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It really is quite remarkable how much stupid Republicans can pack into just a few short paragraphs. Check out today’s NYT story about the GOP’s brilliant political strategy of all-obstruction, all the time:
Congressional Republicans… are certain that the politics are on their side. Dismissing Democrats’ attacks on them as “the party of no,” they point to polls and other signs indicating that high unemployment and deficits have created vast unease with Mr. Obama’s agenda as the 2010 midterm elections approach.
“We’re the party of know: k-n-o-w,” said Representative Pete Sessions of Texas, chairman of House Republicans’ campaign committee.
“We know a lot about the Democrats’ plans, and we think it’s a bad way to go,” Mr. Sessions added. “Theirs is about taxing and spending and destroying jobs.”
I agree that there’s a lot of worry and outright fear about unemployment, but the rest is bullshit. Hardly anyone worried about the deficit when Dubya was piling wars on top of tax cuts like the Devil’s Jenga, so I don’t believe that the average voter is suddenly more concerned about America’s credit cards than their own.
Of those who are, I suspect that most simply don’t want their tax dollars will go to those people. Speaking of which, I wonder how many newly-minted deficit hawks are in favor of letting the Bush tax cuts expire next year?
But I digress. What’s truly noteworthy is the Republicans’ unshakable confidence that there is nothing unemployed (or uninsured) Americans want to see more than government inaction. Yeah, I’m sure that if I lost my job, I would totally want the government to sit on the sidelines and do nothing about it, because everything would fix itself if they just stopped their infernal do-gooder meddling. Oh, and God forbid that anyone should try to extend unemployment insurance, because that’d be the last thing I’d need. That kind of logic may make sense to the GOP’s Obama-is-deliberately-trying-to-destroy-America base, but not to anyone else.
Yes, it’s entirely possible, even likely, that Obama and the Democrats will lose seats in next year’s elections, because they’re the ones in the filibuster-proof driver’s seat, and their efforts thus far have looked pretty half-assed (Obama’s blasé, tone-deaf comment about jobs being “a lagging indicator” won’t help either). But despite what the media and GOP will say, the Democratic losses won’t be because the American people think Republicans saying No is awesome, they’ll be because they think Democrats taking No for an answer is awful.
Also: “Party of know” is really, really lame.
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The answer is: None.
the party of no needs to learn what unemployment really means
I guess they are the party of homo. Nym.
Can’t wait to see them take “party of know” on the road & cable. Talk about something that won’t translate from the written word!
“We’re the party of No… with a K!”
*much headscratching ensues*
The party of No will have inordinate power until the Ds grow some backbone.
The way it works is that when R’s are in power they get shit passed with 59 votes, monies get stolen, corruption is pervasive, the country is thrown into despair. Then, when the D’s get the power, they organize and legalize all the preceding lawlessness, following which they loose power and …on, and on.
The American Government is not of the People any longer. Wake up!
(And the K is essential, because otherwise they’re the party of now, and that doesn’t make *any* sense)
Sessions: “destroy jobs”
And how many net jobs did the last president create in eight years of misrule? How much real wage growth? Um.. what was that? I can’t hear you, senator.
What polls are they looking at Sarah is at 40% now I think the Congressional GOP is in the 20’s in other words they are still behind an African American President in the polls 2 years ago nobody was thinking there would be an African American President.
Jobs a ‘lagging indicator” – only in a supply side economy. O’bambi likes Saint Ronnie’s prescription on economy. So, in 2010 vote for pols promising to push for Election Pagent finance reform. Unless that changes, nothing will.
The GOP thinks that Democrats will lose their advantage on the economy? How if they have no ideas?
Just cut taxes for corporations and rich people! Look how well it worked for Dubya!
The Dems have to go Left.
That makes three things in life that are certain. Four if you count the fact that Dems will never do it.
I thought “Party of Now” was the new name of the GOPer website.
They’ll try at least one new theme every week between now and the midterms. The keep throwing shit at the wall until something sticks approach.
That would certainly explain why two-thirds of their “Heroes” and “Accomplishments” is civil-rights stuff from the 19th century.
The GOP has pollsters they have noticed they are not moving up in the polls and it has been months? The longer they stay in the 20’s the harder it will be to get out.
“Obama and the Democrats haven’t turned this thing around. Let’s give the people who fucked everything up and have no plan another chance.”
Conclusions sans evidence?
True but the GOP is not doing anything themselves to improve their polls.
“We’re the party of No… with a KKK!”
The GOP has been working to solidify it’s base. It has already been reduced it to a fossilized turd but they think if they keep squeezing eventually it can become a diamond.
Democrats are also the party of no, of course:
OMFG!
Agreed but this post points out the GOP thinks they can get more voters not that they have any evidence this is happening or even an active plan.
Their plan is to do nothing their plan depends on Obama failing. Their plan needs the GOP to get African American votes Nope.
Hispanic votes No way not as long as Glen Beck and Lou Dobbs are on the air. Women votes did Sarah attract any women votes to the GOP? Has Rush Limbaugh fixed his numbers with women?
Where are the votes suppose to come from for the new GOP majority?
Kinda poetic ain’t it?
I know the GOP will get solders votes and their families the regular troops love fighting long wars away from home! The GOP will get Gay votes! Poor people without healthcare love the GOP!/s
This should really help win the women’s vote.
Exactly what demographic hasn’t the GOP pissed off? The GOP thinks that with Obama not on the ballet next election minority voting will go back the way it was? Sure it will go down but not down that far.
Wow! NO[squared]
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2009/10/16/notes101609.DTL
I am seeing 30 Senate seats change hands there are more women than men in this country. Sure we probably won’t get them all but we could.
I assume the front pagers are sharpening their knives for these 30 senators. I wonder what Megan McCain thinks of Daddies vote.
No swearing permitted unless you are nekkid.
Lets see Sarah Palin defend GOP values now!
You are assuming I am dressed.
I think the American people are way out in front of the Partee of Not So Much.
And Villagers who presume that the Independent voters to whom they are so devoted are in the Middle are in error. Independent voters are just as likely to be outside the bounds of either or both parties. The idea that the always-worshipped Middle is occupied by Independents is incorrect, even though it is an important belief of High Broderism.
Isn’t High Broderism similar to a high colonic? Similar outcome, anyway.
Ah, Pete Sessions is the k-n-o-w guy. Yup. He sure knows how to convince ignorant people that he knows stuff.
All ‘critters named Sessions are ignorant: Jeff, Pete.
Political affiliation for most folks has little to do with reason. Like religion, people are drawn to their particular brand of politics by forces that run at a much more primal level. They murmur baloney like deficits and such to put a patina of reason on these baser motivations.
Sessions might be ignorant about a lot of things, but convincing people that he knows stuff seems to be one of his skills.
Never underestimate the intelligence of the master manipulators!
The only way the Republicans will win big in nov 2010 is if the Democrats hand them the victory. What happens in oct & nov 2009 will determine the 2010 results. I’m still hoping we win…
Sessions is teh stoopid. An alpha male he is not. You would think that the rednecks in S.C. would want an alpha male. Woof.
Not Roger.
Well, they already have Lindsey, or were you thinking of someone more like this?
I see two plausible answers to that.
1) The same way they’ve always tried to win. If you notice for the last, I dunno, 40 years, they run entire campaigns on trashing their opponent, not talking up their guy. Why??? They know their base will ALWAYS support them. So they want to make people NOT vote for the other guy. Same thing could happen next year. Don’t forget John McCain ran as a conservative Republican after 8 years of conservative fuck-ups and got, what, 50 million votes?
All they have to do is maintain that number and make enough people NOT want to vote for the opponent, and they win. And when the Democrats act like Republicans (because they THINK that’s the way to get more votes) it actually plays right into this strategy because their base will NOT always vote for them. I’m having a hard time convincing myself to vote in my election in a couple of weeks, and I’ve never not voted in my life.
But my guy didn’t win in the primary (and my guy has NEVER won in the primaries that I take part in), and right now Creigh Deeds has done NOTHING that makes me think it’s worth giving a shit whether he or McDonnel wins, because Deeds is just another Republican Lite.
2) The other plausible explanation is actually even worse than the first one, but may actually be the more likely. It’s based on rumors and paranoa more than fact, but that doesn’t mean it’s not true. This explanation says that he who controls the vote counting machines controls the vote counts. If you get my drift.
Oh fuck, its Big Daddy!
Yup. You right. The fuckers cheat. They cheat badly. And our “side” doesn’t know (no) what to do with cheaters.
“You mean they like totally didn’t count the votes? OMG”
An’ his doggie.
It’s not really cheating if your legal team includes five Supremes.
The Republican Party literally has pro-life groups out there defending a health care system that focuses on making excessive profits for corporations while tens of thousands of people die every year for no other reason than that they do not have adequate health insurance.
How can anyone explain that contradiction?
The Republican Party has reduced itself to a freaky coalition between 1) the sleaziest and least moral people among us, who take and grab and turned themselves into our financial overlords, 2) the most ignorant and simple-minded among us, who fight and yell and think they are morally superior to everyone else in social issues, though they are not, and 3) a handful of intellectuals who, despite suffering from serious personal character flaws and/or mental disorders, know how to use the illusion of asserting principles to support what appears to be valid arguments.
1) They are smearing us still the Tea Baggers can’t even get immigration rights march numbers so I’m not to worried unless unemployment gets higher.
2 ) vote fraud yes
Isn’t the “do nothing” or more properly, the “know nothing” strategy what lost the GOP the White House in 2008? Their strategy for the next election is to drive off the same cliff? Why do they think the results will be any different?
If they are really that stupid, then they deserve the drubbing they are going to get in 2010 and 2012. Who will be able to successfully run on being an Insurance Lobby Whore?
3)
a handful of intellectuals who, despite suffering from serious personal character flaws and/or mental disorders, know how to use the illusion of asserting principles to support what appears to be valid arguments.bullshittersDidn’t Bush/Cheney “win” twice running as Oil/MIC whores?
707
…that you could have a beer with.
Well, you could have a beer with Dubya. You could maybe share a kitten with Cheney.
I think 1 and 3 are redundant. Also, I don’t believe Republican strategists qualify as intellectuals.
Dick Morris is on Faux ‘news’ arguing that Hillary as been quiet in debates on health care reform so that she can set herself up to oppose Obama in 2012.
And Greta van Susteran, rather than challenge that stupid assertion, is pointing out how Obama’s numbers are supposedly going down while Hillary’s numbers are going up.
Dick is now quoting some bs statistic about how most people who have insurance now want to keep the present system.
Wow, Dick’s a real dick.
That was then. This is now. People have figured out they have been hosed. Don’t tell the repugs though. Then they will fix the voting machines to the appropriate settings.
Agreed
Just don’t go hunting with him.
Because Hillary doesn’t have enough on her plate as Secretary of State she should wade in on domestic issues?
Oh, stop picking on Dick. Lawyer or quail? Anybody could make that mistake.
I wonder if that 29 year old (potential bozo) from GOLD-Sacks (no longer golden spoon, they now have golden sacks) dropping in the media today is balanced with:
“Billionaire Hedge Fund Manager Charged With Insider Trading”
Is this a sign, or just a blip like the less than 10% UBS Swiss bank account thieves that may possible at some point (or not) have to pay part of their fair share. Of course account for the selective few covered in the 90% that never will be “ratted out” with the insufficiently-connected – and let’s say the Joe/Jane Blows have $1,000,000 in one of their report accounts…that is not a bad investment 90% chance of making $1M, 10% chance of possibly paying a fine or all of it plus a bit and a .01% chance of going to jail.
Time to hire more than just ex-GOLD-sack lickers.
Those in 1 are the executives like Ken Lewis, for example, while those in 3 are people like Jonah Goldberg and Andrew Sullivan.
Dammit RF!!!!
Another spew cleanup. Iced tea this time. And right after I just cleaned up another one from the “bullshitters” post.
Because as Secretary of State it would be highly inappropriate for her to wade in on domestic issues.
Her answer today was that she’s cheering from the sidelines. That’s really all she can do.
Safer to be a quail with clipped wings.
Dick and Greta, which one is fair and which is balanced?
I’m happy to say I have found a good lawyer. Like a good doctor, dentist, mechanic, plumber, etc., when you’re lucky enough to have one you hope they never retire or move as long as you need them.
Good anythang. Cept good spellin’. Good spellin’ is for suckas.
While he (Poppi Bush) said he does not believe in personal name-calling, he singled out MSNBC personalities Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow calling them “sick puppies.”
Didn’t you say awhile back your daughter was searching for a nursing job? Been meaning to ask how it was going.
“The way they treat my son and anyone who’s opposed to their point of view is just horrible,” – Poppi Bush
Oh, shit, I hate trick questions.
Gregg Levine is upstairs!
Late Night: Developments on Parade
She passed her boards about two weeks ago. She has been working at the Buckeye in Marin county as a server while she looks for a nursing gig. The
Buckeye is a big fat 1% restaurant in Marin. Both of my daughters put themselves thru school working there. She is coming over on Tuesday so I can help her put a resume up online. She is considering a job in at San Quentin in nursing. (Scary)
Wow (about San Quentin). Guess they take care of the staff. Hope she finds something good.
She is a tough woman and gentle at the same time.
NOW tonight had a story about the severe shortage of nurses. I was working at the time and didn’t catch the reason, whether it is due to a lack of applicants or they are cutting cost by not hiring as many. Wouldn’t surprise me if it is the latter.
Both. A year ago all of the graduates in her school had jobs before they were finished. A year later only three out of thirty have work. It is a statement about the lack of general well being in country both in health care and jobs. FUCKED. They have fucked us. We all know who they are.
That sucks. I have seen reports about how the mortality rate in hospitals rises as nurses are forced to assume responsibility for higher numbers of patients.
What the Democrats have to start doing when the GOP hits them with budget deficits is respond that at least this president put most of the war funding as on budget items. Bush carried on his imperial romps while funding everything off budget and then when he made projections on the budget the numbers were always exaggerated so that when the real budget came out the White House could say things aren’t as bad as we thought they would be.
Obama had to have a deficit if he was going to operate honestly and the Bush cabal knew that. As far as taxing and spending goes, well when you don’t tax and spend that’s like writing a check your ass can’t cover, right? Who goes through life just writing checks for everything under the sun with no funds there to back up the checks?
And as far as growing government goes, Saint Ronnie Raygun expanded the federal government and raised taxes in almost every year of his presidency but he raised them stealthily like increasing the payroll tax, doing away with some income tax deductions (credit card interest, sales tax) that specifically helped middle and working class Americans. Dubya didn’t bother hiding behind a populist line for his tax cuts, he just offered people $400 for each kid and the people were only too happy to roll over on their backs and bat their eyes.
And Obama? Two hundred and fifty dollars for Social Security recipients…. $20.83 a month which doesn’t even cover the increase in health insurance premiums.
Thanks Obama, great change. Pocket change.
Chump change.
You were right to put the word “win” in quotation marks. They didn’t win either election. To the extent that they did, they did so by scaring the living shit out of enough people into believing that Bin Laden would eat their children and rape their women if the big swingin’ dicks of the GOP didn’t win. Fortunately, enough people now seem to realize that they were indeed, just dicks.