;)
The Commentariat -- Dec. 5, 2012
Cliff Notes
Meghashyam Mali of The Hill: "President Obama will appeal to business leaders on Wednesday, calling on them to press lawmakers to raise the U.S. debt limit during 'fiscal cliff' negotiations. Obama, who will meet with executives from the Business Roundtable on Wednesday, hopes to avoid another protracted fight over the debt ceiling and has sought to include it in ongoing deficit talks."
David Nakamura of the Washington Post: "President Obama said Tuesday that there is still a chance that the White House and Congress can reach a deal to avert the fiscal cliff, but he warned that the latest offer from House Republicans' remains 'out of balance.' In his first one-on-one interview since his reelection, Obama told Bloomberg TV that he remains firmly committed to his demand that the GOP agree to raise tax rates on the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans." ...
... Here's the Bloomberg story, by Julianna Goldman & Mike Dorning:
Manu Raju & Jake Sherman of Politico: "Speaker John Boehner's pitch of $800 billion in new tax revenues already has tea party-backed conservatives accusing GOP leaders of peddling a plan that would destroy job growth. Conservative outside groups are urging their party's rank-and-file to rebel and reject any new taxes. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and his leadership team pointedly declined to endorse the proposal." ...
... "You're Fired." Jonathan Strong of Roll Call: "With a small purge of rebellious Republicans -- mostly conservatives -- from prominent committees Monday, Speaker John A. Boehner is sending a tough message ahead of the looming vote on a fiscal cliff deal. David Schweikert of Arizona and Walter B. Jones of North Carolina were booted from the Financial Services Committee. Justin Amash of Michigan and Tim Huelskamp of Kansas were removed from the Budget Committee; Huelskamp lost his place on the Agriculture Committee as well."
Ezra Klein has a short & sour summary of what-all is in the Simpson-Bowles plan. He adds, "Republicans may want to associate themselves with Erskine Bowles, and they may want to attack Obama for not doing enough to support Simpson-Bowles, but they want nothing to do with Simpson-Bowles itself." And if Wall Street & corporate CEOs had any idea what was in it, they wouldn't like it either, their oft-repeated claims to love it notwithstanding.
Jonathan Chait of New York sees an early January deal as the most likely scenario. And he sez why -- which is mostly that's how Republicans can best save face. They really are pathetic.
Here's the "On Point with Tom Ashbrook" (WBUR) segment which contributor Janice recommends -- libruls, including Paul Krugman, talk about the so-called fiscal cliff:
... AND here's Stephanie Kelton's follow-up.
Matt Spetalnick of Reuters: "President Barack Obama is expected to announce his nominees for secretaries of state and defense in the next two weeks, with former Republican Senator Chuck Hagel on the short list of potential choices to head the Pentagon, senior administration officials said on Tuesday. Hagel ... met the Democratic president at the White House this week to discuss a post on his national security team."
Carrie Johnson of NPR: "In a tug of war between President Obama and Congress, a federal appeals court panel in Washington, D.C., will hear arguments Wednesday on the legality of Obama's controversial recess appointments. The White House says it was forced to install three new members of the National Labor Relations Board in January because of inaction by Senate Republicans. But those lawmakers argue the Senate wasn't really in a recess at the time." With audio.
M. J. Lee & Patrick Reis of Politico: "Senate Democratic leaders have picked [Senator-Elect Elizabeth Warren] to fill one of the [Banking Committee]'s open spots, a Democratic source with knowledge of the situation said Tuesday."
John Bresnehan & Manu Raju of Politico: "Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet will serve as chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee for the 2014 election cycle."
Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) writes an excellent op-ed in USA Today on the need for filibuster reform, & he explains why a simple majority of the Senate can change the rules for the filibustering. Spoiler: it's in the Constitution.
NEW. Kate Masur in the Atlantic on Spielberg's Lincoln film: "The compromises that Lincoln did not make are more significant than the ones he did." CW: in other words, quit listening to Doris Kearns Goodwin; she has a VSP agenda, not an accurate historical perspective. BTW, I saw a photo of her (I think) sitting in the President's box at the Kennedy Center Honors gala. I guess that's one way to make her think you're paying her some attention. It won't shut her up, though.
New York Times Editors: Megabank "UBS has reached a conditional immunity deal [for manipulating interest rates] with the antitrust arm of the Justice Department, though the department's criminal unit could still take action against the bank. Unless civil penalties are paired with high profile criminal prosecutions, they will not add up to meaningful punishment or effective deterrence."
Costas Apologizes for Being Right. Cindy Boren of the Washington Post: "Bob Costas said he made a 'mistake,' violating his own rule of not trying to compress a nuanced topic into small bit of air time, with his controversial halftime commentary Sunday night on the murder-suicide committed by Jovan Belcher of the Kansas City Chiefs the day before." ...
... Update: Lawrence O'Donnell interviews Bob Costas. Also read the related post:
Peter Baker of the New York Times: "Former President George W. Bush weighed back into the nation's volatile immigration debate on Tuesday by calling on policymakers in Washington to revamp the law 'with a benevolent spirit' that recognizes the contribution of those who move here from other countries."
Ta-Nehisi Coates of The Atlantic on Thomas Jefferson, slaveholder. BTW, I hope many of you had a chance to read Jefferson's writings on slavery which I linked earlier this week in the Comments section but not in the Commentariat itself.
E. J. Graff of American Prospect has an excellent response to Douthat's column "More Babies, Please." "We can't all be royals."
Bad News. Maureen Dowd is already obsessing over Hillary 2016.
Ed Pilkington of the Guardian: Bradley Manning's civilian attorney David "Coombs addressed an audience of Bradley Manning supporters in a Unitarian church in Washington on Monday night and lashed out at the military hierarchy for allowing the intelligence analyst to be subjected to nine months of harsh suicide prevention regime against the advice of doctors. 'Brad's treatment at Quantico will forever be etched into our nation's history as a disgraceful moment in time,' he said."
Jonathan Ansfield of the New York Times: a fatal car crash cover-up led to the downfall of Chinese President Hu Jintao.
Ah, Democracy!
Our Fantastic Electorate. Sarah Kliff of the Washington Post: "A new poll from Public Policy Polling found that an impressive 39 percent of Americans have an opinion about the Simpson-Bowles deficit reduction plan.... Before you start celebrating the new, sweeping reach of the 2010 commission's work, consider this: Twenty-five percent of Americans also took a stance on the Panetta-Burns plan." CW: Unfortunately, Leon & I have not actually developed a deficit-reduction plan. Maybe I should call him.
Our Well-Informed Electorate. Paul Krugman: "... by a margin of almost four to one, people think that going over the fiscal cliff will cause the deficit to increase. In a way, I understand this: the VSPs have been pounding the drum over and over again about how deficits are bad, evil; now they are warning about a fiscal something-or-other, so how are people supposed to know that they're suddenly worried that we'll reduce the deficit too much?"
Our Wacko Right Wing Electorate. Tom Jensen of Public Policy Polling: "49% of GOP voters nationally say they think that ACORN stole the election for President Obama. We found that 52% of Republicans thought that ACORN stole the 2008 election for Obama, so this is a modest decline, but perhaps smaller than might have been expected given that ACORN doesn't exist anymore.... 25% of Republicans say they would like their state to secede from the union.... Since the election we've seen a 5 point increase in Democratic identification to 44%, and a 5 point decrease in Republican identification to 32%." Read the whole post as there are other interesting/odd results.
Right Wing World
Lawrence Downes of the New York Times: "Former Senator Bob Dole, 89 years old and in a wheelchair, went onto the floor of the Senate today to urge his former colleagues to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons With Disabilities.... One by one ... the senators approached Mr. Dole to pat his shoulder or clasp his hand.... Then he was wheeled away, and all but a handful of the Republicans bailed out on him. The treaty failed.... The vote was a triumph for Glenn Beck, Rick Santorum and others on the hard-right loon fringe, who have been feverishly denouncing the treaty as a United Nations world-government conspiracy to kill disabled children (you can look it up)." ...
... This treaty was supported by every veterans group in America and Bob Dole made an inspiring and courageous personal journey back to the Senate to fight for it. It had bipartisan support, and it had the facts on its side, and yet for one ugly vote, none of that seemed to matter. We won't give up on this..., but today I understand better than ever before why Americans have such disdain for Congress and just how much must happen to fix the Senate so we can act on the real interests of our country. -- Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.)
Ken Vogel of Politico: "Dick Armey left [the Tea Party group FreedomWorks] ... over a clash with a top lieutenant who Armey and others in the organization believed was using the group's resources to pad his pockets.... Armey was concerned that [FreedomWorks president Matt] Kibbe structured the deal to personally profit from the book, despite relying on FreedomWorks staff and resources to research, help write and promote it -- an arrangement he and others at the group believed could jeopardize its tax exempt status." CW: it's always such a surprise when you find out these guys are avaricious hacks.
News Ledes
One of the reasons I believe in jazz is that the oneness of man can come through the rhythm of your heart. It's the same anyplace in the world, that heartbeat. It's the first thing you hear when you're born -- or before you're born -- and it&'s the last thing you hear. -- Dave Brubeck
New York Times: "Dave Brubeck, the pianist and composer who helped make jazz popular again in the 1950s and '60s with recordings like 'Time Out,' the first jazz album to sell a million copies, and 'Take Five,' the still instantly recognizable hit single that was that album's centerpiece, died on Wednesday in Norwalk, Conn. He would have turned 92 on Thursday."
New York Times: "Oscar Niemeyer, the celebrated Brazilian architect whose flowing designs infused Modernism with a new sensuality and captured the imaginations of generations of architects around the world, died on Wednesday in Rio de Janeiro. He was 104."
New York Times: "Angry mobs of Islamists battled secular protesters with fists, rocks and firebombs in the streets around the presidential palace for hours Wednesday night in the first major outbreak of violence between political factions here since the revolt against then-President Hosni Mubarak began nearly two years ago."
New York Times: "President Obama plans to ask Congress for about $50 billion in emergency spending to help rebuild the states ravaged by Hurricane Sandy, according to administration and Congressional officials briefed on the discussions."
New York Times: "Citigroup announced on Wednesday that it would cut 11,000 jobs, reducing its work force by roughly 4 percent in an effort to cut costs."
New York Times: "Rescue teams were trying to reach isolated villages in the southern on Wednesday after a powerful out-of-season typhoon tore through the region, leaving more than 270 people dead...."
AP: "Serbia's ambassador to NATO was chatting and joking with colleagues in a parking garage at Brussels Airport when he suddenly strolled to a barrier, climbed over and flung himself to the ground below, a diplomat said. By the time his shocked colleagues reached him, Branislav Milinkovic was dead."
AP: "Negotiators reached an agreement late Tuesday to end an 8-day strike that crippled the nation's largest port complex and prevented shippers from delivering billions of dollars in cargo to warehouses and distribution centers across the country."
Guardian: "The former Syrian foreign ministry spokesman, Jihad Makdissi, is on his way to the United States after apparently defecting, the Guardian has learned. Makdissi, the most senior Christian official yet to abandon Bashar al-Assad's regime, was reported on Monday to have variously been sacked or defected and to have arrived back in London, where he used to serve in the Syrian embassy."
Al Jazeera: "NASA plans to send a new rover to Mars in 2020 as it prepares for a manned mission to the Red Planet, the US space agency said on Tuesday. The announcement came a day after NASA released the results of the first soil tested by the Curiosity rover, which found traces of some of the compounds like water and oxygen that are necessary for life."
AP: "Jack Brooks, who spent 42 years in Congress representing his Southeast Texas district and was in the Dallas motorcade in 1963 when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, has died. He was 89.... Brooks was among the last links to an era when Democrats dominated Texas politics and was the last of 'Mr. Sam's Boys,' protégés of fellow Texan and legendary 21-year Democratic House Speaker Sam Rayburn in the state's congressional delegation." CW: the last of the breed: liberal-ish Southern white Congressmen.
Share Article
Reader Comments (21)
Re: United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities or "a day of shame for the United States", Lawrence O'Donnell
The Right Wing needs to leave their bubble once in awhile and experience how the rest of the world lives!
I have a moving (to me) personal story about a young person (now a young adult) living in Venezuela. I met this boy (Andres) when he was about 4 years old, and in the very early stages of muscular dystrophy. He could still walk, and his doctor had him on a regime of therapies which included swimming. As his body failed him, and he was confined to a wheel chair, swimming was the last physical activity that he was able to do. By the time he was 10 years of age he could not even do this.
Andres lives in Venezuela. I had such admiration for him. How did he maintain such a positive disposition given his situation? He had dreams to attend college,travel, go to concerts - typical desires and dreams. He never seem to consider that his condition might be a barrier.
Once Andres told me how much he loved the symbol of the United States, the Bald Eagle. Why? Andres told me (he was about 12 at the time) that in the United States kids like him have access to attend places not possible in Venezuela (unless his parents physically carried him). In that moment I felt proud of my country! Until Andres had pointed this out to me I was ignorant of the fact that in most of the world opportunities for people with disabilities are limited. Andres idealized the United States! About a year later I gave him a large wall hanging of a Bald Eagle, and he proudly hung this in his bedroom.
For various reasons I have not talked to Andres for several years. The last time I spoke to him, via telephone, he was 18 and living in Washington D.C. His father was their for 2 years as part of his work. Andres biggest excitement was that in D. C. he was able to get around via public via transportation with no assistance. Freedom for Andres!
So today, I feel angry and sad that my country - a shining star of hope to disabled children the world over - could make such an shameful ignorant vote.
What would Andres think?
Poor Dick Armey--worried about morality issues in Freedom Works, so he resigns to keep his integrity--HA! Where do these bozos get $8 million to get rid of him? And why is this nowhere mentioned in the MSM--only by Marie, Rachel Maddow and a couple of online political sites?
I think the "death wish" Repubs wish to become extinct. They are begging for it. Only Rick Sanitarium and a few of the Tea Party trolls are holding the line for them. Can't wait for 2014! I would hope Americans are becoming less crazy, but I fear the Republican politicians are, in truth, become more crazy. As in really nuts!
Hilary is already running for president, according to the blogs on the New Yorker: http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2012/12/hillary-is-running-a-dispatch-from-the-saban-forum.html
Hillary as become a cult figure, but she has managed to hide a lot of junk under her skirts that wont help her in a presidential run.
Yesterday I listened to an interesting discussion on "On Point with Tom Ashbrook," concerning the liberal view of the fiscal cliff. Paul Krugman was on the panel, and of course was excellent, particularly the way he skewered the reporter in the opening bit, who claimed that President Obama's and John Boehner's proposals were mirror images of each other. But the person I thought stood out was Stephanie Kelton, who has an ability to speak about economics with a clarity that isn't often heard. For example, she stated that everyone's fixated on the numerator in the debt to GDP ratio, but increased government spending would increase the denominator, thereby lowering the ratio. The impact of cutting the numerator (austerity) would also decrease the denominator, thus not improve the ratio, and would instead throw us into a situation like Greece. (Math is not my strong point - I hope I've got that right!) Rather than muddling things further, I'll just post the link to the program's podcast: http://onpoint.wbur.org/2012/12/04/the-liberal-take-on-the-fiscal-cliff
Here is a link to Kelton's follow-up to the NPR discussion in which she notes that the "deficit is currently falling at its fastest pace since the end of WWII": http://neweconomicperspectives.org/2012/12/what-i-did-not-get-to-say-on-nprs-on-point-this-morning.html#more-3854
@Marie: Here's one for your Right Wing World section: 49 % of Republicans believe that the election was stolen by . . . ACORN, which, according to Wikipedia, went into Chapter 7 in November 2010, so was out of existence for two years prior to the election. It's not just the Tea Party wing that lives in a fact free bubble: half of the entire Republican Party is demonstrably fact free.
Here's the link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/04/acorn-republican-voters_n_2239298.html
Lawrence Odonnell did his rewrite segment on the disgraceful Senate vote on the Rights of Persons Treaty. He had to pause at a couple points as he was emotionally overwhelmed. He talked specifically about the betrayal by Dole's personal and longtime friends - Hatch, McConnell, etc. http://tv.msnbc.com/2012/12/05/odonnell-rewrites-the-senates-day-of-shame/
Odonnell also interviewed Costas, which didn't seem at all like an apology for Costas' previous on air comments to me. Costas was quite eloquent and worth the listen. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45755883/ns/msnbc-the_last_word/#50080669
@Calyban: was just linking the original PPP post when your comment came in. But really, it's not as bad as you think. The percentage of people who self-identify as Republican is now down 5 points to 32 percent & those of course are whom PPP polled. So if almost half of them think ACORN stole the election, that means less than 16 percent of voters are whacked-out conspiracy theorists. If you consider that a good half of that 16 percent are probably intractable white racists, then maybe only 8 to 10 percent are total ignoramuses, the rest being unable to keep up with the news on account of the white-pointy hoodies impeding their sight. Ah, democracy.
Marie
@Diane. I keep reading in Politico, etc., that the "new GOP" is tacking to the center after realizing that crazy doesn't work. Really? As the NYT editors said, the vote against what should have been a totally uncontroversial treaty was hijacked by the Rick Santorum-Glenn Beck crowd -- AND MOST REPUBLICAN SENATORS WENT ALONG. That is, the vast majority of Republican Senators -- whatever they actually believe -- will betray their best friend if Glenn Beck tells them to.
Marie
I'm reminded of a cartoon I saw some years ago by the Republican "offer." A fellow is briefing his flowchart. He points one item that says "At this point a miracle occurs." His boss says "I think you need more work on that."
@Marie. The wait is getting more and more tedious for the last breath of that moronic group of right wing clowns to kick off. Like most dying things, when the end is near there is a loud, desperate, messy attempt to hold on. It has created a vortex that terrifies and sucks up everyone with an "R" next to their name. Irrational thought and ignorance is the basis for everything including the pervasive "fear" expressed by members of Congress. Those few that are not clowns have so disgraced themselves by continuously messing their pants in public, that they are useless as leaders.
The only tacking I have seen is a steady march toward batshit crazy and infringement on personal liberty / civil rights. The media has chosen to prolong the demise by insisting that the Republicans are a legitimate party. Really, any semi-rational person with an IQ approaching double digits understands that most of these Congresspeople would be sitting in a corner drooling into their pablum if they didn't hold office.
On her worst day, Ms Frida, the bulldog, and her single marble generates more intellect than contained by the entire Republican caucus.
Re: Maureen's column du jour: It's uncanny how this woman manages to get her "Barry" licks in whatever she happens to be writing about. I happened to watch the talk Hillary gave that Dowd mentions and thought the Q&A afterwards much more interesting. I got the distinct impression that Israel has us (read brass balls) by that strong political allegiance of support issued eons ago, but a definite frustration with this relationship came forth especially when she said the US was strongly in favor of a two state solution––something Netanyahu will fight to his death. Clinton never came close to voicing her anger at Bibbi's thumbing his nose at us and going ahead with the digging for more settlements, but her tone was strident. Left landless what on earth does Israel think is going to happen to all those Palestinians who have felt like Jews felt for centuries wandering the globe for somewhere they could be safe and call home. The lack of compassion for these people–––the ordinary families that have suffered because of apartied-like existence. Who will take them in once Israel drives them out? My distain for the strong right hand of Israel grows by leaps and bounds.
As for Hillary running for President: STFU about it. Let the woman get a well deserved rest and let's concentrate on the year ahead. If the pathetic display on the Senate floor yesterday was a bell weather for what lays ahead then...
@Marie: Your analysis goes way past silver linings and into whistling in the dark territory! Those 8-10% ignoramuses control who wins Republican primaries and force the whole dialogue for the rest of us to the right.
On why it's important to get a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizen's United:
Sheldon (Goldfinger lookalike) Adelson has promised to double down on his losing 2012 bets by giving $300 million to the Repugs in 2014.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0912/81588.html
The problem with the Republican party can be summed up in two words: greed and cowardice.
The kowtowing to Wall Street, the oligarchs, and anyone who might be inclined to shovel piles of loot their way thereby assuring their ability to continue the degradation of the nation for years into the future betrays their essential greed (not to mention the likelihood of a plum seven figure sinecure when their days of screwing with the country are done).
But worse than that is the craven cowardice with which they engage the most disturbed, demented, and wild-eyed on the right. For the last few years, anything some propeller hatted teabagging loony-tune demanded, no matter how impossible, illegal, or demonstrably deluded, Republican lawmakers simultaneously drop to their knees and touch their heads to the ground. Were they all pointed towards Mecca during these exercises in obsequiousness one might be forgiven for mistaking them for devout band of Muslims at prayer time.
The fact that Republican "leaders" like Boehner and McConnell cower, tuck tail and run whenever some lunatic starts slobbering their wingnut blather, not even bothering to attempt setting the record straight (remember Romney's birther "joke", presented as a sop to soporific minds?), is nothing less than a national disgrace and a sign of the internal corrosion and dilapidation of the party.
Blubbering demagogues like Beck and Limbaugh and the bug-eyed weirdos they attract, like flies to rot, run one part of the party. Wall Street runs the other. It is a political party no longer. It is merely a conduit for crap, a support system for billionaires and buffoons.
@Calyban: so let me get this straight: under the Calyban Theory of Democracy, that 8 - 16 percent of dummkopfs would become enlightened Democrats if only they knew ACORN was dead? Or what? I hate to tell you, but sending those guys to the Obama indoctrination camps so dreaded by Michele Bachmann would not change their political "philosophy."
As for Adelson, he's a symptom, not the cause. As long as we have a tax structure that allows some Americans enough $$$ to throw away $100MM or $300MM on elections, our elected body of so-called representatives will be corrupt.
Marie
@Calyban The Politico article you linked is from September 23, so I'm supposing he was 'blowing smoke' back then.
Will he or won't he? throw an additional $300-million into attempting to influence political outcomes in 2014? Guess if you have billions, which no doubt the orange-haired Adelson earned the old-fashioned way (HEAVY SARCASM), then a few hundred million will hardly be missed—or maybe it's a bluff. Big talk from a little man.
It was amusing, where the Politico article said, "Adelson, (pronounced ADDLE-son)..." Indeed!
MAG,
For billionaires like Sheldon Adelson, like the Kochs, like Texas chemical and toxic waste billionaire Harold Simmons, the Marriott billionaires, Richard and Bill, and Texas Swift boat supporter and real estate magnate Bob Perry, piling up mountains of moolah is not enough anymore.
Today bragging rights among the Richie Riches require more than secret Cayman accounts, multiple homes and vacation compounds spread across the globe, yachts, gold plated toilet seats and bespoke suits. That stuff is run of the mill nouveau riche crap. For your modern tycoon the new black is political influence. Did you deep six a respected candidate for president with lies about his war service? Did you change the direction of legislation designed to help the poor so that it helped billionaires instead? Did you take food out of the mouths of infants to pay for a new chalet in Switzerland? Did you fork over a few million to a Wisconsin governor with the expectation that he would do your bidding and bust up some pesky, uppity unions?
That's the stuff of bragging rights today. Money, schmoney. The big surprise, at least in the last go 'round was that their money didn't (always) buy them the clout they expect is theirs by right. This is a big shock, obviously, to those used to getting and buying their own way. The Romneys are disconsolate? Sheldon Adelson is pissed? Rove's secret Crossroads contributors are furious? Well, shit. Must have been those annoying blah people and their urban buddies, young people and women. Damn moochers. Always getting in the way.
Seriously, no wonder these assholes hate democracy and work so hard to steal elections and spread misinformation and lies. That 47% pesters the crap out of these people. I mean who do they think they are??
And pay no attention to anyone writing about how Citizens United had virtually no effect. Very likely it had a substantial effect. But in this case, at least, democracy won out even over the billions spent trying to ram one of their own into the White House. But they'll be back.
These people won't go quietly. Like the Romneys, they always expect that they will win. When they don't they don't take it lying down. So Miss Brooks' suggestion this week in the Times that Republicans might lose the support of billionaires is ludicrous. Where they gonna go? Give money to blah people and women? To Democrats? To LIBERALS?
Fuck no. They're bored with just making money. Power is where it's at. They tried to buy it this time. Maybe next time they'll come up something different. But they ain't just goin' away.
Barack Obama is a unique figure in contemporary (hell, in all of) American Politics. When he's gone, do the Democrats have anyone who can fire up the base like he's done? Someon who can stave off the oligarchs? Who can provide a compelling vision of an America that does not exist purely as a playground for the rich?
I sure as hell hope so.
@Ak. Talk about bragging rights, I happened to watch DVD last
night (documentary) on the Siegels of Florida. Photo after photo
taken with all of the big time Republicans. At one point Mr. Siegel
stated that he single handedly got Bush elected. When the interviewer
asked how he was able to do this, he replied "I can't tell you because
I'm not sure it was legal". Then it must have been illegal, in my
opinion.
You've got great points there, Akhilleus. Appears to be just the latest version of the grand old tradition of a pissing contest. The Id, the Ego, the Super-Ego...where is Freud when we need him to come up with another designation for these pathetic men? Bet you'll come up with something apt!
Frank Rich just online with his sit-down New York magazine interview: http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2012/12/frank-rich-the-fiscal-cliff-is-the-y2k-of-2012.html
He's got some great comments on a multitude of things from the Tea Party to the over-hyped Fiscal Cliff.
@Marie: No under the Calyban Theory of Democracy, we should be afraid, very afraid: the last time we saw delusion on this scale was when 50% of the German right wing in the 1920s believed that Germany lost the War (the 1st WW) because it was "stabbed in the back;" by Jews----- i.e. the German version of the ACORN theory. We all know how that fairy tale turned out.
Calyban,
The "stabbed in the back" trope is one of the hoariest piles of horseshir in the right-wing tub of embarrassingly self-serving excuses.
Several variations of it are on display right now, spewing from the nether regions of Mittens Romney, Karl Rove, Dick Armey, Sheldon Adelsom, Rush Limbaugh...
The takeaway is that even the most vile, violent, vicious, vituperative, vitiating, and invariably vulgar Republican initiatives would pass with flying colors if only unworthy, dirty mongrels had not stabbed them in the back.
As far as they are concerned, there is no way their defeats can be attributed to the illegitimacy and unsavoriness of their own political pusillanimity.