuglicans, who then implemented Nixon's "Southern Strategy" to create a reactionary electoral bloc that would last 30 years.

Rethugs Mount Voter Suppression Operation

We're shocked! Shocked! Rethug officials and McBush campaign operatives are launching an effort to combat voting...no, they mean, uh, voter fraud in the upcoming election. Otherwise known as "voter suppression," the Rethug efforts are a cyclical (and cynical) event every 4 years. Now, they're particularly worried about the surge in Democratic registration in battleground states like Pennsylvania and Virginia. (Rethugs: Be worried. Be very worried.)

Chutzpah

Mavericky McBush campaign manager Slick Rick Davis may not have much of a chin, but he sure does have chutzpah. Here's what the chinless wonder said about Sen. Obama's joking about none of the presidents on the currency looking like him:

"Barack Obama has played the race card, and he played it from the bottom of the deck. It's divisive, negative, shameful and wrong."

Davis is a hack's hack. A professional liar, but not a very good one. ("Race card?" He works for the party of "Willie Horton," Jesse Helms and Strom Thurmond, for God's sake.) The McBush campaign is just throwing as much crap at the wall as it possibly can to see what sticks. (Hint: this "playing the race card" slid off the wall immediately.) They desperately want the campaign to be about Obama, and not about the catastrophic failures of the Rethug regime of the past 7 years. It's up to the Obama campaign to keep hammering them on those failures and how Democrats will correct them, and not let this transparent hackery distract voters.

Meanwhile, check out how Mavericky skitters away from CNN/Fox-Lite's John King when pressed about the "race card" tack.

(Photo: if anyone finds Rick Davis' chin, please notify him; there's a reward.)

Vote Suppression, Rethug Style

Ah yes. With Democrats far outdistancing Rethugs in voter registration, Rethugs have to resort to challenging or otherwise suppressing the Democratic vote. They know they have no chance if Democrats turn out and vote in number. Vote suppression seemed to work in Ohio in 2004, and now Virginia Rethugs are trying it.

It's also reminiscent of what the Bushit Assministration's Justice Department was up to when they were expecting U.S. Attorneys to create "voter fraud" cases to reduce the Democratic turn out. Rethug values on parade.

Senate Rethugs Block Climate Change Bill

Senate Democratic leaders fell a dozen votes short of stopping a threatened Rethuglican filibuster on a bill that would have set limits on greenhouse gas emissions to combat global warming. Trotting out a familiar - - and untruthful - - claim, Rethug leader Sen. Mitch "Rhymes with B___" McConnell said that the bill would be equivalent to a tax increase. Democrats disputed McConnell's claims. The bill would have required power plants, refineries and factories to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 71 percent by mid-century.

Remember that when you look at your children and grandchildren and wonder what kind of a world we're going to give them.

Karl's Deep Thoughts

Balloon Juice's John Cole comments on some ruminations by Karl "Turdblossom" Rove on what the Rethuglican Party stands for.

OK, stop laughing.

The party leaders are now even more deeply concerned that 2008 will be a landslide for the Dems, who may pick up at least 20 more seats in the House and five or more in the Senate, not to mention that McSame's poll numbers are trailing both Clinton and Obama, even after the nasty slugfest in the Democratic primaries.

Turdblossom might be better advised to watch out for a subpoena server from the House of Representatives wearing large, ass-kicking boots.

Obama, Clinton, and McBush

One of the threads of the last few days has been "What impact will the Rev. Wright controversy, and the subsequent Obama speech, have on the voting public?" The controversy continues to be flogged by those wishing to distract people from issues that are damaging to their cause (i.e., the Rethugs and their network, Fux News, are desperate to distract attention away from 7 years of unrelenting Rethug incompetence), or by those thinking it could help their cause (i.e., the Clintonistas using the controversy to dissuade superdelegates from backing Obama). We saw this cartoon, by Chris Britt of the Springfield (IL) Journal-Register (via C&L), that says it all (note especially the final frame, with the TV turned to Fox News). It would appear from recent news cycles that, aside from the above-named provocateurs, attention will slowly be turning away to focus on the next colorful item that can be dangled in front of the deep thinkers in the MSM.

Meanwhile, Gallup is showing McBush with 47 or 48 % of the vote in match ups with Obama and Clinton. Yes, it's mid-March, 8 months to the election (sigh), but it boggles the mind to think that nearly half of the electorate wants another 4 years of Bush Rethuggery. McBush has been variously referred to as "St. John McCain," "Teflon John," etc., and his fawners in the media are legion (see below). If the Democrats ever get behind their candidate and start directing fire toward McBush, his numbers will go down. But the longer we wait for that to happen, the more time McBush and his wingnut media can define (i.e., personally attack) Obama and/or Clinton, and make McBush look like the elder statesman. And the longer it takes for the public to connect the dots.

Rethug Quitters, Cont'd.

California Rethug Congressman Tom "Doo" Doolitle is leaving Congress after his current term ends. Doo is being investigated as part of the Abramoff influence buying scandal, and has been under pressure from his fellow Rethugs (whom he now calls "weasels") to resign. It looks grim for Doo's case; oh well, maybe he can bunk with fellow Rethug, and current convict, Duke Cunningham.

Rethugs and Burma's Rulers: Happy Together

This comes as no great surprise, but the Burmese junta that is trying to crush a democratic uprising has a Rethuglican lobbying group representing it in Washington. DCI is made up of several former state and national party officials.

To each his own.

Scooter, Don't Bend Over!

This afternoon, Lewis "Scooter" Libby lost his appeal to delay imposition of his 2 1/2 year prison sentence while on appeal. Judge Reggie Walton's decision could result in Libby going to prison within weeks, although Walton's ruling is expected to be appealed. Judge Walton had received numerous letters from Rethug/ neocon "luminaries" and their brother wingnuts, who sent Walton threatening, harassing letters in an attempt to intimidate him. Mission Not Accomplished! By the way, Judge Walton is a Republican, put on the bench by President Moe Chimpy in his first term.

Sam, Mike, and Tom: Your Rethug Stooges

We didn't bother watching the Rethuglican candidates' "debate" last night, along with most Americans. One commenter on a popular post said, "the winners of last night's debate were the people who had their television sets turned off." True, but Crooks and Liars did capture one hilarious moment when the luminaries of the American Taliban Party were asked who didn't believe in evolution. Three idiots, Brownback, Huckabee and Tancredo, raised their hands! And it's 2007, not 1707!

Quote of the Day

Speaking about the Rethuglican candidates and hopes for Fred Thompson's entry into the field, here's Gary Bauer:

"With the current field, there is. . .some difficulty in getting economic, foreign policy, and social conservatives all on the same page . . . I think [Fred Thompson] would have a reasonable chance of getting support from all three legs of the stool President Reagan put together."

Heh heh. Stool. As in poop.