Check The Diagonal

Brown is not really important.

My head is full from the pundits and experts and palm readers on the MSM and the blogosphere selling the American people conflict.  Our MSM is the greatest reality TV show.  People need to go back to thinking about Haiti because this story doesn’t really have legs. Brown does not have to be important and here’s why:

· It is easy for a candidate to pull a Sarah Palin by pretending to be something he is not, say he drives a truck and co-op Obama’s message of change to get elected by a wave of populist anger when the person he is campaigning against forgets to campaign and takes a Caribbean vacation with the fam. He basically ran uncontested. But now he has to show up for work and vote and his record says he is to the left of the other New England Republicans.

· The Democrats didn’t have a supermajority when Obama was elected and frankly it has been used as a curtain for Republicans to hide their obstructionism behind or obstructionist behinds or both. Message to Democrats: Call them on their bullshit. The average American doesn’t even know what a filibuster is and has never seen one. Make Republicans filibuster everything live on CNN; climate change, Wall Street reform, healthcare. Create more shit for them to stand up and filibuster. The key is not to run away but to run ahead faster. Force them to reconcile the misleading untruths of their populist messages with the truth of governing.

· For the record Obama’s agenda polls at a 60% approval rating in Massachusetts. This was a referendum on Coakley, and frankly she earned every bit of the ass-kicking she got last night. Chokeley should stick, it fits.

We all know the Republicans are unfit to lead America but now we are going to find out if Democrats have the balls to.

The GOP Heroes

The page is here.  It is as stark a reminder of the craven depravity and racism inherit in the Republican Party establishment as we are going to get.  It started with the election of an unqualified, unprepared Michael Steele as RNC Chair as Black token and culminates in a GOP page for Republican Heroes that is dominated with Black and Latino faces, including Jackie Robinson who was not a Republican. 

It is obvious they are stretching to prove a point.  But, its the wrong one.  It is the same ol"some of my best friends are Black people" point.  It is a racist defense made by a racist entity trying to hide the fact that the majority of their party members think Obama is either the Anti-Christ or born in Kenya in order to pander for minority votes.  What the RNC cannot seem to fathom is that Barack Obama did not win the 2008 Presidential Election BECAUSE he is Black.  He won it DESPITE the fact that he is Black.

Thoughts on Republicans not for America

There was this thought from Steve Benen yesterday:

The president was just honored with one of the world's most prestigious accolades, and the GOP has an interest in undermining any potential benefits the White House might receive as a result. But coming on the heels of last week's delight over the U.S. losing the Olympics, Republicans have set themselves up as the party that roots against the country, and this morning, echoes the rhetoric of the Taliban.

I am just not sure Republicans are thinking this through.  The reflex predictability in their response to anything Obama related is comical at best, tragic at worst because American Democracy depends on TWO functioning parties.  They are working overtime to align themselves AGAINST American Hope and Pride, two sentiments that are deeply critical to American culture and success.

For a test I posted thisjoke list of Republican talking points to the Obama Nobel win to a Rush/Beck/FOX Republican family member of mine and instead of getting the joke, they cheer-leaded the list.  They missed the point entirely which is that Republicans no longer need to speak.  We all know what they are going to say related to Obama before they say it.  They have no stake in the game outside of spoiler.

As an American citizen I feel like a spectator or some sap waiting to become collateral damage to the Republican Party in their war against Barack Obama.  The entire job is supposed to be about the American People, not Republican disdain for not being in power or being led by a black man.  For an example of how much Republicans do not get that,read RNC Chair Michael Steele's response to the Nobel Win here.

Question, is Obama's greatest talent the ability to make his opponents all look like grade-school age, spittle flying out of the mouth, mental midgets?  I am starting to think so.

Shep Smith is the man

I still don't understand how he keeps his job on Fox but Shep Smith continues to keep it real..

Barrasso looks like a deer in headlights.  Smith knows the issue better than he does and refuses him the layup of regurgitated Republican talking points....love it!  Worth watching.

"It's not a government take over Senator. That's not fair and we both know it. It's not a government takeover because what it would be is a government option if you have insurance now and you like it you can keep it. If you want the government option, a government run, paid for by those who buy it, government run option to try to keep costs down."

 

More blasting of the Right, from the Right

Worth reading here.  If the Republican Party was anything like David Frum I imagine much could get accomplished in Washington in a bipartisan way....unfortunately, they aren't, they're like Glenn Beck.

The ultimate happy ending of the story should not however close the page on this appalling episode of broadcast recklessness and political cowardice. We conservatives are submitting our movement to some of the most unscrupulous people in American life. This submission disgraces conservatism, discredits Republicans, and damages the country. It’s beyond time for conservatives who know better to join us at NewMajority in emancipating ourselves from leadership by the most stupid, the most cynical, and the most truthless.

Hehe..good luck with that David.

The Republicans saving healthcare

Key up the overwhelming fear graphic and scary Star Wars music.

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The House GOP Solutions Group offers the Republican proposal. 

Well it's not exactly a proposal or a plan but "a broad outline" of what the plan might look like if Republicans were allowed the time to formulate a plan. 

Hrm, actually, its a well designed attack on the Democrats with the express purpose of slowing down actual reform.  The Republican proposal is of course, untenable, and pushes the actual cost of health insurance back onto the American people.  Under the Republican plan Americans without insurance (16% of Adult Americans) will be free to buy their own health insurance and for Americans who already have employer based health insurance, the Republicans want to call that income, and tax it.  For either senario Republicans offer $5700 per year towards the cause, while admitting health care costs more than double that.  

The real question is, are Republicans negotiating on health care reform in good faith or is this politics as usual at the expense of the American people?

Anyone else notice?

Looks like Colin Powell is considering a 2012 run for President. In the past two weeks he has been on every major talk show. He has criticized Obama for taking on too much while reminding everyone he endorsed him, Bush for Iraq and the economy and the right wing talk show pundits for being too over the top. I think he is a great and very accomplished man. I had hoped his Obama endorsement would translate into some kind of role in the administration but sadly, no.

The Party of "Family Values"

My first reaction to both the Ensign and Sanford scandals was to laugh. Watching the post-Bush Republican Party is honestly more entertaining then a Real World Episode after MTV buys the drinks. They are the petulant, rich kid, frat boys who think of only themselves regardless of the consequence to others. In both cases, they only came clean because they had to. Ensign couldn't afford the blackmail and Sanford is an idiot. After the fact though, I feel bad. I especially feel bad for the wives and kids. Sanford has 4 boys who didn't see or hear from him on Father's day. I've been there and it sucks. But, what made me laugh still remains. These guys are all arrogance and no game. Mucho espuma, poco chocolate. Tu sabes? TNC gets it perfectly here:

The religious right isn't what's wrong with the GOP. It's the pervasive, unthinking, unreflective nationalism. It's the arrogance of thrice-divorced adulterers reaching for the banner of traditional families, and it's the arrogance of men who prosecuted a poorly planned war, on weak intelligence, presuming to lecture us on national security.

What concerns me most about the obvious lack of moral turpitude and more obvious hypocrisy in the Republican Party is that our children are learning these values from them. These are the "successful people". And so, our children see clearly that it is OK unless they get caught. My kids are smart enough to do the math. The game is called, don't get caught! Right?

Joe Klein Does the Right Thing

And so I finally forgive Joe Klein for his New Yorker review of Do The Right Thing. The whole post on Swampland is here:

To put it as simply as possible, McCain--and his cohorts--are trying to score political points against the President in the midst of an international crisis. It is the sort of behavior that Republicans routinely call "unpatriotic" when Democrats are doing it. I would never question John McCain's patriotism, no matter how misguided his sense of the country's best interests sometimes seems. His behavior has nothing to do with love of country; it has everything to do with love of self.

Anyone else out there find it interesting that the same crew of neocons that are attacking the President today for not being supportive enough of Iranians were the same bunch that wanted to bomb them 6 months ago?

How things have changed.

I am a Republican, a black, dyed in the wool Republican, and I never intend to belong to any other party than the party of freedom and progress. -Frederick Douglas

The deadly politics of sounding rational

Obama is continuing to transform the politics of a generation with the same consistent and inclusive message that won him the election. The more he reaches out, refuses to be baited into harshly criticizing the opposition, the more he calls for the importance of common ground and compromise the more power he builds behind his message, his platform and his agenda. Conversely, the Republican party has yet to realize that the more they rage, roadblock and disagree for disagreement's sake the more attractive, rational and inviting President Obama looks. Brilliantly he has them trapped. Further irrational disagreement will only continue to alienate moderates and independents. The only way out of the spiral Republicans have created for themselves is to join with Obama on at least some key issues and in doing so will hand Obama his greatest political victory to date. The Notre Dame speech yesterday is a brilliant example of words as a weapon. Transcript: Obama's Notre Dame speech

Unfortunately, finding that common ground -- recognizing that our fates are tied up, as Dr. King said, in a "single garment of destiny" -- is not easy. And part of the problem, of course, lies in the imperfections of man -- our selfishness, our pride, our stubbornness, our acquisitiveness, our insecurities, our egos; all the cruelties large and small that those of us in the Christian tradition understand to be rooted in original sin.

He just defined the moral failings of his opposition.

McCain and the Rs get some help from Mommy.

Roberta McCain is a real piece of work. In a minute she supports Steele and slams Rush. I wonder if Rush will go after her now too. Will John McCain be forced to apologize? Its As The World Turns in the incredibly shrinking Republican Party folks. Check the video here

UPDATE: Rush, in predictable fashion, throws the old lady under a bus. The pure arrogance without acomplishment is mind-numbing. Can you imagine what Obama would have done to any other Republican candidate in 08', Rush's ideal Republican candidate? Murder.

"She's right, she's absolutely right. The Republican Party she belongs to gets shellacked election after election after election."

My daughter is a Latina.

Let me first say that I have no idea if Sonia Sotomayor is qualified or appropriate for the SCOTUS. But, I rage against the fact that as soon as the Right viewed her as the front runner for the nomination they immediately and in a coordinated fashion ala Rovian politics, attacked her strictly for being female (irrational and moody) and Hispanic (hot blooded, lacks self-control etc). There is more, but oh wait, this blog post isn't about race or sex, its actually about merit and temperament by former Sotomayor clerk Professor Rob Kar, Professor of Law and Philosophy at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign.

She knows how to pull out the best in people with whom she works, how to motivate people through her words and conduct, and how to forge deep and abiding relationships with people from all walks of life, and from all political stripes and ideologies. She is courageous and fearless, but non-ideological, and wholly unimpressed by the kind of pomp and false theoretical excess that can sometimes make one look smarter in the short term but only at the expense of distorting the underlying issues. One measure of the extraordinary judgment she has is reflected in her incredible life story: she moved unerringly, and without any hint of doubt or hesitation, from the Bronxdale Public Housing Projects to graduating summa cum laude from Princeton, where she received the Pynes Prize (for their top graduate), and then to Yale Law School, the DA’s office, and the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. The force of character that it takes to live such a life should never be underestimated: we have no other person on the bench with her experience and intellect who has come from these beginnings and who has developed with such clarity of purpose and vision.

The comparisons to Obama's campaign are interesting but only so much as it shows the repetitive and unimaginative way the Right attacks minorities they view as threats. Racism is a core tenent of the Republican party and they are proud to use it.

Racism- One of the core tenants of the Grand Ol' Party.

By allowing Jeff Sessions to lead the Right's scrutiny of the next justice the GOP is further cementing their party as a Southern regional party whose core tenents include overt support for racism. TPM has it here