Rand And Ron Paul: The Acorn And The Nut

It's long been known that uber-libertarian Ron "Uncle Crazy" Paul, the tree from which Sen. "Ayn" Rand Paul (Dudebro-KY) fell (landing on his head) has some fringe ideas and associates, especially when it comes to "states rights", views that he's still more than happy to share with us:

“A lot of times people think secession, they paint it as an absolute negative,” said former representative Ron Paul (R-Tex.). After all, Paul said, the American Revolution was a kind of secession. “You mean we should have been obedient to the king forever? So it’s all in the way you look at it.” 

That's the old coot speaking this past weekend at a "one-day seminar" on secession in Houston, TX.  It's also part of his worldview that, well,

“Sanity will not return to U.S. leaders until our financial system collapses..."

Yay, financial collapse!  Also, since when does Uncle Crazy get to talk about "sanity?"

All of which (and much more in Uncle Crazy's career) might be somewhat problematic for political scion and likely Republican presidential candidate "Ayn" Rand.  That's because "Ayn" Rand needs to broaden his support from his father's crackpot shock troops to a larger, though equally loony, Republican "mainstream:"

Rand, 52, is contemplating a presidential run — at its heart, an act of optimism. He is moderating some hard-line positions and introducing himself to donors and voters. [snip] 

Rand Paul will need to broaden his appeal far beyond his father’s hard-core supporters if he hopes to win the GOP nomination his father never could. But some members of that core said he was losing them by adopting policies closer to the GOP mainstream.

If by "mainstream" you mean anti-science, anti-immigrant, anti-minority, anti-same sex marriage, anti-Obamacare, anti-choice, anti- etc., etc.

That's why "Ayn" Rand was in Rancho Mirage (!!), California, this weekend at a cattle call luxe retreat sponsored by the paleo-right billionaire Koch brothers, hoping to pick up support from plutocrats who are hoping that they won't be flushing their ill-gotten wealth down the crapper like they did in 2012. We are assuming that having your dangerously eccentric daddy talking about secession and financial system collapse on the same weekend doesn't play well with the big money boys.  It has to make them wonder if the acorn is as much of a nut as its progenitor.

(Photo: Ron "Uncle Crazy" Paul - "Get them cannons aimed at Ft. Sumter, boys!")

Saturday Reading: A Treasure House Of Republican Derangement

As always, please read these in their entirety.

Michael Hiltzik in the L.A. Times, who cites the positive Affordable Care Act (Obamacare!) news and the debunked Republican lies:

Positive news reports about insurance enrollments under Affordable Care Act have been coming out so steadily that they barely make headlines anymore. Still searching for a way to depict Obamacare as a "train wreck," GOP critics of the law have no option but to make up the bad news. 

The Republican war on the truth was so laughable even Republican staffers wouldn't defend the latest lies about Obamacare.

David Freedlander has the tale of the Republican nut tree bearing more fruit in Wisconsin:

[A]t the Sixth Congressional Republican Caucus in the northeastern part of the state, delegates in April passed a resolution reaffirming Wisconsin’s right to secede from the union should it choose to do so.  The measure passed through the GOP convention’s Resolution Committee last week, and is set to be voted on (up or down) at the Republican State Convention this weekend.

Once again, some Republicans are shocked (shocked!) that this resolution made it to the State Convention, and now they're furiously disavowing it.  But some tea bagger faithful (a.k.a., The Republican Base) aren't so ready to give up the right to secede or nullify Federal laws they don't like:

“I do believe that a state has the right to secede if the voters wish. I just believe it is necessary at this time. We are not at the point. We are talking about nullification,” said Lewis. “We are led to believe that the Civil War ended that debate [on secession], but it didn’t. The Civil War was a war; one side won, one side lost, and because of that they didn’t secede, but we can still have the debate. 

“We are not saying we need to colonize the moon or anything crazy like that,” he added. “We are fighting for our constitution.”

"Lewis," who is not further identified in the article needs to be hit upside the head with a 2x4 reminded that Wisconsin blood already decided the issue of secession, losing 12,301 Union troops out of 91,327 furnished for the cause.  Asswhistle.

Finally, Paul Rosenberg has a psychoanalysis of what passes for an intellect in the Republican/ New Confederate/ Stupid Party:  Beltway media favorite Rep. Paul Ryan (R- Galt's Gulch):

A flim-flam artist is a specific kind of con-man, and a con-man, in turn, is often enough a specific kind of psychopath. Although it’s impossible to clinically diagnose someone from a distance, I believe a good case can be made that Ryan has exhibited classic signs of psychopathic traits, especially in two closely related dimensions, the interpersonal dimension: glibness/superficial charm (just look at how the Beltway press falls for him), grandiose sense of self-worth (it never bothers Ryan however wrong he may be about anything), cunning/manipulative (see how effortlessly he got a positive-looking photo-op with the Congressional Black Caucus, without giving up a single thing), and pathological lying (calling his decades-long devotion to Ayn Rand “an urban legend”), as well as the affective dimension: lack of remorse or guilt, and failure to accept responsibility for own actions (failure to apologize for his racist remarks about “inner-city culture,” brushing it off as merely being “inarticulate”), emotionally shallow and callous/lack of empathy (his draconian budget cuts, which would take us back to Dickensian England).

Happy reading!

Sunday Secession Cartoon

Hopefully, this nonsense will die out quickly, but in the meantime (click to enlarge):

(Ben Sargent, via gocomics.com)

Don't Let The Door Hit You Cartoon, Cont.

(click to enlarge)

For giggles (and to make a point), please go over to the "We the People" site and sign the "let 'em go" petition.

(Mike Luckovich, via gocomics.com)

"The Confederacy of Takers"

As we've noted today and earlier, one of the theraputic outlets for wingnut angst over the re-election of the Kenyan Socialist Usurper is the secession petition bowel "movement." Dana Milbank would like to point out to these simpletons that theirs would be a "Confederacy of Takers," i.e., that the States they would like to see secede are mostly the ones that get back more in Federal taxes than they pay into the system:

"Red states receive, on average, far more from the federal government in expenditures than they pay in taxes. The balance is the opposite in blue states. The secession petitions, therefore, give the opportunity to create what would be, in a fiscal sense, a far more perfect union. [snip]

"...[W]ould-be rebels from the red states should keep in mind during the coming budget battle that those who are most ardent about cutting government spending tend to come from parts of the country that most rely on it."

Not only that, but the surviving Union would have a much higher average I.Q. without these clueless humps bringing down the average. In that sense, you might call the secessionists' new nation the "Confederacy of Dunces" (w/ apologies to John Kennedy Toole).

UPDATE: We'd support and sign this petition: "[A]t least one petition filed on the ["We the People"] site asks that the president sign an executive order to strip U.S. citizenship from anyone who signed a petition to secede and requests that they are "peacefully deported." Bwahahahaha!

BONUS: We'll let Jon Stewart chime in, too:

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Save Your Confederate Money

It must be the season of wingnuttery gone even nuttier. Tennessee Rethuglican Rep. Zach "Wamp There It Is" Wamp is running for Governor, and he's trying to out-treason Texas Rethug Gov. Rick "Hair" Perry. Wamp There It Is is saying that if the voters don't return Rethugs to power in 2010 and 2012, states (presumably red ones) may have to to "consider separation from this Government." In other words, a new Confederate States of America. Gee, maybe they could bring back slavery.

But as Think Progress notes, Wamp There It Is may want to reflect on history:

In 1860, American voters elected an obscure former congressman named “Abraham Lincoln” to the presidency. Eleven southern states — all of whom disagreed with the new president on the issue of slavery — soon decided that they didn’t want to be bound by the results of that election. Before Wamp starts campaigning to become the next Jefferson Davis, however, he might want to give some thought to what happened the last time right-wing state governments engaged in an act of mass treason.

Looking on the bright side, a second, more severe Reconstruction might do some states some good.

Whistling Dixie

Now it seems like one-third of Georgia Rethuglicans are mulling over secession from the U.S., at least according to a new Daily Kos/Research 2000 poll. Some 32% of Georgia Rethugs think it might be a good idea for Georgia to become an independent country. (Pause for derisive laughter) Without a doubt, these were probably the loudest voices shouting "traitor" at anyone who opposed Dumbya and Dead Eye. Now who are the traitors, peckerwoods?

Well, the U.S. would certainly be better off without the inbred, low-IQ, trailer park, tea-bagging Klan followers in the Georgia Rethug movement. Better still if they formed battle lines and challenged the full force of the U.S. Army and Marines -- see ya, wouldn't wanna be ya!

They are the "dicks" in "Dixie."

Quote of the Day

"Also, have you noticed how places that pride themselves on being superpatriotic seem to have the most people who want to abandon the country entirely and set up shop on their own? . . .And how, by the way, can you stand at a rally waving the American flag while yelling 'Secede?'" -- columnist Gail Collins in today's New York Times.

Because patriotism to these fringe extremists is all about adherence to the conservative Rethug cult, not about America and its popular President.

Tex-ass For Sale? Yahoooo!!

Now that Texas' Rethuglican Governor-Clown Rick "Dipstick" Perry is mulling over seceding from the union, some want to beat him to the punch and sell the state to the highest bidder (Mexico, China, etc.) on eBay before they can secede. Great idea, but we'll miss seeing washed-up actor Chuckles Norris, who has said he wants to be "President of Texas," duking it out with Dipstick for the secessionist presidency. Another upside: unloading Texas would raise the average IQ of the U.S.

(photo: Texas' symbol: a lot of bull)

Quote of the Day

"Conservatives are so incensed by warnings about the right-wing threat of radicalism that they're considering overthrowing the federal government." -- Talking Points Memo blog, noting that 4 days ago the extremist wingnuts were up in arms about being identified as a threat by the Dept. of Homeland Security, only to demonstrate the accuracy of the DHS report by calling for "secession" from the union.