;)
The Commentariat -- Nov. 22, 2013
Nuked!
Paul Kane & William Branigin of the Washington Post: "The partisan battles that have paralyzed Washington in recent years took a historic turn Thursday, as Senate Democrats eliminated filibusters for most presidential nominations, severely curtailing the political leverage of the Republican minority in the Senate and assuring an escalation of partisan warfare. Saying that 'enough is enough,' President Obama welcomed the end of what he called the abuse of the Senate's advise and consent function, which he said had turned into 'a reckless and relentless tool' to grind the gears of government to a halt.... The vote to change the rule passed 52 to 48. Three Democrats -- Sens. Carl Levin (Mich.), Joe Manchin III (W.Va.) and Mark Pryor (Ark.) -- joined 45 Republicans in opposing the measure." ...
... The New York Times story, by Jeremy Peters, is here. ...
... Following the Senate vote, President Obama spoke to the press:
... Zachary Goldfarb of the Washington Post: "The Senate vote Thursday to lower the barriers for presidential nominations should make it easier for President Obama to accomplish key second-term priorities, including tougher measures on climate change and financial regulation, that have faced intense opposition from Republicans in Congress. The move to allow a simple majority vote on most executive and judicial nominees also sets the stage for Obama to appoint new top officials to the Federal Reserve and other key agencies -- likely leading to more aggressive action to stimulate the economy and housing market. And it frees Obama to make changes to his Cabinet without the threat of long delays in the Senate before the confirmation of nominees." ...
... Carol Leonnig of the Washington Post: "The decision by Senate Democrats on Thursday to change the rules for confirming judicial nominees could dramatically reshape an obscure federal appeals court that renders some of the most influential legal decisions in the country. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ... was at the center of the Senate fight after Republicans had blocked three of President Obama's nominees to the panel. Those three are now likely to be approved by a simple majority in the Senate."
... Sarah Binder in the Washington Post on what this particular "nuclear option" does & how it may play out. ...
... Ezra Klein on why the Democrats' filibuster change "is a huge deal." ...
... Jonathan Chait: "The main reason for this odd, partial clawback of the filibuster is that President Obama has no real legislative agenda that can pass Congress.... That ... means ... President Obama's second-term agenda runs not through Congress but through his own administrative agencies..... [The Republicans'] next line of defense is the D.C. Circuit, the federal court that handles regulatory cases." ...
By filibustering 10 qualified judicial nominees in only 16 months, our ... colleagues [on the other side of the aisle] have broken this unwritten rule. This is not the first time a minority of senators has upset a Senate tradition or practice and the current Senate majority intends to do what the majority in the Senate has often done: use it's constitutional authority under Article 1, section 5 to reform Senate procedure by a simple majority vote. -- Sen. Mitch McConnell (R.-Ky.), 2005
... Gene Robinson: "This isn't about partisan politics. It's about making what has been called 'the world's greatest deliberative body' function the way the Framers of the Constitution intended.... The Senate was designed by the Founders to move slowly, not to be paralyzed. Republican obstruction of presidential appointments makes the government less able to do the people's work -- and less reflective of the people's will. Elections are supposed to have consequences." ...
... Greg Sargent: "This is great news for many reasons, but a big one has to do with financial regulation. With Democrats on the D.C. Circuit Court, the rules in the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill (both existing and ones yet to be finalized) will have a much greater chance of surviving frivolous court challenges." ...
... Steve M. with a reminder to Munch Prize hopefuls: "The template for the modern GOP is what happened in Wisconsin after the 2010 elections: a blitzkrieg of punitive, revanchist legislation using every parliamentary tool at the new GOP majority's disposal. In the U.S. Senate, that would have included the gutting of the filibuster. It's always been likely if they get total control. [The Senate Democrats move Thursday] doesn't make it any more likely." ...
... Ruthless People. Paul Waldman of the American Prospect: "Let's say that it's 2017 or 2021, and they've won the presidency and the Senate. Can anyone believe that if on this day in 2013 the Democrats decided to keep the filibuster for judicial nominations, Republicans would then do the same out of a sense of fair play? This is the party that over the last five years has filibustered literally every bill of greater consequence than renaming a post office. This is the party that got conservatives on the Supreme Court to upend the Voting Rights Act, then literally within days began passing one law after another to make it as hard as possible for minorities, students, and anyone else likely to vote Democratic to cast their ballots. This is the party that shut down the government in its endless quest to repeal the Affordable Care Act. This is the party that sincerely believes that its opponents are attempting to destroy America, and therefore any tactics are justified in order to stop them." ...
For whatever reason, the Republicans decided to go nuclear first, with this utterly unnecessary violation of their own agreement and open decision to block the president from filling vacancies for his entire term, no matter how well qualified the nominees. It was a set of actions begging for a return nuclear response.... McConnell's threat, it seems to me, makes clear the strategy: let Dems take the first step, and we will then bear no blame when we entirely blow up the Senate's rules after we take all the reins of power. That other Republicans like Corker, McCain, Alexander, Murkowski and so on, went along, shows how much the radicals and anti-institutionalists now dominate the Republican Party. Which is sad indeed. -- Norm Ornstein of the conservative American Enterprise Institute
... James Downie of the Washington Post: "Reid never would have used the 'nuclear option' without the lemming-like behavior of Senate Republicans. Less ideological GOP members could have voted more frequently to break cloture and force an up-or-down vote, as members of both parties have done, even as filibuster use has increased. They could have stopped the unprecedented number of filibusters of presidential nominations, given that the president has a clearly defined constitutional responsibility to appoint people. They could have stopped blocking duly passed laws. But they didn't. So Republicans decrying filibuster reform as 'dictatorial' or 'a day to be sad' or other hyperbolic claims should look in the mirror. No one forced them to turn filibusters from a rarity to an oft-used tool for nullification and unprecedented obstruction. They have only themselves to blame." ...
... John Dickerson of Slate: "The old Senate was already dead. Passing filibuster reform just made it official.... In the old Senate, the rules and customs created a culture of comity and bipartisanship. Little can be done in the Senate without unanimous consent of its members. That is one of its bedrock principles, which means each senator has tremendous power, but also has a certain amount of responsibility to keep the place humming. In return for such power, senators are supposed to follow the established norms of regular order, give extra weight to the views of veteran members, and shave off their partisan edges." ...
... Let the Confirmations Begin! OR Why Republicans Have Blocked Obama's Judicial Nominees, in one chart. Via Bill Scher of Campaign for America's Future. Thanks to James S. for the link:
... Wherein Charles Pierce predicts, "They may need the Jaws of Life to pry Ruth Marcus off the fainting couch." ...
... AND but hours later, our heroine swoons. CW: Who will bring the Jaws of Life? Will it be billionaire Daddy Pete Peterson? Tune in next week to see if Marcus returns to urging a balanced approach to deficit reduction & praising dotty Susan Collins. Or might Ruth's hero be newly-single swain David Brooks, the two "reasonable moderates" riding off atop Rocinante, chattering amiably & incoherently about their scatterbrained economic prescriptions? ...
... Update. Oh, my stahs. I believe that fellow on the fainting couch with Ruth is none other than Dana Milbank: "If Congress wasn't broken before, it certainly is now. What Reid (Nev.) and his fellow Democrats effectively did was take the chamber of Congress that still functioned at a modest level and turn it into a clone of the other chamber, which functions not at all. They turned the Senate into the House."
** CW: If you want to know why ObamaCare isn't working very well, I heartily recommend you read this piece by Richard Kim in the Nation. Largely, it's the fault of Republican sabotage. Kim addresses, among many other things, why "navigators" in some states are either impotent or nonexistent, an issue raised in yesterday's Comments. ...
... Look Away, Dixie Land. Tim Egan: "By refusing to expand health care for the working poor through Medicaid, which is paid for by the federal government under Obamacare, most of the old Confederacy is committed to keeping millions of its own fellow citizens in poverty and poor health. They are dooming themselves, further, as the Left-Behind States. And they are doing it out of spite.... What we could see, 10 years from now, is a Mason-Dixon line of health care." P.S. Abraham Lincoln told a really, really big lie.
... Sarah Kliff of the Washington Post: "About 15 million people currently purchase health insurance on their own, using the individual market. And about 70 percent of them -- about 10.8 million people -- will qualify for the financial help buying coverage under the health-care law, according to a new study out Thursday from Families USA." ...
... Alex Wayne & Alex Nussbaum of Bloomberg News: "The Obama administration plans to push back by a month the second-year start of enrollment in its health program to give insurers more time to adjust to growing pains in the U.S. law, a move that may stave off higher premiums before the 2014 congressional elections. The enrollment period, previously scheduled to begin Oct. 15, 2014, will now start Nov. 15...." ...
... Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: "At the annual meeting here of the nation's Republican governors, the ones who are eyeing presidential runs in 2016 say they oppose the health care law. But there is sharp disagreement among those who have helped carry out the law and those who remain entrenched in their opposition." CW: When Rick Perry looks at himself in the mirror each morning, he sees the face of the next POTUS. That vision/delusion is costing poor Texans their health & their lives. ...
... Zeke Miller of Time: "Contemplating a run for higher office, Ohio Gov. John Kasich rebranded President Obama's signature health care reform law as 'HillaryCare' on Wednesday at the Republican Governors Association in Scottsdale in an attempt to link the former Secretary of State to the poor roll-out of the Affordable Care Act. But the key components of the law are not dissimilar from Kasich's own 1994 healthcare proposal. The pro-Hillary Clinton super PAC American Bridge is circulating a research document listing the ways Kasich's own healthcare reform proposal is like the Affordable Care Act, branding it 'KasichCare.'" ...
... Christopher Weaver & Melinda Beck of the Wall Street Journal: "Insurers are slashing payments to medical practices in many of the plans they sell through the new health-law marketplaces -- sparking worries that Americans signing up for coverage will have fewer doctors to choose from if low fees spark an exodus from the plans." CW: If the link doesn't work, copy part of the text & paste it into the Google search box. ...
... "Doctors Fire Up the Obamacare Waambulance." Matt Yglesias of Slate: "... American doctors get paid more than doctors in any other country. Given how much of health care is financed either directly (Medicare, Medicaid, Veterans Affairs, public-sector workers) or indirectly (tax subsidy for employer-provided insurance) by the federal government, it's natural to make restraining doctors' income part of any program for making health care more affordable. So when you read stories about doctors whining that Affordable Care Act exchange plans don't pay them enough, please throw up a little in your mouth and proceed to ignore the doctors' complaints." ...
... Without specifically mentioning doctors, Paul Krugman puts his finger on what the waambulance drivers are complaining about: "Real Entitlement Reform" -- in the form of ACA-mandated cost controls. ...
... Crocodile Outrage. David Firestone of the New York Times: "Nearly one in 10 people on Medicare -- 4 million people -- are dissatisfied with that program..., but you don't hear their complaints broadcast at hearings or at Republican news conferences. In 2010, long before the health reform law took effect, 20 percent of people on employer-based insurance expressed dissatisfaction with their plans, as did a third of people on the individual market. They complained about high deductibles and constrained networks of doctors and hospitals, just as many of them will under the new system. And they complained about cancelled policies. Republicans never cared about those concerns before the Affordable Care Act came around, and they don't really care now, even though they're doing a great job of feigning outrage." ...
... After encountering glitches on the Washington, D.C. exchange Website, Speaker John Boehner signs up for ObamaCare. Boehner's post is here. ...
... Of course he got help. John Tozzi of Bloomberg News: "Among the perks: face-to-face help enrolling in the District of Columbia's health exchange and customer service lines from insurers dedicated to congressional staff." ...
... Jonathan Allen & Jennifer Haberkorn of Politico: "Veteran House Democratic aides are sick over the insurance prices they'll pay under Obamacare, and they're scrambling to find a cure.... Under the Affordable Care Act, and federal regulations, many congressional staffers -- designated as 'official' aides -- were forced to move out of the old heavily subsidized Federal Employees Health Benefits program and into the District of Columbia's health insurance marketplace exchange.... Age is one of the few factors insurers can use to adjust prices under Obamacare -- and older people will often pay much more than younger people." ...
... CW: Although it would be reasonable to assume that some of these older staffers are among the highest-paid aides, staffers' salaries are pretty low, and some staffers may have to maintain residences in both D.C. (where housing prices are high) & their home states.
From the "House Republican Playbook." Genuine facsimile. See also yesterday's Commentariat.... Humor Break for Football Fans. Jonathan Chait: "The diagram [above], meant to instill confidence in the House GOP's tactical acumen, actually implies that it is run by idiots.... A number of serious problems present themselves." Chait elaborates. Eric Cantor spokesman concedes.
Expand Social Security. Paul Krugman: "... we're looking at a looming retirement crisis, with tens of millions of Americans facing a sharp decline in living standards at the end of their working lives. For many, the only thing protecting them from abject penury will be Social Security.... So there's a strong case for expanding, not contracting, Social Security. Yes, this would ... require additional taxes -- a suggestion that will horrify the fiscal scolds, who have been insisting that if we raise taxes at all, the proceeds must go to deficit reduction, not to making our lives better. But the fiscal scolds have been wrong about everything, and it's time to start thinking outside their box."
Dylan Byers of Politico: "President Obama held an off-the-record meeting with MSNBC hosts and liberal pundits on Thursday.... The participants agreed to an off-the-record classification for the meeting, though sources familiar with President Obama's remarks said that [Juan] Williams later appeared on Fox News and cited some of the president's remarks, which he attributed to administration officials." CW News Flash: Juan Williams is not a liberal, even if he has written some pro-ACA opinion pieces recently. ...
... CW: Ron Fournier of the National Journal is a dick, but I think some of the points he makes about the White House's control of the President's image are well-taken. I don't have any problem with the White House limiting access to other members of the First Family, although when Mrs. Obama is out policking, she should be fair game. (Snaps of her walking the dog on the White House lawn, before breakfast, are paparazzi-tacky.)
Robert Dallek in the New York Times: "Compared with other recent presidents whose stumbles and failures have assaulted the national self-esteem, memories of Kennedy continue to give the country faith that its better days are ahead. That's been reason enough to discount his limitations and remain enamored of his presidential performance."
GOP Criminals* in the News
Robert Gehrke of the Salt Lake Tribune: "Proclaiming his innocence and taking shots at a House investigation, Utah Attorney General John Swallow [R] announced Thursday that he would resign as the state's top cop effective Dec. 3 at 12:01 a.m. Swallow said he made the decision to step down with his wife, Suzanne, this past weekend, believing they could not weather the financial and personal toll of multiple investigations, including one from the Utah House.... Swallow's departure allows him to avoid any effort by the lieutenant governor's special counsel to seek his removal for multiple violations of election laws. It also could bring to a close a months-long fact-finding investigation by the Utah House that could be laying the groundwork for his potential impeachment. The lieutenant governor is expected to issue a report -- originally expected for release Thursday, but now likely to be postponed -- that will find that Swallow failed to report numerous business interests and income on his candidate-financial-disclosure forms.... Criminal penalties remain a possibility. Two county prosecutors -- with help from the FBI -- are continuing to investigate Swallow, his Republican predecessor, Mark Shurtleff, and others." ...
... Eric Lach of TPM has more on the allegations against Swallow.
Fort Myers, Florida, News-Press: "WINK News (Fort Myers) is reporting that [Rep.] Trey Radel [RTP-Fla.] has arrived at Hazelden in Naples, an alcohol and drug addiction treatment center." Radel pleaded guilty in Washington, D.C., Wednesday to misdemeanor charges of cocaine possession. CW: Ah, but there's good news for Radel. He has government-sponsored health insurance, so he can afford excellent mental-health treatment! ...
* Alleged & admitted.
Local News
Exorcizo te, omnis spiritus immunde, in nomine Dei Patris omnipotentis, et in noimine Jesu Christi Filii ejus, Domini et Judicis nostri, et in virtute Spiritus Sancti, ut descedas ab hoc plasmate Dei, quod Dominus noster ad templum sanctum suum vocare dignatus est, ut fiat templum Dei vivi, et Spiritus Sanctus habitet in eo. Per eumdem Christum Dominum nostrum, qui venturus est judicare vivos et mortuos, et saeculum per ignem. -- Bishop Thomas Paprocki, "exorcising" whomever for "the sin of same-sex marriage" ...
... Lauren Leone-Cross of the Springfield, Illinois State Journal-Register: "The head of Springfield's Catholic Diocese presided in front of several hundred people Wednesday night at the city's largest Catholic church to perform what he described as an 'exorcism in reparation for the sin of same-sex marriage.' Bishop Thomas Paprocki's ritual at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception began about half an hour after Gov. Pat Quinn in Chicago signed the Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act into law, making Illinois the 16th state to legalize same-sex marriage." Paprocki said god made him do it. Via Driftglass.
News Lede
New York Times: "Secretary of State John Kerry planned to fly to Geneva on Friday to join the talks on imposing a temporary freeze on Iran's nuclear program, a sign that the negotiations are edging close to an agreement."
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Reader Comments (15)
Obama needs to get his judge vetters in gear and show the GOPulers what packing the courts really looks like. According to Campaign for America's Future, there are currently 93 federal-bench vacancies.
http://ourfuture.org/20131120/why-senate-gop-should-fold-on-filibustering-judges-in-one-chart
Diane was right. GOP pig fuckers are raising a hellacious stink over the fact that they can no longer screw everyone over with impunity.
Jowl-boy Mitchy is howling at the moon about a power grab, as if the idea that elected (some legally, some not) representatives from red states representing a dramatically small percentage of Americans, who have been kneecapping the rest of the country, has nothing to do with an ridiculously obscene imbalance of power. But at least McConnell is not mewling about how he's being bullied by the big kids, as crybabies Cruz and (even littler) Randy are doing.
The last few days we've been privy to how pathetically wussified Teabag Hee-Roes can be. Toughy-boy Teddy only does well when facing an adoring audience. He bristles at the slightest question that doesn't sanctify his every retarded utterance, and Aqua Buddha boy Randy considers old-style all-American political hard ball beyond the pale. "Wah-wah-wah, they're bullying me." Really? Change your diapers, you whiny piece of shit, you stink. Yet another result of the insulated echo chamber these pud-pulling charlatans inhabit, a bubble environment in which their most inane, insane blatherings are met with wild applause by drooling imbeciles. Christ on the fucking changing table, these babies make Mittens Romney look like goddam Bronko Nagurski.
Harry Reid inhabits the real world and I'm pleased to see him finally kick these creeps to the curb; 'bout time.
Weenie ass fuckers.
Democrats need to hit the ground running when the sun comes up. Leave these whiny babies in the dirt.
When I read this line in the comment above from Akhilleus, "...Toughy-boy Teddy only does well when facing an adoring audience." it reminded me of what I saw today when I took a few minutes to watch the live-streaming video from the Senate floor. I studied the view to see if I recognized the Senators. There was Levin. Warren. Cornyn. et al. Then the camera switched to another angle, I saw a group of three in the foreground that was shortly joined by a fourth male. Was it? Was it Cruz? Wasn't certain...the video not as sharp as I'd wish. Then the moment came when I knew it was Cruz fer sure! Damn! He knew where the camera was located...he glanced up at least twice (as if to check) and found his sweet spot to stand—not his back to the camera as the other were. Nope. Don't think he particularly needs an 'adoring' audience, any audience will do...it all about face time. Teddy 'Desmond' Cruz, always ready for his close-up.
But, Harry made me proud today!
Let's continue the good news day for Democrats--with all due sadness and respect for the 50th anniversary of JFK's assassination. Scott Walker has a new book just published, "Unintimidated," in which he explains why he actually never graduated from Marquette University in Milwaukee--though he was in attendance for four years! It was (awwww....) because of the impending birth of his first child. He was sooooo busy, etc. etc. that he never was able to pick up his degree. Methinks that something is rotten in Wis-con-sin? Perhaps Scotty-Boy has a disabling and permanent case of diaper rash! Read on:
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?shva=1#inbox/1427d7210813f182
"Teddy 'Desmond' Cruz" --- I laughed out loud when I read that!
Next, it was politics that got small, I suppose.
That football play definitely made me LOL a little bit yet it's a perfect demonstration of the denigration of the GOP strategic "playbook" that they have resorted to the last few decades. First of all, as Jonathan Chait points out, the number of players on the field is totally out of whack. The offense has an extra player on their side, limiting the defenses likelihood of preventing any progress and giving a huge advantage to the offense. For the GOP, we can call this extra player, the "12th man" as it's known in football lingo, "Jesus" the GOP's homeboy. Jesus works miracles you know. Just mention his name in whatever context and a shiny halo appears above your head. This play we all know too well (cue the highlights of Granny Starver citing biblical verses at the Family Values Bukkake). So not only is the game inherently biased toward the GOP, they know that whenever times get tough, they can always dial up their hidden weapon, Miss Hail Mary.
Here, however, Boehner drew up a different strategy (this has to be Boehner's work, only a drunken fool could come up with something this farcical). The good ol' misdirection. The bait and switch. The preferred strategy of every crooked, dishonest person on the planet.
Let's put all of our efforts into misdirection, throwing the entire political machine in one direction, while the true players are running for their lives with the ball in the other direction.
Contributor Ak has repeatedly called out the GOP for this weak political play call. Rather than forging ahead up the middle and facing their opponents head on, battling in the trenches of reasoned negotiations and arguments that has been a hallmark of politics since times passed, the GOP prefers to take the ball, skip the game and go home. The only dirty these fuckers are looking to get is dirty rich.
What's not entire clear here is who exactly is the defense? Does it represent the Democrats, their traditional rivals? Or is the American people? Those 99% lemmings that don't contribute to the campaign coffers yet still bitch and moan about wanting to be represented in government.
Given the obvious misdirection strategy, I don't think they're referring to the Democrats here because any educated politician could smell out their miscreant strategy as soon as the GOP stumble out of the closed door "strategy" sessions and start vomiting their talking points to any microphone they encounter. No, the defense here is the American public indeed. And even if we're outnumbered they still can't get around us. Many Americans, blindly following the masses, follow the misdirections unaware they've been had. But a strong group resists the urge, follows their teachings and knows to stay put and "contain" in case some trickery is coming their way. And whenever it does, they zero in on the culprit and pancake his ass to the grass, making sure they'll remember you next time they decide to pull something similar.
For this play, Reality Chexers 1 GOP 0
P.S. This ridiculous drawing brings back fond memories of swilly Boehner on teevee, his orange dome shining in the light as he grabs onto the podium to keep from swaying...
"This isn't some DAMN game!"
Patrick, you're right on regarding MAG's quip about Teddy "Desmond" Cruz. Very funny. And to carry the analogy even further, it's doesn't require even the tiniest of baby steps to align the GOP with Norma's mansion, an insulated bubble walled off from the real world, a fantasy world she'd kill to maintain.
They're already there.
Oh, and Safari, "Family Values Bukkake"? Wow. I don't even want to picture that one, but it's pretty funny nonetheless.
@Safari & Akhilleus. Uh, thanks for teaching me a new word. As an interjection, I'd say "bukkake" beat "fuck" by a long shot (no pun intended). Try it; you'll see what I mean. Nonetheless, I don't think I'll use it. But "family values bukkake"?: yeah, that's a fine phrase.
Marie
I think think the fainting couch is going to get crowded. Move over 'cause I bet Tuck Chodd and Maureen Dowd are on their way.
Regarding the three apostates from yesterday's senate vote to pull the plug on traitors (I'd say three stooges, but there's probably only one real stooge), I get why Mark Pryor voted no, he's coming up for re-election with a wingnut opponent pouring hot tea down his back, and like far too many pols, Pryor will chloroform his conscience and do the wrong thing if it means votes.
Joe Manchin I don't worry about. He's just a scumbag. He votes for Republican terrorism, against Janet Yellin, he goes on Bill O'Reilly's monkey show to shiv the ACA, he supports the Keystone Pipeline of Death. Why is he even a Democrat?
The one I don't get is Carl Levin. He's usually a pretty reasonable and responsible guy. Hey, he voted against war criminal Bush's War of Choice, didn't he? I read his rationale. Senate rules need to be upheld and blah, blah, blah, tradition, history, yadda, yadda, yadda. Okay Carl, maybe that was a good reason five or ten years ago, but that was before wholesale GOP transmogrification into sub-human teabag avatars.
So what's the real reason?
Just wond'rin'...
@CW
No problem. It's kinda like Santorem, once you make the connection, it sticks.
Well, well, well. Christmas comes early in Wingnut World this year.
And what do all those droolers, fakers, frauds, delusional whack jobs and liars find under their tree decorated with red, white, and blue ribbons, festooned with bandoliers and pictures of Jesus picking off liberals with a semi-automatic rifle?
Why look, boys and girls, it’s an Official JFK-Conservative Hero action figure. He comes with a Rambo knife for slashing taxes, like he always loved to do, an autographed Bull Connor fire hose, a Teabag Live Free or Die flag to fly from the back of scale model Dallas motorcade Lincoln convertible (not included), and reproductions, suitable for framing, of his NRA lifetime membership card, because those Kennedys, oh man, they loved them some guns.
Yesirree Bob. And all you soft on Commie haters of ‘merica who thought he was a librul Demycrap, can go spit up a tree. Or something.
The powers that pee over in Right Wing World have decided that Jack Kennedy is too iconic a figure for Democrats and liberals to claim, and in keeping with their policy of rewriting history to suit their needs of the moment, have remade Jack Kennedy into a far-right conservative. And worse.
According to drug addled, infected anal cyst Rushbo Limbaugh, Kennedy was a conservative after his own pancreas because he detested Civil Rights. I guess that speech he gave importuning congress to pass the Civil Rights Act was given by a stunt double and those troops he sent to Alabama to support desegregation were little plastic army guys. He wasn’t MLK but he sure wasn’t George Wallace either.
Over at Fairly Unblanced, Butt boy Chris Wallace tried to get Kathleen Kennedy Townsend to admit that JFK was a tax cutter of the first order (it would only have been too perfect if he had compared him, on that score, to Reagan). She reminded him of actual, as opposed to retro rigged, history, stating that Kennedy’s 70% tax rate would give contemporary conservatives conniptions.
Tea guzzling Jeff Jacoby, resident right-wing wildman at the Boston Globe sniffs that Kennedy could not be considered a liberal in any way. Let’s see what the man himself had to say when he accepted the nomination of the New York Liberal (get it Jeff? LIBERAL) Party in 1960: “…I’m proud to say that I’m a liberal.” Duh. Wrong again.
Some Breitbart pinhead (are there any other kind?) declares that JFK was a die-hard (in the most literal way) conservative because he was a lifelong NRA member. This statement, of course, like all conservative historicist gibberish ignores the fact that the NRA in the fifties and early sixties was a far cry from the present blood thirsty incarnation which would have awarded medals to Oswald and those two other guys on the grassy knoll for their expert marksmanship. Schmuck.
But my favorite? Guess who? That’s right….Glenn Beck. Glenn, The Deranged Doucheboy, Beck, who claims that not only was Kennedy a conservative, but that if he were around today, he’d be a wild-eyed radical leader of the teabaggers. Really, Glenn? You really do need to keep up with your medication.
Well, there’s more if you can stand it at Mediamatters:
Nyah, nyah, Kennedy was a dickhead, just like us!
These guys are beauts.
Okay, now that we're finally on the right track, get Goodwin Lui on the Federal bench. He's very young and has lots of years ahead. Not to mention he's a real legal scholar not an idiot (not of the savant variety either) like Alito.
Don't know what happened, there. This is the correct URL:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USG_gjaEYak&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DUSG_gjaEYak&app=desktop