;)
The Commentariat -- Nov. 29, 2012
I had a request to tackle Friedman or MoDo yesterday, but their columns were so stupid that I decided to hit one that was more important -- a front-page piece by Jackie Calmes who treats Erskine Bowles & Alan Simpson as a couple of good-hearted, fun-loving old pranksters. ...
... Charles Pierce goes at Simpson & Bowles directly & mentions the Calmes piece only in passing. As ever, Pierce gets it right: "Everything that's wrong with how we are currently discussing the country's economic situation can be summed up in two words — Simpson-Bowles."
It was deeply irresponsible in the summer of 2011, and it would be deeply irresponsible if we were to see that kind of approach taken again.... The president absolutely expects congress to do its job. One of the jobs that Congress has it to make sure that the United States government pays its bill. As the greatest economy and greatest country on earth, we pay our bills.... The harm done was done mostly to the American middle class – we had our economy downgraded, we had consumer confidence plunge, all because of this brinksmanship that is entirely inappropriate. We hope we won't see that again. – Jay Carney, at today's press briefing, in response to Speaker John Boehner's remark that any agreement from Republicans to raise the debt limit would come with “a price tag attached”
** Romney, Middle-Class President! CW: I keep forgetting to run this. Stuart Stevens, Romney's chief campaign strategist, wrote an op-ed in yesterday's Washington Post boasting about the great job he did: "On Nov. 6, Romney carried the majority of every economic group except those with less than $50,000 a year in household income. That means he carried the majority of middle-class voters. While John McCain lost white voters younger than 30 by 10 points, Romney won those voters by seven points, a 17-point shift. Obama received 4½million fewer voters in 2012 than 2008, and Romney got more votes than McCain." That's right, folks. If it weren't for you 47 percenter-moochers, the world would be right (in both senses of the word) & Mitt Romney would not just be visiting the White House today; he & Lady Ann would be measuring the drapes. ...
... Oh for effs sake. I just read the Stu Stevens piece and my BRAIN IS BURNING WITH FIRE. -- Rick Wilson, GOP strategist ...
... Kevin Robillard & Katie Glueck of Politico: "Stuart Stevens re-emergence this week after Mitt Romney’s trouncing on Nov. 6 has served to rekindle the longstanding gripes about the Republican strategist from many in the GOP who feared from the get-go that he was the wrong person for the job of electing a new president."
In anticipation of President Obama's Lunch Date with a Loser today, Edward-Isaac Dovere of Politico writes about past presidents' interactions with their rivals for the job. ...
... Update. David Nakamura of the Washington Post: "Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney met with President Obama at the White House on Thursday for what aides had previously described as a private, one-on-one lunch in the president’s private dining room." CW: President Obama had his usual lunch of salad and yoghurt. The White House chef prepared a main course of crow for the Loser, with a huge slice of humble pie for dessert. The President personally wrapped the leftovers to be enjoyed by the Loser's large family of Little Losers.
... Loser Dad Forced to Move in with Son. Steve Peoples of the AP: "Former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is moving into office space at his son’s Boston-area venture capital firm."
President Obama made remarks Wednesday before a full Cabinet meeting:
Finally, somebody speaks actual truth to power. Matt Yglesias of Salon: "The grand bargain is impossible because it’s not possible for today’s Congress to bind the hands of future congresses." Now everybody STFU.
CW: BTW, pundits will be spending the next month predicting who will do what in the tax talks. I predict I will mostly ignore all but the most significant or most ridiculous stuff.
2011 Is So Over. Steve Kornacki: "Barack Obama made a giant mistake with the debt ceiling two years ago -- but he's clearly learned from it." This time he won't allow the GOP to decouple the debt ceiling deal from the rest of the tax package. CW: what's weird is that it was obvious way before the summer of 2011 that Republicans would block everything Obama wanted to do because -- Republicans had blocked everything Obama wanted to do. Why did it take the debt ceiling crisis to convince him? ...
... A $19 Billion Tea Party Extravaganza -- on Your Tab. Bonnie Kavoussi of the Huff Post: "Last summer's seemingly interminable debt-ceiling battle is going to cost taxpayers billions, according to a new report. All told, the political fiasco will cost taxpayers $18.9 billion over 10 years, the Bipartisan Policy Center has found. That's largely the result of the government having to borrow at higher interest rates during the standoff, a time when investors feared the possibility of a default." Thanks to Jeanne B. for the link.
The President has said many times that the American people are demanding action. They want to see progress, not partisan delay games. That hasn't changed, and the President supports Majority Leader Reid's efforts to reform the filibuster process. Over the past few years important pieces of legislation like the DREAM Act, the Paycheck Fairness Act, and the American Jobs Act weren't even allowed to be debated, and judicial nominations and key members of the administration are routinely forced to wait months for an up-or-down vote. The American people deserve a United States Senate that puts them first, instead of partisan delay. -- Dan Pfeiffer, White House Communications Director ...
... Gail Collins muses on Republican outrage at Harry Reid's planned tweaks to the filibuster.
Jared Bernstein on Medicare cuts: "... now’s the time to watch and evaluate, not to reduce access to what is a highly efficient, effective form of health coverage for the nation’s seniors." He explains why. ...
... Jonathan Cohn of The New Republic concurs: "The advocates for deep entitlement reductions don’t seem to realize that the people on Medicare and Medicaid need the protection those programs provide — and that, without those programs, they’d suffer. Given the very significant chance we can reduce health care spending without reducing benefits, we have an obligation to try. It’s the compassionate thing to do. And the smart thing, too."
Charles Pierce finds something about Susan Rice actually worth some inquiry -- she owns between $300K & $600K of TransCanada & other Canadian oil company stock invested in the Keystone XL pipeline project. As Secretary of State, Rice would determine whether or not to approve the pipeline permit. As Pierce writes, "as something to consider in advance of her nomination, this certainly seems more worthy of inquiry than whatever bats are flying out of McCain's ears these days." ...
... NEW. Scott Shane writes a very good piece in the New York Times on the nonsense over the talking points intelligence agencies gave Susan Rice, a political brouhaha that may also take in CIA Acting Director Michael Morrell, who approved an erroneous phrase in the talking points.
Too Big to Remember. Matt Taibbi of Rolling Stone reads a deposition of former Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan: "... the just-released Moynihan deposition in MBIA v. Bank of America, Countrywide, and a Buttload of Other Shameless Mortgage Fraudsters will go down as one of the great Nixonian-stonewalling efforts ever, and one of the more entertaining reads of the year.... The entire time, the Bank of America CEO presents himself as a Being There-esque cipher who was placed in charge of a Too-Big-To-Fail global banking giant by some kind of historical accident beyond his control, and appears to know little to nothing at all about the business he is running."
Right Wing World
The really nice thing about Right Wing World is that you don't have to wonder what the guy on the other end of the phone looks like. You pretty much know. Because, yes indeed, in Right Wing World, everybody looks alike. Here's Rachel Maddow's Clip 'n Save:
James Hohmann of Politico: speaking of diversity & reaching out to Latinos, blacks & women, Virginia Republicans are settling on State Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli as their nominee for governor, the winger who "spearheaded a lawsuit against Obamacare," has been nutso on immigration, is rabid on environmental regulation and is, as Charles Pierce writes, "a lifelong transvaginalist." ...
... Oh, Carry Me Back to Old Virginny. CW: Cuccinelli should be popular with black voters, too. When he realized the Virginia state seal depicted the goddess Virtus with a bare breast (oh, no!), Cuccinelli drew up his very own personal seal based on the center of the Confederate flag. Okay. Virginian Julian Walker asked in The Richmonder, "Does the current Republican Party of Virginia do anything without first asking 'What would Jefferson Davis do?'"
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Reader Comments (17)
@Raul. A comment Raul made to yesterday's Commentariat caused me to think about who had been the worst president(s) in my lifetime. It's a toss-up between Reagan & Bush II, tho I supposed I'd have to give the edge to Dubya as he ruined EVERYTHING. Nixon -- not even close. Bush I did a few horrible things: the stupid "war" in Panama and Clarence Thomas. But basically he & Jerry Ford were a couple of shmucks who didn't make things too much worse.
Marie
Re: Thanks Marie; I wish all the folks that read Calmes article would also read yours. The NYT would be a better newspaper if you were also represented.
@JJG Just wondering what it would it take for the NYT to hire Marie to be their official ombudsman/contrarian/keep the fuckers honest twice weekly columnist. Probably something more than an act of God.
@Marie, personally I'd go with Reagan, because the media continues to misrepresent him as decent, competent, clever, wise, charismatic, good for the country, and a host of other things he was not. Even the Rachel types feel they have to tiptoe around his fantasy rep. By contrast, Bush, Jr. has been called out for his ineptitude as a public speaker, his dishonesty as a leader, his bad grammar, etc. Plus, he seems like a likable sort away from office. I doubt that was the case with RR.
Besides, he did get "a education bill" on the table/desk/wherever. A bad one, but still.
I don't have a lot of fond memories of my biological Dad, but he did figure out that Reagan, whom he voted for, was a dummy. "I don't think the man is very smart," he confided in me. I wanted to say, "No shit, Dad," but he took everything too personally. I might, too, if I did things like voting for Reagan.
First off, I want you all to remember that Kenny Cuccinelli, the crazoid VA attorney general and probably next guvner, lived down the street from me and my family in McLean, VA back when. I carted him (and my boys) back and forth to soccer practice, because his mother was always at home taking care of young babies and could not take her turn to drive. Can't remember how many she and hubby had, but quite a few. I and other women who worked full time, did all the carpooling while Mrs. Cuccinelli was breeding.
Young Kenny was a weird kid, and the other boys teased him unmercifully. He always crossed himself before going out on the soccer field--even in practices. He refused to call me "Ms. Madison" and insisted on calling me "Mrs. Stein," my husband's name, which I did not take. Like I said--weird kid.
I am not surprised that he has grown up to be a rabid nutcase who appears to want to punish women. I am sure his mother never had the time of day for him--what with all those little babies and all! Jeezus forbid that this bozo should become Guvner of VA. And I am sure his political ambitions do not stop there. Maybe I should make a YouTube of taking Little Kenny to Soccer Practice, c.1977. I am sure TMZ would jump at it!
Did I miss it? Turned my head, blinked my eyes and suddenly, there's a 'sorta kinda" pronouncement that sez: "Repubs seem to have finally scored one victory..."
I.e,; Yesterday, ANDREW ROSENTHAL of the Times blogged:
The Fight Over Susan Rice : "Republicans seem to have finally scored one victory this fall – taking Susan Rice out of the running for secretary of state. ...
...Senator Susan Collins of Maine, one of the only supposed Republican moderates left in Washington, essentially killed Ms. Rice’s prospects of becoming Secretary of State today. Ms. Collins said that Ms. Rice had played to presidential politics in her description of the Benghazi assault,"
Kevin Drum on Mother Jones, http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2012/11/et-tu-susan:
"Et tu, Susan? It's deeply depressing that even Susan Collins is endorsing this idiocy, and doing it with such transparent BS. I mean, her complaint is that Rice's mere appearance on the Sunday talk shows was somehow inappropriate? Seriously? She couldn't be bothered to invent anything more plausible than that?"
I searched other sources to see what's going on—is the consensus that it truly over for Susan Rice? Is Susan Collins THAT critical to a vote? Over? Not spotting other victory dance headlines, still alot of partisan yakking.
But...as C. Pierce wrote, her Canadian oil stock ownership is a concern. Memo to Rice: put out a Sell order!
@Kate Madison - looks like Little Kenny C. fits the R. Maddow
demographic perfectly! Also, I checked a bit of his bio...following mommie's footsteps, Mrs. Kenny C. is apparently breeding well, too!
@MAG. Yeah,
RiceCollins is auditioning for Joe Lieberman/Kelly Ayotte's spot in the Three Stooges serial. Yesterday she was all "troubled" by Rice's answers because, um, Benghazi reminded her of the bombings of two embassies in Africa when Rice was Undersecretary of State for Africa. Also, Rice failed to capture Osama bin Ladin & didn't topple Ghaddafi -- oh, wait, not Ghaddafi -- he enjoyed a period of being a great pal of the Three Stooges, & they don't want us to remember that.Also, Collins says John Kerry would make a great Secretary of State because (next two words unspoken) Scott Brown.
This would all be laughable if Americans didn't consider Collins "the reasonable one." My husband said yesterday, "She's an intelligent Republican." "Yeah," I said, "so is Scott Brown. You just have to add up their I.Q.s & it comes out 'Fucking Genius.'"
Marie
Updated.
@Kate Madison. There is nothing I am looking forward to seeing more than "Little Kenny Cuccinelli -- the Movie." Please send tickets to premiere.
Marie
After being bludgeoned in a national election and losing seats in both houses, Republicans still think it's business as usual on the national stage: "Just do what we tell you and everything will be fine."
They act as if they are the ones with the mandate. "Okay, we'll let you raise a few bucks in revenue by closing a few loopholes that don't really matter to us, but for that, you have to reduce "entitlements" by making seniors wait until they're dead to collect Social Security and Medicare." I mean, they might as well say that. If two years seemed like a long time when you were 6 years old, it's almost as long when you're 65 and needing to retire. Me, I don't expect to be able to retire until well into my 70s--if I'm still around. But then again, I'm not one of those fat cat Republican politicians whose retirements are all taken care of courtesy of you and me.
Not to mention the fact that won't increasing the waiting time for seniors to get into Medicare extend the time they're covered under the ACA? And won't that have some effect on the pool of Americans covered there?
Once again, it's a Republican shell game. Steal from this side to pay for that side, declare victory and leave the field in the same bombed out condition you found it.
'Cause that's how it's done in Right Wing World.
I hope the president is not still thinking he can play nice with these crooks and give them everything they want. He's in the catbird seat right now, as Red Barber used to say. Time to take out his Louisville Slugger and do his best Al Capone imitation on Mitch McConnell and Co.
Desperately Looking for the Right Susan!
@CW "Yeah, Rice is auditioning for Joe Lieberman/Kelly Ayotte's spot in the Three Stooges serial." You meant Collins (Susan) not Rice (Susan) here?
@MAG. Yeah. See update.
Marie
Let's see. Right about now (12:38 EST), the Rat is flicking his little rodent tongue across the White House silverware and dirtying up the table linen. Wonder what's on the menu? Crow, maybe? Some humble pie for desert? Nah. The Rat would rather choke. Just the idea that he has to sit at the same table as a nee-groe from the underclass must be galling to Lord Small Balls. Wonder how long before he makes another "gaffe" and says something like "Hey boy, hand me the salt."
The Republico link provided by Marie refers to other past get togethers between the winners and losers. For the life of me, I can't imagine these are useful. Even symbolically they barely register. Can you see this sort of thing happening in other venues? Martin Luther King sitting down for a nice little chit chat over chicken sandwiches with Bull Connor? Bush was nice enough to mention how decent Kerry was after he had stolen his second election in a row, but characteristically, there was very little interaction between Reagan and Mondale. I think Raul earlier mentioned the essential fraudulent nature of Reagan's public persona. The guy was a dickhead. Of course he came across great in public. He was a FUCKING ACTOR. Not a very good one, but still...
Walter Mondale mentions that it would be nice if Romney demonstrated some respect for the office of the president and for the man himself. But why start now? He's spent the last two years dissing both. He has no respect for the office (see: Benghazi situation, opportunism before patriotism), and his respect for the president runs deep into imaginary numbers, about a -50 on a scale of 1 to 10. He's pandered to the racists, the birthers, the liars, the teabaggers, the haters and pretty much every other far right screw-loose group in his attempt to cast the president in most viciously partisan light.
So much for comity. Besides, the Rat only cares for number one.
Anyway I noticed that there was a mention made of a possible job for Romney going forward (since he's reduced to scarfing a desk at the office of Asshole Son Number One T-a-g-g--christ! that name). Well, since he supposedly did a good job cleaning up the mess at the Salt Lake Olympics and since his family gets a nice tax break off Lady Ann's horse, it's too bad the White House doesn't still have stables.
He'd look great with a shovel and hip boots.
Get crackin' you fuckin' rat. See all that horse shit? That's nothing compared to what you've been spreading across the land for the last 7 years. Now clean it up!
Finally, I wonder if the Rat will insist that he gets in line for food before the president.
The habits of old assholes die hard.
May he rest in total and well deserved obscurity after this last burst of publicity.
Don't let your little rat tail get caught on the door on the way out. Fucking prick.
@Akhellius-
In honor of you and your excellent name for Mitt Rawmoney, I have named the nasty, selfish seagull who perches daily on our back deck, "Lord Small Balls." I made the mistake (in a weak moment right after the election) of feeding him some 9-grain bread, and he now spends all day every day squawking for food (i.e., money). He also charges over and loudly taps his beak on the windows. If I am upstairs in my study, he sits on the roof, screams loudly and "beaks" that window. I intuitively feel he is accusing me of being one of that useless, lazy 47%. My husband has forbid me to feed him again, so I am thinking of strapping him to the roof of my little RAV4 and driving him to La Jolla.
P.S. I forgot to mention that he leaves presents on the deck railing every day--little piles of shit. And nails any other gull who dares to invade "his" territory. A real asswipe!
@Kate Madison. Seems to me your greedy gull Lord SB is acting just like his namesake, the man we grew to know and loathe during the campaign. Perfectly appropriate. Why not tell him to go visit his bread in the Caymens?
Marie
@Kate Madison re: Akhellius- your transposing of the i and the e makes for an interesting apt kind of renaming!
Akhellius sounds more pissed than the classy Akhilleus!
Ah, yes, AkHELLius! mad as hell....
Did you do that on purpose?
I don't know. I can't help but think Lord SB was invited to lunch just so Obama could mess with him. I hope Obama walked him by the Oval office and asked if he'd like to sit behind the desk for 15 seconds as a special treat.
I feel like a mad woman stuck in a small box today, banging around from side to side. Between the putrid smell coming from Republicans that is being madly fanned at us thru the TV into our very own living rooms and Tim "I never met a big corrupt bank or CEO I didn't love" Geithner negotiating a deal for us I got a mother humpin' mean case of teeth grinding. I have always been suspicious of Geithner anyway based on that Dorian Grey thing he's got going on. I am so frustrated at how the media presents McCain's angry dementia, Susan Collin's jones to bang Scott Brown and Kelly Ayotte's pathological need for attention as reasonable talk. Ayotte strikes me as medicated, although obviously not well enough, based on her complete lack of affect. Boehner is a pathetic drunk who turns which ever way someone is pulling on his dick at the moment and/ or there is a martini. And will SOMEONE ask why Ambassador Stevens went to Benghazi on 9/11????? Sincerely sorry the guy lost his life but shit, what was so damn important that it couldn't wait a day or two????
Kate. I have to ask (see my mean attack of teeth grinding) Do you ever imagine the things you could have done to the young Cuccinelli if you had realized how he would turn out? I see him with one of those famous Virginia transvaginal probes sticking out of his forehead kneeling in the middle of the team picture.
Take heart all you nail spitting guys and gals and rejoice in the knowledge that despite Republican long held truisms we have persevered. Thanks to Elizabeth Drew for a few of them:
"There had only been one Democratic president to serve two whole terms since FDR; no Democrat could be elected unless he was from the South; nor, said the wise commentators, could anyone get reelected with unemployment around 8 percent––the nation's first black president was elected to a second term. The implications of this are enormous. Consider the difference in the mood of more than half the country as well as the "lessons" that would have been drawn had he been defeated after a single term. His 2008 election would have been written off as the fluke that the Republicans and their pollsters had lulled themselves into thinking it was. He escaped the fate of Carter on the list of well-meaning but failed one-term presidents." And I would add, the big achievement, the AFCA would have been repealed.
As it is today we had the lunch––the eating of crow––nicely grilled, but a tad bitter and that humble pie for dessert, tart and slightly pungent on the tongue. It kind of settles the question of winners and losers, doesn't it?