and another thing . . .

Rick Santorum as political pundit? Ah, jeez.

arf arf

LOL Hitlers’ a pinko in Santorums book. As a Pennsylvanian, his being an ex-senator is the highlight of my voting career.

Amen to that.

RS: Well, number one, John McCain will not get the base of the Republican Party.

I find it hard to disagree with Rick Santorum on this. I mean, who better embodies how base the Republican party can be than Rick?

/snark

That has got to be the weirdest picture in the annals of American politics.

Oh gawd, my sides hurt. you posted that funny picture again.

“Gee, George, who irons your shirts? They smell great.”

I guess Rick was unable to grasp that his rigid Right Wing idealogical positions are what caused him to lose his senate seat and his party to lose control of Congress. But that should never stand in the way of the GOP. LMAO. Are these folks for real????

Watching the pols queue up with wisdom and endorsements and such — especially Kerry dissing Edwards and gracing Obama with his endorsement — reminds me of the curse of the Klopmann Diamond. Mr. Klopmann comes with it.

The other funny thing about the whole interview is Man-On-Dog probably isn’t the best person to ask about stuff like, you know, winning.

“Gee, George, who irons your shirts? They smell great.”

LOL.

I hereby declare dosido winner of the “caption the picture” contest.

Kevin Drum:

There are two things that keep me from being worried about a Clinton vs. McCain matchup. The first is that this simply looks to be a Democratic year. Tick off the reasons: Americans don’t like to keep a single political party in the White House for more than eight years (it’s only happened once in the postwar era). The war in Iraq is unpopular. The economy is sinking. The 9/11 effect has worn off. Conservatives are tired and plainly lack new ideas.

Second, I don’t think McCain is nearly as attractive a candidate as a lot of people think. Again, tick off the reasons: He’s 71 years old. He’s a dead-ender for the war. … He’s got a long, very conservative voting record that’s never really been exposed to a national audience. The Keating Five scandal will get revisited. Press ardor for McCain will likely diminish as his campaign becomes less open, as it’s bound to do.

…

So far, though, no one is paying much attention to McCain’s weaknesses. But he has plenty of them, and once the national campaign really starts up they’re going to become very, very public. He’s just not nearly as strong a nominee as a lot of Beltway folks think he is.

Bottom line: Both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama can beat McCain. They’d have a Democratic tailwind at their backs and a Republican opponent with plenty of negatives — and both of them are smart enough to run campaigns that make the most of those negatives. Nine months is a long time and anything can happen, but I’m not afraid of McCain. He’s eminently beatable.

You know, looking at that picture, I think maybe that Luntz poll Republicans and sex is true.

I’m going to make this my Valentine’s Day card.

Here’s a perfect illustration of why I’m so confident that St. McCain is doomed, no matter what Democrat he faces. Wingnuts like Sen. Man-On-Dog absolutely hate the man. Hate him.

None of the above on the gooper side seems the best bet for them. But if we are not careful we could lose to them.

There goes Drum stealing my takes again.

This is the reason the political pundits keep asking the question, “Who is the GOP front runner?” There is’nt one because nobody in the GOP believes any of the current candidates can beat the eventual Democratic candidate in the general election. I’m starting to believe that the GOP won’t pick a candidate until the GOP Convention (not far from that now famous public restroom.)

(pre-emptive curtsy to cut off competition)

j/k. caption away y’all. It’s just too delicious you can’t have just one.

Which raises the following question: Is there a Gooper-in-waiting, yet to reveal itself?

No kidding.

Which raises the following question: Is there a Gooper-in-waiting, yet to reveal itself?

The Newt.

Santorum should crawl back under the rock he was hiding under. NPR reported this morning that Hillary and Obama are the (2) Democratic front runners seeking to do well in the next state. No mention of Edwards the Invisible Man. On to the Republicans: Seems (2 percent) Rudy Giuliani is still in the game if he can win Florida. Mitt Romney is still in it. Little bit o’ McCain and no mention of Huckabee who won big in Iowa. How do all the loser repugs get to stay in the game while Edwards (who kicked their asses by comparison) suffers a media blackout?

Bloomberg?

No kidding.

I care as much about what Rick Santorum has to say as I do about who John Kerry endorses.

Not one of the current Repug prez candidates is electable. Not a one.

How funny.Someone actually asked Santorum his opinion?
Priceless.

Not one of the current Repug prez candidates is electable. Not a one.

Romney for dog-catcher!

Not even the Newt. Especially not the Newt.

Rick John next to Ron Paul is our nightmare are you sure that its not the DLC writing your checks?
No seriously Mitt is a flipflooper, Rudy wants the taxpayers to scoop poo for his next mistress and given his pattern he already has a new girl friend which the MSM is not reporting about . Huck lets Rapists free to Rape and kill again because the Rapist raped Bills cousin?
John is sadly your best bet, given the storm of public opinion against Bush he is your only port in a perfect storm.
Speaking of storms Ron Paul being endorsed by StormWatch can only raise Black and Brown votes against your guy. If the Dems advertise that heavily on Black and Brown MSM.
You do know what they say about voting. Get us to vote and we will never stop if the candidate responds to our concerns.
If the Dem gives us National Healthcare we are so going to keep voting!

too funny

Mayor Guiliani could re-emerge as “new” again after the primary voters have had their look at the current GOP front runners.

What would would President McCain do?

AP - The United States on Thursday lodged a formal diplomatic protest with Iran over an incident last weekend in which Iranian speedboats harassed U.S. warships in the Persian Gulf.

Fred Thompson, Rudy Giuliani or John McCain can beat anyone the Democrats put up…All will protect this country from Islamo-Fascism and I’m convinced that most folks are still worried about that first.

Oh, ick, you had to say that. Newt is the one person I would move to get away from . He’s such a turd! Everything about him, from his whiney Kermit voice to his self-appointed guardian-of-the-conservative-intellect schtick. Please just shoot me now if he runs.

Sorry, couldn’t resist. I just put up this late-breaking close-up of one of the boats over on EW’s thread:
http://www.remotecentral.com/dvd/stuart-3.jpg

NPR reported this morning that Hillary and Obama are the (2) Democratic front runners seeking to do well in the next state.

NPR has been co-opted by the Thugs..Yesterday I heard an NPR reporter talk about the “ex-Democrat” governor…

Gag me….

It’s all good for Rudy.

MSNBC cheerleading squad told me so.

Please just shoot me now if he runs.

Ahem.

I believe there a policy on this blog about advocating violence.

now i have to change my handle…
*smacks self upside head*

At least Newt’ll get the girls out of Iraq before they get infected.

Please just shoot me now if he runs.

I think it’d be awesome. It would take money away from Willard and Fred, and we’d be treated to all kinds of “WWIII has just started” lectures.

“Godfather III” ish, no?

A Farsi speaking rodent. I do not buy it.

He’s such a turd! Everything about him, from his whiney Kermit voice to his self-appointed guardian-of-the-conservative-intellect schtick.

Eminently qualified as the Repub candidate, iow.

Sorry for the disturbing thought, though.

Yeeks. The sequel. Don’t. See. It. Alone.

Please, FDL, keep that picture handy. Goes well with Johnny-O’s recent “Banzai!” charges.

(”Banzai” means roughly “ten thousand years,” or long live whoever.)

Those Iranians in those big bad boats are nothing but a bunch of bullies. Thank gawd we have prez Georgie to protect us. ;0)

Given that the voters are 70 to 30 against the GOP why is Rick and Ralph Reed getting these MSM jobs.
Does CNN want to lose more ratings shares? I want news that reflects the reality of America not Corporate Americas spin!
Report the News do not try and shape it. Jack Cafferty needs his own show!

Oh… I love that pic…and that it’s been posted. Just saved it and am going to email it to my investment banker ex who is trying to find reasons to support McCain. *g*

It’s Ratty from Wind in the Willows!

That’s how to wash that Newt right outta your mind.;)

That pix at the top. I had no idea George and John were gay.

Then ‘the base’ will spit on him and stomp his whiny …
I forgot, we are supposed to be civil here.
Social conservatives will look at pictures of July Anni in drag, and his family history. Then they will look at his pro life/choice/life history.
Then they will go to church and pray that the Democrat is better.

Only in the privacy of airport stalls…

Given that the voters are 70 to 30 against the GOP why is Rick and Ralph Reed getting these MSM jobs.

Well, Rick was on Hugh’s wingnut welfare show. Go figure re: Abramoff’s BFF.

Only against others. self mutilation or immolation is ok.

Here’s a perfect illustration of why I’m so confident that St. McCain is doomed, no matter what Democrat he faces. Wingnuts like Sen. Man-On-Dog absolutely hate the man. Hate him.

bt, they only hate him until he’s the candidate, they they will fall in love with him

Seriously, all this “McCain will be tough to beat in the general” silliness needs to stop immediately.

but bt, the very reason they don’t like him is the same reason he’s their only chance in the general election, the base is not the party, they can’t win pandering to the base, their only hope is appealing to things the base hates

I maintain, mccain is their best shot

You, of all people, I do NOT equate with him. You can keep your handle.

WARD, perris, I think Santorum and Hewitt would cut their noses off to spite their face if it was McCain. And besides, it’d be much better for them both personally if Clinton or Obama were President.

OT..the surge is working

Iraqi Soldier Who Killed U.S. Troops is a Hero in Iraq

link

Gilliard was right…getting out is not going to be easy

Share holders care! Ok I am not that dumb as to invest in Time Warner but show me a MSM outlet that is half as good as Jane and I’ll invest.
Jane if you do go public I hope we get first crack at your stock before the IPO.
And No KO is only one one program.

Here is a serious contendah for the goopers

Representative John Doolittle of California, once a rising star in the Republican Party but more recently under investigation in a scandal involving the disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, announced his retirement from Congress on Thursday, declaring that it was time for a new chapter in his life.

I would never have thought this fake Texan, George Bush, could ever have become governor, let alone predident. Anything, it seems, is possible in the GOP. Perhaps even a President McCain.

Only against others. self mutilation or immolation is ok.

I don’t know about that. We’ll have to check that with the Boss.

*g*

I know you were joking, but I’ve had the distasteful experience of having talked a number of people off of the proverbial ledge, and also the more distasteful dealing with friends and family members after someone jumped.

Next round…Big Money vs Fundies:

Adwatch: Huckabee Opponents Criticize Governor’s Support of Paroled Rapist

TPM

I think that chapter involves time in a Federal Penitentiary.

I’m sorry, Peterr, to bring up bad memories. I, too, have dealt with people who didn’t take my kind words to heart and leapt, anyway.

I only feel this way about the Kermit man-boy, I promise I won’t threaten myself over anyone else.

*g*

I think that chapter involves time in a Federal Penitentiary.

‘Tis a consummation devoutly to be wish’d.

Romney played those type of negative ads in Iowa and you know how that turned out.

It was interesting to see the ACU ratings.
Yesterday I saw some progressive ratings for Clinton, Edwards and Obama. I don’t remember where I saw them, but over at ProgressivePunch, I clicked on the button to get the overall “progressive” scores for the entire Senate for the current term. Not sure how their scoring works, but Clinton came in at number 29 for the current term and Obama was number 43 (only two spots ahead of his mentor). Number 1 was Lautenberg and number 100 was ol’ Saxby Chambliss.
http://progressivepunch.yvod.c.....8&y=9
I don’t know if it is possible to search earlier in time to bring up Edwards’ record by the same measure.

As long as voters were fat and happy which is not the case now G.W types might get elected. This is a polarized election more people than normal are paying attention to the issues. Aside from keeping up the pressure on a possible center Dem to move Left.
We need to plan for victory. Just what do we want and how are we going to get it?
The old rules of elections are gone this is new ground favorable for us, the old rules of election do not apply.
A strong MSM PR campaign will not win if we focus on the issues.

I maintain, mccain is their best shot

I agree, but I still don’t think it’s a good shot.

OT..More Republican good govt:

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will propose cutting nearly 10 percent of the budget for public education, releasing nonviolent inmates and closing nearly one in five state parks as part of a series of deep cuts to close a projected $14 billion budget gap over the next 18 months.

At least 22,000 nonviolent inmates will be released, reported NBC11’s Mike Luery.

link

The prisoner release is probably a good thing but it will make the law & order Thugs unhappy.

Ah, another great faith-based initiative. You can convince yourself of almost anything, but that doesn’t make it true in the real world where elections happen.

I think all the old rules and nasty tricks will come back into play once the general election is under way. I think the general election will have a more conventional look, but the Democrats hopefully will have the momentum by then which should make the GOP come out nastier than ever.

That is why your party is losing elections. You are out of touch with what most Americans are concerned about.

Ah, there goes Rick, frothing out of his orifices again…

Is this to scare voters into voting for the Indian Casinos to raise funds so they can keep the bad guys in jail?

Progressive Punch is a good site..life time score is probably a better category..Clinton is 16 and Obama is 24…missed votes are penalized which affects the ratings…Kucinich doesn’t look so good because of missed votes

Yeah, convict! He’s gotts leave to protect his pension…

That’s the essential portrait of Tweety

I fully expect a violent reaction from the wingnuts when they realize that they can’t muster a candidate and America loathes them.

True, veritas, true

Yep, that one worries me, too. I just hope it’s not widespread.

No. There is no such creature as Islamo-fascism. Most people are worried about American fascism being implemented mainly by your party.

I am not ruling out a “catastrophy” that rules out elections

Something I really don’t understand about this forum is why does it seem that we hear more from right wing has beens and propadandists (Santorum, Matthews) than we hear from people who are actually working very hard at presenting a fair and intelligent view of the world as exemplified by Democracy NOW! with Amy Goodman?

While this thread chatters about its revulsion to Santorum (already rejected at the polls), Amy today points out what should be our talking points.

Such as: ‘While the Presidential candidates have been asked 2,075 questions by the media in the debates, there have been only 3 questions about global warming.’ For those who haven’t left their caves in 50 years, global warming is the #1 international political issue today.

If I can do anything to steer the debate here, I would strongly encourage the leadership of this blog to consider finding and reporting on the noble side of our media. Democracy NOW!, Air America, Think Progress, The Progress Report, the Stephanie Miller show, World Can’t Wait, CodePINK, UFPJ, International ANSWER and dozens more deserve our attention. Rick Sanntorum and Chris Matthews do not.

And let’s not forget that Comedy Central’s dynamic duo, Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert are back live. Repeating on that network at the top of the hour is Jon Stewart skewering Tweety Bird. Let’s have some fun with that.

So, if I can make one plea, let’s see if we can do our part to reduce global whining. Real change is going to come when we make men like Santorum and Matthews so irrelevant to the zeitgeist that they simply become cellophane men. Turn off your TVs. Get mad as hell and tell them you aren’t going to take it any longer.

Laugh a little:

David Letterman On Political Life Now

The only hope for the GOP to win the general election and the best way for a frontrunner to emerge would be to stand up and renounce George Bush and his failed policies, then to declare the party is “born again.” This of course will never happen.

the chimpster declines yet again;

33 percent: Number of Americans who approve of President Bush’s handling of the economy, according to a new AP-Ipsos poll. “With signs of economic stress abounding,” Bush’s numbers have dropped from 36 percent last month. Just 27 percent believe the country is “headed in the right direction, including fewer than half of Republicans.”

This seems like a good idea:

Let’s have some fun in Michigan

kos

Oops: David Letterman On Political Life Now

its because most folks were worried about protecting this country that the republicans have no shot

other then wing nuts, everyone can see the republicans are draft dodging, military hating, strategic morons

I’m primarily worried about making my mortgage each month and my sons going to Iraq in 7 and 9 years. Be careful about making assumptions about what “most folks worry about.”

Yes we need to focus more on our issues on the MSM and even at the Lefty blogs.
We need to focus more on what pisses us off to motivate ourselves rather than let the MSM keep focusing vaccume free on non issues.

Later Folks

Jane’s upstairs with a new thread…

So, if I can make one plea, let’s see if we can do our part to reduce global whining.

Oh. My. God… Pot meet kettle, Ray.
And the solution you seek is here. You can create your own house and say pretty much what you want, instead of coming in here and instructing us what’s wrong with us.

When I visit someone elses home, I wipe my feet BEFORE I enter.
Words to live by.

Re:

Yes we need to focus more on our issues on the MSM and even at the Lefty blogs.

You are conflating two antithetical means of communication. The MSM is and always will be a propaganda tool for the elites. They will never have the will to tell the truths that are the hallmark of our new, vibrant and shall I say revolutionary internet based Committees of Correspondence, aka, the blogosphere and our other wonderful anti-corporatist websites.

The MSM will never, ever focus on “our issues”. They are designed to make them vanish. Will the Wall Street Journal ever have a Labor News section to match its Business News pages? The jaded among us say “don’t be silly”. The wise among us ask: “There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why… I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?” (Robt. Kennedy)

OK, we’ll never take the Wall Street Journal out of Rupert Murdock’s bloody hands in my lifetime, but shouldn’t we have a vibrant labor press? It’s easy on the internet.

I’ve come to the conclusion that we aren’t going to tame, cajole, seduce or influence the MSM to be honest or to advocate for citizen’s rights. What we need to do is to simply make the MSM irrelevant to zeitgeist of the era.

We can start by avoiding obsessing over how awful it is, and clear those poisonous thoughts out of our minds as we begin to focus on our issues instead of the bald-tire issues that the MSM flogs. The public is ready for change? Are we?

Fire It Up! Let’s Get Ready To Go!

Re:

Words to live by.

I’ve seen this suggestion before. I’m torn between the idea of being a member of a community and being a writer, a very lonesome profession for the most part.

I try to introduce a note of positivity and hope here and you try to show me the door. I think this is saying something that leads me to wonder if misanthropy is actually a keen observer’s natural end state.

With more sorrow than anger, let me offer you some advice. Keep whining, and you’ll never effect change. Or is it that the psychology we see is that some people are never happy unless they are complaining? There’s plenty of Catskill resort jokes about that phenomenon. And the churches in the nation are full of this fire-and-brimstone whining. Maybe I’m seeing the leftie variant of what a mess human nature is here.

HH: Why can’t John McCain win this election?

RS: Well, number one, John McCain will not get the base of the Republican Party. I mean, there was a reason John McCain collapsed last year, and it’s because he was the frontrunner, and everybody in the Republican Party got a chance to look at him. And when they looked at him, they wait well, wait a minute, he’s not with us on almost all of the core issues

The problem with Rick is that he has a good memory. Just for fun, I went over to Progressive Punch’s summary scores of all Senators. Now, just for the sake of perspective, Democrats always have a PP score of 50 or higher. Usually much higher. McCain scores less than 7. There are about 30 senators who have a more progressive score than he does. BUT his lifetime score is almost 14, more than twice his corrent score. And of course it is those old votes in previous congresses that are emblazoned in Santorums little noggin. Of course, a score of 14 falls in with the raging conservatives such as the dynamic duo from Alaska, Ted Stevens and Lisa Murkowski, but is still far below the score of *any* Democrat.

Bob in HI

Well, the next state is South Carolina. Have you seen the polling results? They look VERY BAD for Edwards.

Which raises the following question: Is there a Gooper-in-waiting, yet to reveal itself?

There’s always Larry Craig…

Ah, Redshift, have a heart, Little Red Riding Hood needs protection from the big bad “Islamofascist” wolf.