Today’s opining on the public discourse.

Yes, late again, curses. I’ve been busy reading most o’ the day. And then there was the small matter of the empty inbox… (speaking of which, there’s still time to make the Captain and the Admiral happy if you’re reading this before late Sunday morning). But enough with the reasons, let’s get on with the spanking the stupid.

The Census Bureau seems to have gotten there ahead of us:

In the past couple weeks, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) has used her public appearances to fear-monger about the 2010 Census.

[snip]

Yesterday, Census Bureau spokesman Steve Buckner spoke to Minnesota Public Radio and said that many of Bachmann’s concerns were misguided.

[snip]

Buckner also said that Census officials have been working with Bachmann’s office to clear up the misinformation:

BUCKNER: Well, we certainly are working with the Congresswoman’s office here in DC, and have already had a briefing with her to explain the rules of the Census and why they’re there, and explain some of the Constitutional law. I mean, the Supreme Court has upheld the powers of the data to be collected. But we’re not asking anything on the 2010 Census that I can see that would be intrusive in terms of the basic information.

As Buckner also pointed out, “For the most part, people put more information on a credit card application than they do on the Census form.”

I hope Michele’s having fun being educated regarding her duties. But I’m not sure she’ll learn. It’s hard to smack sense into the senseless. Which should make it interesting when she breaks federal law by not filling in the Census completely. But I do hope she doesn’t end up in prison. What she needs is psychiatric care, not punishment.

Speaking of psychiatric and other health care, let’s take a moment to see where we’re at. The Prez and the public (along with the vast majority of Dems), want a public option. The GOP and their braindead base don’t wanna public option cuz that’s so-shuh-lized mid-uh-sin. Yet shouting talking points and silly slogans is no way to govern a country. If the opposition party’s opposing, they need to present an alternative. Morning Joe came up with the utterly brilliant idea of asking Rep. Cantor what that alternative plan might look like (video at the link):

Eric Cantor is asked by MSNBC’s Dylan Ratigan to explain just what the GOP’s plan is for health care reform, and again, Cantor fails to give any details as to just what their plan is, other than saying no to a public option and offering consumers more “choice”. Even Ratigan points out at the end of the interview that Cantor didn’t answer his question.

As Jason Linkins pointed out at the HuffPo, Cantor had some similar trouble on the same show when asked by Mike Barnicle what the GOP’s plan was for health care reform back on May 6th, 2009.

Jason Linkins also has the specific question-and-answer from that original fiasco, which illustrates the whole bankruptcy of the Con philosophy perfectly:

MIKE BARNICLE: You just raised the issue of health care. We live in the only civilized nation in the world, where if … your child gets sick with a really terrible illness, you might find yourself in bankruptcy court in order to pay the bills. So, without the pretty language, without the big words, can you tell me: what’s your health plan, what’s it going to cost, how are you going to get it done, how can you work with the Democrats in concocting … in coming up with a health plan that works for everyone?

CANTOR: First of all, let me just go in here and address the assumption here in the discussion. We also have a health care system that, in reality, if you are sick anywhere in this world and you can afford it, you can come here for your care because we do have access to the best care, but you’re right, there are too many people who don’t have access to that care, so what we need to do is to be able to address — number one — the coverage and access to insurance, and number two, to be able to demonstrate that we can bring down cost. Now this notion that we are somehow going to allow the government to take over providing the care because that’s going to address the cost factor, is just a false start. You can’t assume that this place in Washington is going to do things efficiently. What we do know is that we need to promote the ability for people to — number one — if they lose their job, they don’t necessarily lose their health care — number two — if they are sick and they have a pre-existing condition, we must allow for them to access affordable coverage, because that’s a huge issue right now, how people can access coverage when they are sick, and that has to do with expanding the risk pools, giving people the ability to access much more affordable coverage. Right now, we are so tied to a third-party payer system that, you know, people are at a whim cut off from access to care. so we’ve got to go back to centering our focus on patient/doctor relationships.

Do you see a plan in there? No? That’s probably because there isn’t one. There’s a hash of lame GOP talking points, magic unicorns, and wishes. A plan it is not.

The truly pathetic part:

So we have the second failure on the same show within a little over a month for Cantor to actually respond in a meaningful way with details and to give them some specific answers on just what the GOP’s health care plan entails. Willie Geist’s response when Ratigan pointed out that Cantor didn’t answer the question….we’ll have him back on again to explain it.

I’m so looking forward to strike three.

Yesterday, the House passed important cap-and-trade legislation. Today, the whining starts. We know the wingnuts would whine, so before we get to them, let’s watch a Dem snivel over imaginary victimhood:

Last night, the House of Representatives passed the American Clean Energy and Security Act, which will establish the first national standards for renewable energy, energy efficiency, and global warming pollution. Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) responded on Twitter this morning, saying that the legislation’s cap on carbon pollution would “unfairly punish” Missouri’s families and businesses:

Missouri gets 85 percent of its electricity from coal and is home to the world’s largest coal company, Peabody Energy. Peabody has spent neatly $10 million lobbying against climate legislation since 2008. In reality, the cap-and-trade system the House passed fully protects states now dependent on coal, with multi-billion-dollar programs for advanced coal technology. “My focus in the shaping of the bill in the Energy and Commerce Committee was to keep electricity rates affordable and to enable utilities to continue using coal,” coal-district Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA) explained during yesterday’s debate. “Both of these goals have been achieved.”

Deary, deary me, Claire. Looks like your buddies in the coal industry got just what they needed, so you’re little pity party’s just kind of silly now. In fact, it’s just about as silly as the rabid base reaction to the few Republican yay votes:

RedState labeled them “quisling” Republicans who “sold out the nation’s [sic] future.” Malkin put up a “wanted” poster with the eight, under the text: “Wanted in the United States of America for selling out taxpayers.” She went on label them the “GOP’s Cap-and-Tax 8.”

And Robert Stacy McCain is targeting the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), now that the “Monstrosity From Hell That Will Destroy the American Economy” passed with the help of eight GOP lawmakers.

Wow. “Monstrosity From Hell,” even. All this for a watered-down piece of energy legislation that’ll end up costing families under 50 cents per day. Sad, aren’t they? Too bad they don’t get this excited when Congress decides to authorize rampant spying on American citizens.

And then here’s where it gets really funny. Victor Davis Hanson tries to explain that because a few places experienced colder weather this year, global warming’s a complete crock (apparently, he’s too ignorant to know the difference between a long-term trend like climate and a short-term thng like weather. Dumbshit). And then came the WSJ, trumping his dumbfuckery a thousandfold:

Also yesterday, the Wall Street Journal editorial page ran an item from Kimberly Strassel that offered even less persuasive evidence. (via Jon Chait)

The number of skeptics, far from shrinking, is swelling. Oklahoma Sen. Jim Inhofe now counts more than 700 scientists who disagree with the U.N. — 13 times the number who authored the U.N.’s 2007 climate summary for policymakers.

Ah, yes, the Inhofe list. Strassel sees “more than 700 scientists” who reject evidence of global warming, but a closer look reveals that the list includes economists, engineers, geographers, TV weathermen, and physicists — none of whom has a background in climate science. Some of the “more than 700” actually accept global warming as fact, have asked that their names be removed from the list, only to find Inhofe ignore their requests.

In my favorite example, one of the 700 “scientists” is a weatherman at the FOX-affiliated station in Bowling Green, Ky. The “scientist’ doesn’t have a college degree, believes in creationism, and rejects evidence of global warming because he doesn’t believe “God would allow humans to destroy the earth He created.” He’s also argued that his perspective on science has value, despite not having a background in science, because, “The way I see it, some people are too smart for their own good.”

But other than the fact it’s nearly entirely bogus, yeah, it really shows some skepticism about climate change among scientists, ya, sure, you betcha. *Wink*

It’s things like those that may help explain poll numbers like these:

This week’s big Washington Post poll asked respondents who they trust to handle health care, the economy, the budget deficit, and terrorism. The poll didn’t include a partisan breakdown, but WaPo’s polling director sent it over to us, and here’s where indys stand:

* On health care, 51% of indys trust Obama, and 26% trust GOPers in Congress.

* On the economy, 51% of indys trust Obama, and 31% trust the GOP.

* On the budget deficit, 52% of indys trust Obama, and 30% trust the GOP.

* And on terrorism, 53% of indys trust Obama, and 36% trust the GOP.

To recap: On every one of these major issues — even terrorism — majorities of indys trust Obama, and small minorities trust Congressional Republicans.

No wonder DNC spokesman Hari Sevugan was wondering, with respect to the annual DNC vs. RNC softball game, “Are there even nine Republicans left to field a team?”

Yes, but I’m not sure how many of them can play ball. After all, they’ll always taking their ball and running home…

Today’s opining on the public discourse.

Yes, we’re very late today. That’s because I’ve been at Discovery Park, playing with sea critters and hiking my very legs off. When there are blue skies in Seattle, it’s best to enjoy them pronto.

See that? That’s blue sky, that is. I snapped that photo with a POS elderly digital camera, and it’s not been modified. That’s sky so blue it makes the treeline look fake.

Happily, the House set our feet on the first steps to maintaining those blue skies:

From the NYT:

“The House passed legislation on Friday intended to address global warming and transform the way the nation produces and uses energy.

The vote was the first time either house of Congress had approved a bill meant to curb the heat-trapping gases scientists have linked to climate change. The legislation, which passed despite deep divisions among Democrats, could lead to profound changes in many sectors of the economy, including electric power generation, agriculture, manufacturing and construction.

The bill’s passage, by 219 to 212, with 44 Democrats voting against it, also established a marker for the United States when international negotiations on a new climate change treaty begin later this year.

Huzzah! In fact, we even have a handful of Republicans to thank:

Despite promises that Republicans would rally against the bill, several members defected to support it, including Reps. Dave Reichart (R-WA), Mike Castle (R-DE), Mary Bono Mack, Mark Kirk (R-IL), Leonard Lance (R-NJ), Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ), Chris Smith (R-NJ), and John McHugh (R-NY).

Smart Republicans, those. I think I know why Dave did it – people in the beautiful town of Bellevue, WA, like their earth global-warming free. And he had the good grace to work with my own beloved Jay Inslee to get the job done. I think running against Darcy Burner smacked some sense into the boy. (Speaking of Darcy Burner, she’s got a must-read post up at C&L, fyi.)

Now if only someone had smacked some sense into the rest o’ the Cons...

Listening to the House debate over the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES) is a surprisingly frustrating experience. It’s probably better that most Americans don’t actually see these debates — it would undermine faith in our system of government.

At one point today, Rep. Richard Neal (D-Mass.) noted, “It is very difficult to find common ground if the other side rejects the science of our times.” Truer words, never spoken.

Take, for example, Rep. Paul Broun (R-Ga.). Broun is perhaps best known for telling reporters late last year that he fears that President Obama may establish a Gestapo-like security force to impose a Marxist dictatorship on Americans. He added at the time that Obama reminds him of Hitler. Today, the Georgia Republican shared his thoughts on the environment.

“Scientists all over this world say that the idea of human induced global climate change is one of the greatest hoaxes perpetrated out of the scientific community. It is a hoax. There is no scientific consensus…. And who’s going to be hurt most [by ACES] the poor, the people on limited income…the people who can least afford to have their energy taxes raised by MIT says $3,100 per family…. This bill must be defeated. We need to be good stewards of our environment, but this is not it, it’s a hoax!”

The “$3,100 per family” line has been debunked over and over again — the MIT scholar Broun cites has specifically tried to explain to Republican lawmakers that it’s completely bogus — but they just can’t seem to stop using it.

Bogus never stopped these freaks from spouting off lies, damned lies, and pure insanity. And, following their beloved leader Rush “Obama’s just like an African colonial despot!” Limbaugh’s lead (with a little help from his sidekick Glenn “Cap and Trade supporters are treasonous!” Beck), they’re on a rather bizarre autocrat meme. Here’s Rep. Gingrey playing off the “Cons are just like the poor Iranian protesters!” theme:

Last week, several Republican House members compared themselves to Iranian protesters, claiming that being in the minority in Congress was just like being violently oppressed in Iran. “I wonder if there isn’t more freedom on the streets of Tehran right now than we are seeing here,” said Rep. David Dreier (R-CA). Reps. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI) and John Culberson (R-TX) made similar comparisons on Twitter.

Despite the online uproar that followed the egregious comparisons, Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-GA) went even further today. Complaining about the proposed rules for debate on clean energy legislation, Gingrey compared Democrats to the “forces of darkness” in Iran and North Korea:

GINGREY: Madam speaker, thank you. I rise in opposition to this rule and to the underlying legislation. I’m just not sure to which I’m more opposed. Americans are watching as from Iran to North Korea, the forces of darkness are attempting to silence the forces of democracy and freedom. The irony is on this day, the Democratic process and the nation’s economic freedom are under threat not by some rogue state, but in this very chamber in which we stand. Good people ma
y disagree on the impact or the merits of this bill. But no one can disagree with the fact that the speaker and her rules committee have silenced the opposition.

Um. I refer you to the previous item, in which the opposition blathered, babbled and made utter fools of themselves, only to receive applause from their “silenced” fellows. Also, a question: which Dem leader is it, exactly, who’s called for your execution if you continue to protest, Mr. Gingrey? What’s that? None? That disqualifies you from being just like poor oppressed Iranian protestors, who have been threatened with execution, not to mention shot in the streets. I would suggest you shut the fuck up now.

So should you, John McCain:

During an appearance on a local radio station in Phoenix, AZ this morning, a caller asked Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) when Republican leaders were going to emerge in Congress to “wake the American people up” to the “cap-and-tax” bill. “Why can’t we get the House members and the Senate members to just walk out on what the Democrats are doing?” the caller asked. In response, McCain said that the GOP lawmakers — particularly his House colleagues — have to stay and fight, even though they are working under Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) authoritarian rule:

McCAIN: We’re fighting every single day. You don’t want to leave the arena; you want to stay in it and fight. And I guarantee you we are using every parliamentary possibility we have and I have great sympathy for my friends in the House because it’s almost under an autocracy now with Speaker Pelosi.

Do you Cons want to live under an autocracy? Is that what would make you happy? Because you all seem to be fantasizing about it an awful lot. It’s not healthy.

While I’m handing out free advice to frothing insane Cons, I might as well throw some to not-Joe the Plumber. Joe, it’s probably not a good idea to do shit like this:

Americans for Prosperity, one of the wingnut welfare outfits behind the Great Teabagging, held an event in Wausau, Wisconsin yesterday, keynoted by the man who best personifies the Teabagging movement. [snip]

Wurzelbacher has a reputation for being a blunt, politically incorrect speaker. Referring to Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., more than once, Wurzelbacher asked, “Why hasn’t he been strung up?”

I’m not sure I’d use the term “politically incorrect” for calling for the lynching of a sitting US Senator. But don’t stop him, he’s rolling.

Just ask Sean Hannity’s old pal Hal Turner how well threatening federal officials works out.

There’s much more nutty goodness floating about the intertoobz tonight, but after several miles of hiking in the sunshine, I’m needing a bath. So I’ll just leave you with this gem:

We learned yesterday, by way of Rush Limbaugh, that Mark Sanford’s sex scandal was President Obama’s fault. If it weren’t for the administration’s economic policies, the argument goes, Sanford would have been more optimistic about the future, wouldn’t have cheated on his wife, and wouldn’t have secretly left the country to see his mistress.

Who can argue with air-tight logic like this?

Today, Limbaugh’s right-wing colleague, Michael Savage, takes this one step further. Obama didn’t just inspire Sanford to betray his family; the White House conspired to make this scandal happen in the first place.

“The fact is, Obama’s team is taking out potential [2012] rivals, one after another,” Savage argued. “Just last week, the media jumped on the story of Sen. John Ensign (R) of Nevada and his infidelity. He was considered to be a possible Republican presidential candidate in ’12. Now Sanford, who had similar ambitions, caught in a similar situation.

“This is politics at its worst, brought to us by the worst administration, the meanest administration, the most closed administration, the most incompetent administration in American history.”

As Steve Benen notes, it’s pretty impressive that such an incompetent administration could make not one, but two, prominent Cons run out and get caught with their pants around their ankles in the space of a week. That “stimulus package” must have been some pretty potent stuff, eh?

When the Dems pass healthcare reform, I think they need to include a few trillion dollars for restoring the Cons’ mental health. It’s obviously getting much, much worse under their current insurance.

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Today’s opining on the public discourse.

Michele Bachmann passed batshit insane a long time ago, and yet somehow she keeps getting crazier:

Last week, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), solidifying her well-deserved reputation for madness, insisted she will refuse to cooperate with the 2010 census. This happens to be illegal, but the Minnesota Republican has an elaborate conspiracy theory to bolster her position.

Today, Bachmann appeared on Fox News to defend this, and came up with a new argument: “If we look at American history, between 1942 and 1947, the data that was collected by the Census Bureau was handed over to the FBI and other organizations at the request of President Roosevelt, and that’s how the Japanese were rounded up and put into the internment camps.”

Bachmann added, “I’m not saying that that’s what the administration is planning to do, but I am saying that private personal information that was given to the Census Bureau in the 1940s was used against Americans to round them up, in a violation of their constitutional rights, and put the Japanese in internment camps.”

When Fox News’ Megyn Kelly, who’d been bashing ACORN with Bachmann to this point, noted that members of Congress probably shouldn’t deliberately ignore federal law, Bachmann added, “I’m just not comfortable with the way this census is being handled,” in part because Americans are “compelled” to answer the census.

Well, yes, Michele, they are – and have been for centuries now. This is a fact a lawmaker may want to try to wrap their head around. It shouldn’t be that hard, considering your head’s already rather twisty.

Speaking of twisty, the GOP’s apparently planning an all-out assault on Nancy Pelosi over her “CIA lied to me” remarks:

The pollster for the House GOP leadership has conducted a poll to determine the effectiveness of one of the GOP’s leading attacks on Nancy Pelosi — that she wasn’t being truthful when she claimed the CIA lied to her about torture.
The poll, which I obtained from a source, found that it may be working. People believe that the CIA didn’t mislead Pelosi by a wide margin, 49%-27%.

The poll — which was conducted by longtime House GOP pollster David Winston — is interesting because it suggests that Republicans remain committed to this line of attack and are eager to gauge whether it’s effective in hopes of keeping it going.

It doesn’t look like the poll asked the all-important follow-up question: “Do you give a shit?” I wish them all the best with that pathetic line of attack.

In other “pathetic lines of attack” news, Cons are still on about Sotomayor’s supposed activist-judge qualities, so much so they’re making up their minds against her before her confirmation hearings:

Yesterday in a speech on the Senate floor, Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS) “became at least the third Republican” to announce that he will vote against Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s nomination to the Supreme Court:

Mr. President, judges do not make law, and under no circumstance should they be under the impression that they do. Judge Sotomayor sees judges as lawmakers — as both umpire and player. […]

I wonder how Alexander Hamilton would respond. I think he would wholly disagree with that interpretation. Unfortunately, Judge Sotomayor’s writings and statements lead me to believe she is a proponent — a clear proponent — of an activist judiciary. I cannot support her nomination. I will vote “no” when it comes before the full Senate.

Sammy earns full suck-up-to-the-rabidly-stupid-base points, but he and his fellow already-decideds have just opened themselves up to yet more hypocrisy. To wit:

During the confirmation hearings for Samuel Alito in 2006, Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) lamented to the judge that there were “those who have already decided to vote against your nomination and are looking for some reason to do so.”

This genius statement was, of course, made before any Dem had announced any intention not to vote for Alito. And so I’m sure we can rely on him to chide his fellow Republicans for jumping to conclusions, right?

Right?

Why am I hearing crickets?

Also in hypocrisy news, it turns out that Cons’ love for the CBO only goes so far:

Back in January, the Congressional Budget Office issued a preliminary assessment of the administration’s stimulus package. It was only a partial look at an out-of-date proposal, but it bolstered Republicans’ criticism, so the GOP ran with the misleading numbers. Soon after, a more complete CBO report was issued, it bolstered the Democrats’ case, and all of a sudden, Republicans’ love and respect for the CBO disappeared.

We’re seeing the exact same scenario play out again.
Last week, the Congressional Budget Office scored an incomplete Democratic health care proposal, issuing an unhelpful analysis with little practical value. House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) not only accepted the CBO numbers as gospel, but called the analysis “the turning point in the healthcare debate.”

This week, the CBO ran the numbers on the Democratic cap-and-trade, and in the process, discredited the Republican talking points on the proposal. Cantor’s fickle love for the CBO, predictably, faded quickly.

“Today, now we are reading the reports that have come out this week that CBO has now reduced its cost estimate to say that it is only $160 that families will be impacted by the cap and trade bill. I think that now CBO has now entered the realm of losing its credibility.”

Um, congressman? If you believe the CBO when it tells you what you want to hear, and reject it when it delivers bad news, it’s not the Congressional Budget Office that’s “losing credibility.”

Not that Cantor had any left to lose, o’ course.

Finally, we have a hint that the Cons in Congress are preaching to a very small choir indeed:

Okay, so it may be too early to call this a trend. But it’s increasingly obvious that the GOP Congressional leadership is at risk of being at odds with even Republican rank and file voters on key issues.

Case in point: Cap-and-trade. New poll numbers from The Washington Post show that there’s strong support across the board for a cap-and-trade approach to curbing greenhouse gas emissions. While this approach is currently opposed by Republican leaders, a surprising 60% of liberal and moderate Republicans favor it.

Health care? Check. This week’s New York Times poll found that even 50% of Republicans back a public insurance option as part of health care reform, a position strongly opposed by GOP leaders.

Even Republican strategists acknowledge this problem. David Hill, who has polled for Republican candidates for years, wrote yesterday that on health care, there is a “dangerous gap between the opinions of Republicans in Congress and Republican followers.”

But, of course, that just means that 50-60% of Republican followers aren’t real Americans, right? It couldn’t possibly mean that the Cons in Congress are representing only Looneyville, rather than a broad Republican base.

It’ll be interesting to see just how many voters they end up with there at the end. I have a feeling we won’t need very many numbers to represent the total…

Today’s opining on the public discourse.

Remember how I said there was too much yummy stupidity to merely skim? I was ever so right. Prepare for a feast, my darlings.

Cons’ little bubble of personal “reality” may be shrinking faster than most Americans’ bank accounts, but they’re still happily living the lie:

Some opponents of a public option in health care reform seem to have a new strategy: pretend they know what Americans want — and ignore evidence to the contrary.

On Fox News this morning, for example, Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), arguably the chamber’s most far-right member, insisted, “Americans don’t want more government in health care.”

Yesterday, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) made the same argument in a bizarre piece in the Washington Examiner: “The President’s proposal would empower bureaucrats — rather than patients and doctors — to make key medical decisions, limit treatments, and ration care, raise taxes, and kill jobs. The American people simply don’t support it.”

There are only two instances in which these absurd claims would be true. Either numerous polls all showing sustained American popular support for a public option would have to be incorrect:

Um, yeah, not likely.

Or, America would have to consist of about 76,750,000 people, because that’s roughly the number who sneer at the public option. Alas, the United States government seems to think there’s nearly 307,000,000 Americans, and strangely doesn’t define “American” as “someone who swallows Con bullshit whole.” Weird, I know, but there it is.

And yet Sen. Chuck Grassley seems to think there’s some sort of support for Con fuckwittery:

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), ranking member on the Senate Finance Committee and arguably the lead Republican negotiator on health care, argued on MSNBC this morning that a public option was a deal-breaker for the minority party. Period.

If the legislative package is going to be “bipartisan,” Grassley said, “We need to make sure that there’s no public option.”

You know what, Chuck? I think we can pass on the bipartisanship this time around, thanks anyway. Go ahead, take your ball and go home. Cry yourself to sleep. 75% of Americans care bunches, really.

Speaking of sniveling crybabies who don’t quite get where the vast majority of Americans are coming from, check out Rep. Shadegg:

Rep. John Shadegg says all Americans should “boycott ABC” for the network’s plan to air a “one-sided” townhall meeting on President Obama’s healthcare plan.

The Arizona Republican tells The Hill that it’s “outrageous” that the news network intends to air a 90-minute primetime special Wednesday evening featuring Obama talking about his plan, which includes a “government-run” option.

“I think every Americian should boycott ABC, if they aren’t going to cover both sides of the issue,” Shadegg said. He is a member of the Energy and Commerce Health subcommittee.

Shadegg said that the idea of “airing the issue is wonderful, but the idea of making it one-sided is outrageous.”

His fellow House Republicans were upset as well.

I’m sure they were. And you know, me and my fellow 75% of Americans are just devastated they’re unhappy. We’ll be weeping all through Obama’s townhall, I’m sure.

You know, Arizona’s elected officials aren’t exactly covering themselves in glory, here, and it’s not just on healthcare that they’re being the usual bunch of outrageous fucking idiots:

The Senate has yet to confirm a number of President Obama’s nominees to various State Department posts. One of those nominees, Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-CA) — a champion of repealing the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy — has had a hold placed on her nomination to become Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security. But the hold on her nomination is not anonymous, as Foreign Policy’s Laura Rozen reports:

A blanket hold placed late last week by Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) on all State Department nominees appears to have been lifted on Saturday, administration sources tell The Cable. Kyl’s only remaining hold, The Cable was told, is on Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-CA), President Obama’s nominee to be under secretary of state for arms control and international security.

Kyl’s office confirmed his remaining hold on Tauscher’s nomination. “He honestly has made no guise of his hold on her nomination,” spokesman Ryan Patmintra told The Cable Monday.

[snip]

But last week, Rozen reported that Capitol Hill sources said Kyl “is not satisified with the information he has been receiving from the administration on the progress of arms control negotiations with Russia”:

“Kyl’s beef and the general Republican argument now emerging against the Obama administration’s nuclear weapons policy is that they are rushing to conclude a new agreement with Russia on strategic arms levels before their Nuclear Posture Review [NPR] is complete,” a Democratic congressional source said.

[snip]

Nuclear non-proliferation expert Joseph Cirincione told ThinkProgress, “Senator Kyl wants to delay any arms reductions until the Nuclear Posture Review, then work the process so the NPR makes only minor changes to the existing nuclear arsenal.”

Indeed, if Obama m
akes a deal with Russian President Medvedev to drastically reduce nuclear stockpiles, Kyl — who is against reducing America’s nuclear weapons — won’t have much of an opportunity to challenge it. Kyl would rather play domestic politics with the NPR and have a chance at limiting nuclear reductions before any U.S.-Russia binding agreement. Thus, it appears Kyl is using the NPR as an excuse to block U.S. negotiations with Russia, and is holding up Tauscher’s nomination as blackmail.

Isn’t he just charming? He wants to make sure Amurka has plenty of nukes for the kiddies, and he’s not afraid to use extortion to get them. Awesome, Arizona. Thanks for sending this assclown to the Senate.

Speaking of assclowns… Glenn Beck’s been getting steadily more frothing insane, but you know there’s something wrong with a man when he starts playing with dolls on national television:

Now, I can appreciate the notion that some news stories are hard to explain with just text or words. Graphics, charts, video, etc. can help a news consumer understand an item with more depth.

But when Glenn Beck starts playing with dolls on national television to go after ACORN, explaining a “story” that really isn’t especially complicated, it’s a helpful reminder of the caliber of “reporting” we’re getting from Fox News.

I know. Scary, isn’t it? And it’s not like his dumbassery stops there. Oh, know. This is Glenn Beck, after all. He’s got to go whole hog:

Last week Glenn Beck scoffed at the notion that he had been promoting the notion of state secession, somehow overlooking the fact that he had in fact been promoting the notion of state secession.

So yesterday, to further demonstrate his skepticism, he invited on his Fox News program a fellow named Dan Miller, who runs the Texas Nationalist Movement. As you can see, he provided two full segments of the show to an interview that most kindly could be called “credulous,” and less kindly would make a crude reference to teabagging.

And indeed the Teabaggers’ Parties was an important topic, because Beck raised it himself at the end:

Beck: You actually believe the Tea Parties are, um, are the “gateway drug” to secession. Is that true?

Miller: Well, I think that’s definitely the case for a lot of folks. Because, you know, the Tea Parties have been about venting frustration and anger with what’s going on in Washington, D.C. And what we’re seeing here is a lot of people are looking for solutions, and the solution for Texas is Texas, independence.

Beck: Unbelievable.

Well, it’s nice of them to admit that the Tea Parties in fact have been a prime recruiting ground for all kinds of extremist right-wing belief systems, most notably those arising from the “Patriot” movement of the 1990s.

Nice one.

Finally, I must leave you with a terrifying piece of news, that pretty much sums up the current desperately sad state of the Republican party:

It’s really striking how much more popular Sarah Palin is among Republicans than just about any other GOP figure. She really rules the GOP!

Take a look at her latest numbers in the new Pew poll (click to enlarge):

Palin is just crushing other GOPers in popularity among Republicans, with 73%, leading runner-up Mitt Romney by 16 points. And that’s in spite of all Romney’s recent Mittmentum.

That’s right. The most popular Con in the party is the one who can’t even string a coherent sentence together.

No wonder Glenn Beck feels secure playing with pink Barbie houses and the Cons feel great blackmailing the government for nuclear weapons while railing against an overwhelmingly popular health care reform option. If 73% of your base thinks Palin’s the great white hope, you can be pretty well assured they’ll let you get away with anything.

Too bad for the Cons that the base ain’t big enough to sustain them in national elections…

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Today’s opining on the public discourse.

Another day, another ridiculous hissy fit from the right:

I guess it was obvious that there’d be a flap surrounding Nico Pitney’s question at the White House press conference this afternoon, but that doesn’t give this “story” merit. Here’s the latest:

Some reporters and right wing bloggers are accusing the White House of “coordinating” a question with The Huffington Post at today’s press conference, suggesting this shows the White House cozying up to a lefty news outlet.

The White House, however, says No Dice. White House officials tell me they didn’t ask the Huffington Post reporter, Nico Pitney, what his question would be, and didn’t know what Pitney would be asking.

Of course not. For all the speculation about “coordination,” there’s even less here than meets the eye.

Let’s talk a little about this process. Sometimes, presidents call on specific journalists because they know, not what the question will be, but what the subject matter is likely to cover. At one of his press conferences, for example, Obama called on a reporter from Stars & Stripes. Did the president know what the question was going to be? No. Did Obama know it was likely to have something to do with U.S. troops? You bet. And why is that? Because that’s what Stars & Stripes covers.

I know these poor fuckwits are having a hard time digging up real controversies to whine about, but the level of dumbassitude’s getting a little high. They might want to ease off before even the craziest conservatives notice they’re full of shit.

While we’re on the subject of outrageously stupid manufactured controversies, let’s make note of the fact that while the birther movement is rabidly stupid, Congressional reps who fall for the birther dumbfuckery are an order of magnitude more rabidly stupid:

Rep. Bill Posey’s (R-FL) bill aimed at casting doubt over the citizenship status of President Obama appears to be gaining momentum within the Republican Party. The bill would require candidates for President to supply their birth certificates to the Federal Elections Commission to be eligible to run. Placating fringe elements of the right-wing movement who refuse to believe that President Obama was born in America, Posey himself has refused to say if he believes that the President was born in Hawaii.

Though initially it appeared he had little support, Posey eventually gained Rep. John Culberson (R-TX), Rep. Randy Neugebauer (R-TX), Rep. Robert Goodlatte (R-VA), and Rep. John Carter (R-TX) as cosponsors. Last week, Rep. John Campbell (R-CA) also signed on as a sponsor of the bill, while Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) said that he would support the bill if it reaches the Senate.

Speaking to the Texas-based Chad Hasty radio show yesterday, Neugebauer explained his support for the “birther” movement:

Q: So you believe the President is a US citizen?

NEUGEBAUER: You know I don’t know. I’ve never seen him produce documents that would say one way or another.

Where’s Neugebauer been living, under a box in his backyard along with all the other crazy conspiracy theorists? Obama’s produced documents. Factcheck.org’s produced documents. He’s a better-documented citizen than I am, for fuck’s sake.

I think it’s time for Neugebauer to produce proof he’s an American-born citizen, wouldn’t you say? Just for s & g.

Cons are losing a remarkable amount of cred among the public recently, most likely due to the continued rabid insanity they’ve displayed. They’re losing ground in ways none of us thought they could:

Does anyone else find this number from the internals of the new Washington Post/ABC News poll just stunning?

Who do you trust to do a better job handling the threat of terrorism — (Obama) or the (Republicans in Congress)?

Obama 55%

Republicans in Congress 34%

A year ago, when the conventional wisdom held during the campaign that terrorism was a weak point for Obama, would you have predicted that he would come to hold a 21-point lead over the GOP on the issue?

Hoped, yes – predicted, no. Good to see my fellow Americans waking up and smelling the coffee, there. That’s gotta strike fear in the hearts of the Cons.

Things like this probably won’t help them regain credibility in most citizens’ eyes:

Today, former TP member Judd Legum reports that the Republican Women of Anne Arundel County, “one of Maryland’s most prominent Republican organizations,” has launched a vicious attack on President Obama. Featured prominently on the front page of the group’s website is a letter from RWAAC President Joyce E. Thoman, who explicitly equates Obama with Hitler:

Obama and Hitler have a great deal in common in my view. Obama and Hitler use the “blitzkrieg” method to overwhelm their enemies. FAST, CARPET BOMBING intent on destruction. Hitler’s blitzkrieg bombing destroyed many European cities – quickly and effectively. Obama is systematically destroying the American economy and with it AMERICA. First the banking/investment industry, next private enterprise (GM and Chrysler) and now HEALTH CARE. And he is working on grabbing more of the American economy with his environmental extremism!

When a “prominent Republican organization” starts sounding like the whackiest of whackaloons, you know the party’s in deep shit. The majority of people usually back away when they’re faced with foaming-at-the-mouth batshit insanity. Hell of a way to rebuild a political party, innit?

And then you have one of their great white hopes for a 2012 comeback acting like some lunatic in a bad midlife crisis movie:

By late last night, after news outlets picked up on the fact that no one seemed to know where South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford (R) has been since Thursday, the governor’s office issued a statement hoping to “clarify” matter. Sanford, his aides said, is hiking the Appalachian Trail and is completely fine. Nothing to worry about. Mystery solved. Move along, nothing to see here.

But, when looking at the details of the story, and watching how various explanations evolved yesterday, the story of the disappearing governor appears more, not less, bizarre.

Remember, early on, the governor’s wife conceded that she doesn’t know where her husband is, but said Sanford needed some time away “to write something.” The governor’s office said he decided to “recharge” after the legislative session, and has decided to “work on a couple of projects that have fallen by the wayside.” A few hours later, that version of events changed, and the governor is now “hiking.”

But even now, no one — not his wife, not his staff, not his security detail — seems to know exactly where Mark Sanford is, and no one from his family or administration has actually spoken to him. His spokesperson’s statement last night conceded that his office is clueless as to his exact whereabouts.

“I apologize for taking so long to send this update, and was waiting to see if a more definitive idea of what part of the trail he was on before we did so,” said Joel Sawyer, the Republican governor’s spokesman. Sawyer added that he will update the public on Sanford’s specific whereabouts as soon as he knows them.

South Carolina Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer (R) called Sanford’s office yesterday afternoon and demanded an “immediate phone conversation with the governor.” That didn’t happen.

“That request was denied because the governor’s chief of staff does not know where the governor is, and has not communicated with the governor since he left South Carolina last Thursday,” Bauer said. “I cannot take lightly that his staff has not had communication with him for more than four days, and that no one, including his own family, knows his whereabouts.”

But hey, at least he [allegedly] finally called:

Joel Sawyer, communications director for the governor’s office, then said the governor had been on the Appalachian Trail. Sawyer said staffers heard from Sanford on Tuesday morning and the governor plans to return Wednesday.

Sawyer said the governor is surprised by all the attention.

Really? The chief executive of a state runs off without telling anyone where he’s going, taking a vehicle full of weapons with him, and is last seen at an airport 80 miles from the trail he’s supposedly hiking, turns off his phone, and goes completely missing, and he’s surprised people wonder what the fuck happened to him?

If he’s one of the rising stars of the GOP, the GOP is well and truly fucked.

Today’s opining on the public discourse.

Okay, this is rich. Apparently, Gov. Mark Sanford’s in such a snit over being forced to take stimulus money that he’s run away in a huff:

This is probably nothing, but it certainly seems odd.

The whereabouts of Gov. Mark Sanford have been unknown to state officials since Thursday, and some state leaders are questioning who is in charge of the executive office.

Neither the governor’s office nor the State Law Enforcement Division, which provides security for governors, has been able to reach Sanford after he left the mansion in a black SLED Suburban SUV, said Sen. Jake Knotts and three others familiar with the situation but who declined to be identified.

Sanford’s last known whereabouts were near Atlanta, where a mobile telephone tower picked up a signal from his phone, authorities said.

First lady Jenny Sanford told The Associated Press today her husband has been gone for several days and she doesn’t know where he is.

Mark Sanford’s wife doesn’t know where he is? Neither do the state officials responsible for his security? What’s more, both the governor’s personal and professional phones have been turned off, and messages have gone unreturned since Thursday.

The governor’s wife said the governor needed some time away “to write something.” Sanford’s office issued a statement today saying that Sanford decided to “recharge” after the legislative session, and has decided to “work on a couple of projects that have fallen by the wayside.”

All from an undisclosed location, a la Dick Cheney. And remember, this putz who’s dodged out on his executive responsibilities for several days, with no one left in charge, leaving most people in the dark as to where he is or when he’ll be back, not to mention leaving no way to contact him, is rumored as a GOP hopeful for Prez.

Unfuckingbelievable.

Speaking of stimulus, the RNC might want to check what’s loaded in their guns before firing away:

Hmmm, this one’s a bit odd. Earlier today, the Republican National Committee blasted out to reporters a research document with a link to an article in USA Today reporting that much of the stimulus package’s construction money will be spent in the districts of well-connected lawmakers.

The RNC document cited the piece to argue that the stimulus cash is nothing but pork and isn’t going where it’s needed. “Where Are The Jobs?” the document demanded. “Where Is The Money? Why All The Pork?”

But there’s only one problem: If you click through the link provided by the RNC to the article itself, you find that it actually targets a Republican Senator, Thad Cochran of Mississippi, as a primary recipient of this pork.

[snip]

In a sense, this is a variation of what we saw earlier this year: Republicans in Congress condemning the stimulus package but then turning right around and taking stimulus cash for their states and districts. Only now it’s coming out of the RNC. Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy…

Foot, meet bullet. Awesome job, RNC!

From the Dept. of Con Compassion comes this gem:

On CSPAN’s Washington Journal yesterday, former Republican congressman Tom Davis received a call from an elderly woman named Dorothy, who said that because she has diabetes, health insurance companies “reject” her. “They don’t even want to accept me,” said Dorothy. “Is that, is that possible they could get away with that? That seems like discriminating.”

Davis responded by saying that he understood her “dilemma” and that she probably wouldn’t be able to retire by 62 as she desires. Advising her that she’d be alright if she found “a job with a major employer,” Davis said it would be “difficult” on her own:

DAVIS: I don’t think you’ll find, probably be able to find some health insurance but if its with a small business or you’re going out on your own, it’s difficult at this point. There may be a government plan or private plans that are mandated coming out of this that are maybe able to help you. … I don’t know any reason why you shouldn’t be able to find something out there, but you want to look for an employer that has a health care plan. Good luck.

Um, Mr. Davis? It’s your party that’s screaming against government plans. It’s also your party that fucked up the economy to the extent that finding a job with a major employer could be nigh impossible for sick elderly jobless folks. Oh, and then later on you say that “I don’t know that she can count on Washington to solve it for her.” Who, then? That absolutley fabulous private market whose profits depend on leaving sick folk out to dry?

Way to go, bro. What a fucking assmunch.

So, remember when some saner Cons started fretting about attacking a Latina? Looks like the GOP may indeed lose its last vestige of Latino support:

New poll numbers really seem to bear out the fears of some Republicans: The GOP’s quasi-opposition to Sotomayor seems to be hurting the party among Latinos in a big way.

The latest numbers from the nonpartisan Research 2000 for Daily Kos find that only eight percent of Latinos view the party favorably, while an astonishing 86 percent view it unfavorably.

That’s a real shift from what were already pretty bad numbers from before the Sotomayor nominatino, when 11% of Latinos viewed the GOP favorably, and 79% viewed it unfavorably.

Their poor feet are starting to resemble Swiss cheese about now. Perhaps this is why Sen. Corker decided he’d better reschedule toot sweet after can
celling a meeting with Sotomayor. He’d originally blown her off for being ten minutes late due to an ankle injury serious enough to require a cast. Classy, innit he?

Speaking of classy, the events in Iran have unhinged quite a few Cons (and you know Cons are going about this all wrong when Joe Fucking Scarborough takes them to the woodshed for stupidity). Case in point:

Last week, we heard quite a few ridiculous Iran-related comparisons from high-profile Republicans, but former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio, now a U.S. Senate candidate, adds a rather unique twist today.

Twitter hasn’t always been a politician’s best friend, most recently for House Republicans making comparisons of their own political plight to the demonstrators in Iran.

Florida Senate candidate Marco Rubio is the latest to make his own questionable comparison drawn from the Iranian demonstrations — that the protesters would have more success if they had a constitutional right to bear arms.

“I have a feeling the situation in Iran would be a little different if they had a 2nd amendment like ours,” Rubio tweeted.

[snip]

It’s fascinating to watch developments unfold in Iran, and it’s not unusual to think how much better off Iranians would be right now if they enjoyed some of the freedoms Americans already have. But instead of free speech, the right to peaceably assemble, a free press, and the separation between religion and government, Rubio is apparently thinking, “Boy, if those folks only had lots of guns….”

As far as I can tell, Iran seems to already have quite a few well-armed “militias.” Indeed, it’s part of the problem.

Note how Rubio skipped right past all the civil liberties amendments, such as the First Amendment, and skipped right to the one involving guns. I think that says all that needs to be said about the typical Con mentality right there. Might makes right, is that it?

And to think, these fuckwits still think they’re good at governing. Methinks it’s time to start them on the good psychotropics, before they decide they can fly.

Today’s opining on the public discourse.

You know, it really burns my butt when law enforcement agencies give in to Con temper tantrums:

Newsweek had an item the other day that I found a little startling.

In February, the Missouri Information Analysis Center, one of several “fusion” centers created after 9/11 to share intelligence among local, state and federal agencies, issued a “strategic report” warning about a resurgence of the “modern militia movement.” Last week, on the same day that white supremacist James von Brunn allegedly killed a guard at Washington’s Holocaust Memorial Museum, Missouri’s police chief informed legislators that the fusion center had suspended production of such reports. Why? Outcry from conservative activists, who felt they were being tarred too. […]

They may talk about it less in public now, but law-enforcement and intel officials tell NEWSWEEK they’re quietly scrutinizing threats from the far right just as carefully as those from Islamic extremists.

So, let me get this straight. Law enforcement officials decided, on purpose, to stop preparing reports on potentially dangerous radicals, because conservative activists said scrutiny of extremists made them feel put upon? Conservative activists whine about all kinds of things; shouldn’t law enforcement officials ignore them and focus on real threats?

I don’t care how much the perpetual victims on the right scream and howl: if extremists are a danger, and law enforcement agencies want to keep an eye on said extremists, they should do it despite the wailing and moaning from people who are only extreme in their stupidity, not in their follow-through.

Speaking of extreme stupidity, let’s see what the “let them eat cake” pols on the right have to say about programs to feed hungry kids:

In her June newsletter, State Rep. Cynthia Davis (R-MO) provided several “commentaries” to a press release from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services on a summer food program. The program provides “food during the summer for thousands of low-income Missouri children who rely on the school cafeteria for free or reduced-price meals during the regular school year.” Davis, who serves as the chairwoman of the Missouri House Special Standing Committee on Children and Families, questioned whether the program is “warranted,” and extolled the hidden benefits of child hunger:

Who’s buying dinner? Who is getting paid to serve the meal? Churches and other non-profits can do this at no cost to the taxpayer if it is warranted. […] Bigger governmental programs take away our connectedness to the human family, our brotherhood and our need for one another. […] Anyone under 18 can be eligible? Can’t they get a job during the summer by the time they are 16? Hunger can be a positive motivator. What is wrong with the idea of getting a job so you can get better meals? Tip: If you work for McDonald’s, they will feed you for free during your break. […] It really is all about increasing government spending, which means an increase in taxes for us to buy more free lunches and breakfasts.

No, it’s all about making sure kids don’t starve. Starvation isn’t a character-building experience. And sending 16 year-olds to find work in this economy is a sick joke. I remember looking for a job at that age in the boom years of the 90s, and it was godsdamned hard. Imagine how much harder it is when you’re malnourished.

Not that true-red Cons have any sort of ability to empathize. But they do have the ability to scream about deficits when and only when it’s Dems running them up in order to help ordinary people:

I feel like I’m turning into Jerry Seinfeld: Have you ever noticed how only Democratic deficits are a problem? Republicans are sticking to their Frank Luntz-authored talking points on health care (as Chris Dodd points out about Lindsey Graham on This Week this morning) and pulling their beards, speaking ponderously of the horrors of spending money to save money:

STEPHANOPOULOS: Republicans seem to be digging in, Senator Graham, on a couple of big issues. On the issues of taxes to pay for health care, on the issue of a public health insurance plan. But let me show you this New York Times poll that’s just out this morning showing 72 percent, 72 percent of the public supports a government health insurance plan and 57 percent of the public is willing to pay more taxes for universal health care. They seem to be ready for the kind of change that Republicans are fighting.

GRAHAM: Well, it’s just not Republicans, George. The reason you’re not going to have a government run health care pass the Senate is because it would be devastating for this country. The last thing in the world I think Democrats and Republicans are going to do at the end of the day is create a government run health care system where you’ve got a bureaucrat standing in between the patient and the doctor. We’ve tried this model — people have tried this model in other countries. The first thing that happens — you have to wait for your care. And in socialized health care models, people have to wait longer to get care and the government begins to cut back on what’s available because of the cost explosion.

Lindsey, you silly thing! I know you’re only saying what Frank told you to say, but since you’ve apparently had government-run health care most of your adult life (in the military and in public office), you probably don’t know: We already have bureaucrats standing between us and our doctor. We already wait for care, and it’s already rationed. That’s why these talking points from Frank aren’t working – they’re not our reality.

So sadly true. Steve Benen adds:

It’s why I’ll take Graham’s opinion on this far more seriously just as soon as he explains why he’d like to see Medicare and the Veterans Health Administration hospitals eliminated because of their “devastating” effects for the country.

And while he’s at it, maybe he can unveil a proposal to prevent unaccountable insurance company bureaucrats from standing in between patients and doctors. I can’t wait to see what he comes up with.

Neither can I. However, I won’t hold my breath.

Here’s a blast from the past for ye. Remember how Cons were screaming bloody murder over voter registration fraud? Remember how they couldn’t make a damned thing stick against ACORN? Wanna see who was actually perpetrating voter fraud? Here ye go (h/t):

What’s perhaps most interesting here is what isn’t mentioned in
this story, as written on the Los Angeles Times’ “L.A. Now” blog. First, here’s their entire blog item…

The owner of a voter-registration company pleaded guilty Tuesday to voter-registration fraud, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.

Laguna Beach resident Mark Jacoby, who collects signatures for petition drives, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor and was sentenced to three years’ probation and 30 days of service with the California Department of Transportation.

Jacoby, owner of Young Political Majors, registered to vote at Los Angeles addresses that were not his own. State law requires petition circulators to be qualified voters. Jacoby will also be required to show proof he is registered at his correct address.

And what they didn’t bother to mention in that story?…Amongst other things, the fact that Jacoby and Young Political Majors were hired by the California Republican Party to head up their voter registration efforts in the state.

Yup. But then, hypocrisy’s kinda the norm for that bunch, innit?

Today’s opining on the public discourse.

Before we get started, a shout out: Happy birthday to Dusty Morgan, my main character! I’ll let you know how old she is just as soon as I’ve decided what year she was actually born in.

Her name means “valliant fighter from the edge of the sea.” Which is a good enough segue into what no longer ends at the edge of the sea, as per hypocritical Cons:

I remember a time — I believe it’s known as “2001 through 2008” — when congressional Republicans believed politics had to end at the water’s edge. They also believed that the United States couldn’t have individual members of Congress coming up with their own foreign policies — these responsibilities were in the hands of the president.

Ah, the good old days.

House Republican Caucus Chairman Mike Pence (Ind.) has spent the last few days advocating in support of a resolution, weighing in on developments in Iran. Pence has said he realizes where President Obama has “drawn the line,” but he “respectfully disagrees” with the administration. Pence added that the U.S. can’t “stay neutral,” so his resolution is necessary to “condemn the violence.”

In our reality, Obama has already expressed “deep concerns about the election,” and publicly shared his concerns about “violence directed at peaceful protesters,” but maybe Pence wasn’t paying attention. Maybe he doesn’t care. Maybe he wants to intervene in such a way as to undermine U.S. foreign policy, just to see what happens.

[snip]

Watching this unfold, I am reminded of something Matt Yglesias wrote earlier this year: “The larger issue … is that Mike Pence is a moron, and any movement that would hold the guy up as a hero is bankrupt…. I would refer you to this post from September about the earth-shattering ignorance and stupidity of Mike Pence…. [I]t’s really staggering. In my admittedly brief experience talking to him, his inability to grasp the basic contours of policy question was obvious and overwhelming.”

Speaking of earth-shattering stupidity, we’ve all been total idiots. Here we’ve been thinking this healthcare reform stuff was going to be all difficult, when really, it’s totally simple. Just ask RNC Chairman Michael Steele, who presented the solution while hosting Bill Bennett’s radio show:

The way to solve the health care crisis, Steele said in another portion of the show, is “not that complicated”: All we have to do is “figure out who” doesn’t have access to health care, “and give them access!”

STEELE: So if it’s a cost problem, it’s easy: Get the people in a room who have the most and the most direct impact on cost, and do the deal. Do the deal. It’s not that complicated.

If it’s an access question, people don’t have access to health care, then figure out who they are, and give them access! Hello?! Am I missing something here? If my friend Trevor has access to health care, and I don’t, why do I need to overhaul the entire system so I can get access he already has? why don’t you just focus on me and get me access?

Wow, how did we miss it? I mean, it’s a brilliant idea – right up there with McCain’s “stop the bullshit” approach to Mideast diplomacy. However could the American people have decided that these super-smart men aren’t fit to govern? They’ve got the solutions to all our problems!

[/sarcasm]

Elsewhere on Bill Bennett’s show, Steele informed a caller of the perils of public health care:

The context was Steele’s response to a call from a physician with a question about preventive care.

“Well you’ll get issued, Doc, you’re gonna issue, to your patients, a health care card that’s gonna be part of a national ID system that, you know, every time I charge something or use that card, it’s going to show up on a grid what I’ve done and what I have failed to do, according to the government plan. So the government will know whether or not I’ve had my physical at the appropriate time and then probably some health police will come knocking on my door telling me I’m now costing the system money because I haven’t, you know, gone and done my preventive care.”

Now, in our reality, none of this makes a lick of sense. Steele’s dystopian nightmare about “health police” is purely a figment of his bizarre imagination.

I’d advise Mr. Steele to shut his inane mouth before he destroys his last shred of credibility, but I think that perished sometime in April. So, Mr. Steele, by all means: continue the entertainment.

Elsewhere in the idiotsphere, Cons have gotten themselves all excited over the administration’s firing of AmeriCorps Inspector General Gerald Walpin. They’d dearly love to believe this is the scandal they’ve been waiting for, a little something to provide tit-for-tat over the Attorney General firings. But even before they’ve finished clambering up on their soapboxes for the grandstand to end all grandstands, word arrives that the show’s over:

The White House’s decision to fire the AmeriCorps inspector general was set in motion by a unanimous request it received from the board of the Corporation for National and Community Service, which asked the White House to review the IG’s performance, according to a board member.

The firing “would not have played itself out” were it not for the fact that the board raised concerns about the IG, Gerald Walpin, after the May 20 board meeting, a board member told TPMmuckraker. The board member added that the White House had no role in encouraging the board to make the review request, calling it “completely board-initiated.” The White House had cited the request from the board in its letter to Congress explaining the reason for Walpin’s firing.

So much for politically-motivated firings and all that. Not that the Cons are
gonna climb down off those soapboxes – facts never stop them from screaming bloody murder – but they’ll look utterly ridiculous bleating about this bullshit, and that pleases me.

How do I know they’ll keep yawping about non-issues? Because they have yet to show the least little sign of growing up:

If you thought the Party of No had already shown us the outer limits of what whiney-ass victims they could be, think again:

Republicans angry over what they regarded as mistreatment by the majority Democrats retaliated by demanding roll call votes 52 times on one bill, a $64 billion spending bill for law enforcement and science programs next year.

They asked for votes on some two dozen amendments, even noncontroversial ones that passed unanimously. Then they asked for revotes. Then they demanded votes on whether they could vote for a third time. Once they ran out of amendments they came up with a couple more revisions to the bill they could vote on.

I think it’s time to retire the Party of No label. The Party of Terrible Two Year-Olds fits ever so much better.

Today’s opining on the public discourse.

There’s good news today, my darlings. Americans aren’t as stupid as Cons think they are:

I’ve seen a few Republican blogs today crowing about the latest national polls, which show some lukewarm support for some of White House’s policy priorities. There are a couple of numbers, though, that should give them pause.

For one thing, President Obama’s approval ratings still look quite strong. In the New York Times/CBS poll, for example, the president’s national rating stood at 63% support, the same as it was a month ago. In the WSJ/NBC poll, Obama fared slightly worse, with 56%, which is still not a bad rating under the circumstances.

But what’s gone largely overlooked is the numbers for the Republican Party. Consider this tidbit from the NYT/CBS poll:

While Republicans have steadily increased their criticism of Mr. Obama, particularly on the budget deficit, the poll found that the Republican Party is viewed favorably by only 28 percent of those polled, the lowest rating ever in a New York Times/CBS News poll. In contrast, 57 percent said that they had a favorable view of the Democratic Party. [emphasis added]

The WSJ/NBC poll added:

25 percent hold a favorable view of the Republican Party, which is an all-time low for it in the poll. 45 percent hold a favorable view of the Democratic Party. [emphasis added]

Pretty pathetic showing, innit? Looks like the majority of Americans aren’t all that happy with the GOP becoming the Party of Incompetent Fuckwits. Imagine that.

There’s other bad news for Cons on the poll front:

If this one doesn’t stiffen the spines of Dems who are wavering on whether to include a public health insurance option in the reform package, nothing will.

A new poll by a nonpartisan, D.C.-based research group finds truly overwhelming support for the public option. The kicker: The poll was bankrolled partly by previous opponents of health care reform, including one of the nation’s best-known insurance companies.

The poll — which was just released by the Employee Benefit Research Institute, a D.C. policy think tank — finds that a majority (53%) strongly back the availability of a public plan, while another 30% “somewhat” support it. That’s a total of 83% in favor of a public plan — a staggeringly large majority.

Even more interesting, guess who paid for the poll? From the release:

This survey was made possible with support from AARP, American Express, Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, Buck Consultants, Chevron, Deere & Company, IBM, Mercer, National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, Principal Financial Group, Schering-Plough Corp., Shell Oil Company, The Commonwealth Fund, and Towers Perrin.

Not exactly a band of raging lefties. The American Association of Retired Persons and Blue Cross Blue Shield were among the opponents of HillaryCare in the 1990s.

Not to mention, it’s amusing to see just how much traction the Cons’ scare tactics about evil socialized medicine have gained: zilch. Pretty piss-poor return on talking points there. Could it have something to do with the fact that 75% of Americans think Cons are full of shit?

Speaking of Cons, health care, and raging stupid, let’s watch Steve Benen and Paul Krugman put the Smack-o-Matic to good use:

It’s always struck me as something of a no-brainer — comparative effectiveness research helps point to the most reliable medical treatments. To conservatives, though, CER is a nefarious scheme that will lead to bureaucratic overlords dictating which patients are eligible to receive which services.
This is especially relevant in the context of Medicare and Medicaid. Sens. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), and Pat Roberts (R-Kansas) introduced a bill yesterday to make sure the government doesn’t use CER to deny coverage for treatments deemed ineffective.

Paul Krugman helps highlight some of the more conspicuous flaws in the Republican senators’ approach.

1. Politicians who rail against wasteful government spending are taking action to prevent the government from reining in … wasteful spending.

2. Politicians who warn that the burden of entitlements is killing the federal budget are stepping in to block … the single most painless route to reducing the growth of entitlements.

3. They’re doing it in the name of avoiding “rationing of health care” … but they’re specifically addressing taxpayer-funded care. If you want to go out and buy a medically useless treatment, Medicare won’t stop you.

4. These same politicians are, of course, opposed to efforts to expand coverage. In other words, it’s evil for government to “ration care” by only paying for things that work; it is, however, perfectly OK, indeed virtuous, to ration care by refusing to pay for any care at all.

Yep, it’s that bad.

I’d say it’s the icky science that scared Cons into sounding like complete lackwits on this issue, but inconsistency and dumbassery are GOPSOP. I’m afraid this is probably normal behavior. And those four points might be useful things to have in hand the next time you have to discuss health care with a Conservative. The looks on their dear little faces should be priceless.

Here’s another fun tidbit, useful to have to hand the next time some clueless soul tries to proclaim that the Cons are not in the pockets of megacorporations:

Leaders of a new GOP group, the “Rural American Solutions Group,” are distributing a document attacking climate change legislation as an economic burden to most of the country. As it turns out, the information in the press release was provided to the Republican congressmen by Peabody Energy, a juggernau
t of the coal industry. Staffers for GOP Reps. Frank Lucas (R-OK), Sam Graves (R-MO), and Doc Hastings (R-WA) are emailing around a map that purports to detail “how the Democrats’ National Energy Tax unfairly targets rural Americans.”

[snip]

Two employees of Peabody Energy are listed in the metadata of the map document: Chairman and CEO Greg Boyce and Communications Manager Chris Taylor. The congressmen opposing climate change legislation — Reps. Lucas, Graves, and Hastings — are simply copying-and-pasting information that has been directly fed to them by Peabody Energy.
My own dear Dad used to work for Peabody, so I know just enough about the company to understand that if Peabody says coal’s good for the environment and there’s no such thing as global warming, it’s about as believable as Cons claiming they’re watching out for poor folk.

If you yourself buy the claims of either entity, I would like to discuss the oceanfront property in Arizona I picked up while I was on vacation down there. I’m willing to sell cheap, due to the economic climate, you see.

Today’s opining on the public discourse.

Well, my darlings, I’m back on the job after over two weeks away. We’ll see how well this goes. Keep in mind that I’m working a night shift while my body’s on day shift, and I’m dog-fucking tired after so many weeks on the road. Getting too old for this shit, I am. Blame typos on the after-effects of vacation.

At least I didn’t have to hunt for stupidty to bash. It all came trotting up with its pants down. For instance, take the GOP’s shiny new health care reform plan:

Remember when House Republicans, on April Fools’ Day, released a budget with no numbers in it? And were widely mocked and ridiculed for being so fundamentally unserious about public policy that their budget was made up entirely of odd charts and vacuous text?

They haven’t learned their lesson.

House Republicans presented a four-page outline of their health care reform plan Wednesday but said they didn’t know yet how much it would cost, how they would pay for it and how many of the nearly 50 million Americans without insurance would be covered by it.

And then they whine about how nobody ever takes them seriously. Even my exhausted brain has no trouble understanding why that might be.

Eric Cantor, however, seems to have problems comprehending common English words:

GOP Rep Eric Cantor, perhaps feeling the competition from Twitter-happy GOP colleagues, has now started tweeting heavily, and in a tweet moments ago, he expressed solidarity with the Iranian opposition and hit Obama for “silence” on Iran:

Tehran violence is a horrible human tragedy. Administration silence is troubling.

Silence? Obama has said he has “deep concerns” about the Iranian election, and has also said he’s “deeply troubled” by the violence. But Obama has tried simultaneously to avoid being seen to be “meddling” in Iranian affairs.

Poor Eric. Someone needs to buy that man a dictionary. Not that such a thing would make him any less of an absolute ass.

Actually, we may need to start a fund for the majority of the GOP. I wonder if Sylvan has adult learning courses? These fuckwits need some remedial education asap:

It’s never been clear to me why Republicans present themselves as members of the “tough” and “strong” party. Given all the time they spend feeling sorry for themselves, the GOP seems to send the opposite message.

Rep. John Culberson (R-Tex.), for example, is annoyed about the number of amendments considered in the House to appropriation bills. He’s so annoyed, in fact, that he’s tweeting about the similarities between House Republicans and Iranian demonstrators.

“Good to see Iranian people move mountains w social media, shining sunlight on their repressive govt – Texans support their bid for freedom”

“Oppressed minorities includeHouseRepubs: We are using social media to expose repression such as last night’s D clampdown shutting off amends”

I see. Iranian dissidents are protesting a presidential election that may have been stolen from them by an oppressive regime, only to face threats and violence. At least eight Iranians have already been killed. They’re using Twitter to shine a light on developments in a country that’s cracking down on free press and free speech. House Republicans, meanwhile, want more amendments considered on appropriations bills. I can’t believe I didn’t notice the “repressive” similarities.

Click here for a sampling of other Cons having trouble understanding what “repressive” means. They’ve certainly failed Analogy 101, but they’ve got an A+ in Playing the Victim 201.

As for upper-division Hypocrisy, I do believe Sen. Ensign has graduated as the class valedictorian:

Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t much care what Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) does in his personal life. What he does in his bedroom is his business.

But the larger context of this story matters a great deal. Stupid personal mistakes are easily overlooked; breathtaking hypocrisy isn’t.

Sen. John Ensign (Nev.), considered a rising star in the Republican Party, yesterday acknowledged an extramarital affair with a former campaign staffer who is married to one of the lawmaker’s former legislative aides.

Ensign, a member of the Senate Republican leadership, disclosed the affair at a hastily arranged news briefing in Las Vegas, his home town…. “I deeply regret and am very sorry for my actions,” Ensign said, reading from a prepared statement and leaving without taking questions.

The details of the affair are rather salacious — Ensign was in a relationship for much of 2008 with a woman on his staff, who was married to a man who was also on his staff — but those circumstances are really only relevant to the people directly involved in the relationship.

Of far greater interest is Ensign’s hypocrisy. When Bill Clinton’s adultery came to public light, Ensign not only voted to remove the president from office, but insisted the president should resign as a result of the personal scandal. When former Sen. Larry Craig was caught up in a sex scandal, Ensign not only called for Craig’s ouster, but led the charge against him.

Ensign has also been a fierce opponent of marriage equality, and supported a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. In 2004, the Nevada Republican lectured his colleagues, “Marriage is the cornerstone on which our society was founded. For those who say that the Constitution is so sacred that we cannot or should not adopt the Federal Marriage Amendment, I would simpl
y point out that marriage, and the sanctity of that institution, predates the American Constitution and the founding of our nation.”

And did I mention that Ensign is a longtime member of the Promise Keepers, a conservative evangelical group that promotes strong families and marriages?

Sen. Ensign may want to see a doctor about that plank in his eye. It’s awfully big.

Of course, seeing a doctor may be a problem, as insurance companies have a bad habit of dropping coverage for sick folks – a habit they don’t plan on quitting any time soon:

This is what happens when you don’t allow real competition into the picture. It’s also what happens when you have a for-profit healthcare system:

Executives of three of the nation’s largest health insurers told federal lawmakers in Washington on Tuesday that they would continue canceling medical coverage for some sick policyholders, despite withering criticism from Republican and Democratic members of Congress who decried the practice as unfair and abusive.

The hearing on the controversial action known as rescission, which has left thousands of Americans burdened with costly medical bills despite paying insurance premiums, began a day after President Obama outlined his proposals for revamping the nation’s healthcare system.

An investigation by the House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations showed that health insurers WellPoint Inc., UnitedHealth Group and Assurant Inc. canceled the coverage of more than 20,000 people, allowing the companies to avoid paying more than $300 million in medical claims over a five-year period.

It also found that policyholders with breast cancer, lymphoma and more than 1,000 other conditions were targeted for rescission and that employees were praised in performance reviews for terminating the policies of customers with expensive illnesses.

[snip]

The executives — Richard A. Collins, chief executive of UnitedHealth’s Golden Rule Insurance Co.; Don Hamm, chief executive of Assurant Health and Brian Sassi, president of consumer business for WellPoint Inc., parent of Blue Cross of California — were courteous and matter-of-fact in their testimony.

But they would not commit to limiting rescissions to only policyholders who intentionally lie or commit fraud to obtain coverage, a refusal that met with dismay from legislators on both sides of the political aisle.

Noper. Not when they can turn a tidy profit by dropping you like a hot rock at the first sign of illness.

You might want to keep things like this in mind while the GOP prances about touting private insurance as the answer to America’s every ill. As in so many other things, they’re dead fucking wrong about the miracles of the market.