Thread: GOP: now & in the future

The GOP are on track to retain their Congressional majority though. More gridlock ahead.

Originally Posted by sabang

Lets keep things simple for the populist supporters of the GOP- Tea Party = Kiss of Death You alienate the Middle ground, you lose.

So very true, as evidenced today. Until they find a guy who can appeal to anybody but a white man over 40 they are going to be in trouble.

Where is Boon Mee today?

Originally Posted by aging one

Where is Boon Mee today?

Licking his wounds I would expect. Possibly scanning the blogs to look for excuses over Mitten's loss.

Got me curious though, here's a comment from the Mittens thread way back in '07 when he was first running for the nomination:

Originally Posted by Boon Mee

It's official. If the National Review endorses Romney, he's going to be the man.

And here's another from earlier this year:

Originally Posted by Boon Mee

They'll be sailing along the river in Egypt when Obama loses.

Should he run for office again he might be well advised to not seek an endorsement from Booners!

Back at it again for, Wednesday’s roundup of last week in the GOPs bubble.

Because of the election the GOP’s War on Women got a little weaker, but it has not ended.

Todd Akin (r) was defeated after voters found out what he thought about women bodies and how they could avert unwanted pregnancies if it was a “legitimate rape”.

Richard Mourdock (r) was defeated after voters found out he said pregnancies from rape are something “God intended.”

Joe Walsh (r) might have lost because of his statement in a debate, he is against abortion “without exception,” even in cases of rape, incest, and when the life of the mother is in danger. When asked by reporters if he means that it’s never medically necessary to save a pregnant woman’s life, Walsh said “absolutely.”

But Joe Walsh is a gift that keeps on giving except to his kids because he doesn’t rule out running for Senate or as Governor, in the future.

Joe the Plumber (r) might have lost his bid for congress because he told an AlterNet reporter that back in the day, when he would run across the likes of Nancy Pelosi, “Those kind of people I usually took behind the woodshed and just beat the livin’ tar out of ‘em.”

Tommy Thompson (r) - Wrong for Wisconsin Women lost his bid for election and it might have something to do with how he felt about women’s issues.

A couple of stories related to Republican business owners and their revenge on their employees, for an Obama win.

A business owner in Las Vegas on Wednesday told a CBS radio station that he had fired 22 of his 114 “mostly Hispanic” employees because President Barack Obama had won re-election.

“I’ve done my share of educating my employees,” business owner “David,” who refused to use his real name on air, told KSNT radio host Kevin Wall. “I never tell them which way to vote. I believe in the free system that we have. I believe in everybody having their right to choose who they want to be president.”

“And I explained that I always put them first and, unfortunately, I’m at a point now — and am being forced to — that I have to worry about me and my family now,” he continued. “I explained to them a month ago, if Obama gets in office, the regulations for Obamacare are going to hurt our business, and I am going to have to make provision to make sure that I have enough money to cover payroll taxes, the additional health care I’m going to have to do. And I explained that to them, and I said, ‘You do what you feel you need to do, but I’m just letting you know this as a warning that this is things I have to think of as a business owner.’ : Las Vegas business owner fires 22 ‘mostly Hispanic’ employees over Obama win

The CEO of Ohio-based Murray Energy Corp., who forced his employees to attend an August rally for failed Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, announced on Wednesday that 156 jobs would have to be cut because of President Barack Obama’s reelection. : CEO who forced workers to attend Romney rally cuts 156 jobs and blames Obama

Pity no one ran against him,………..

Charles Darwin gets 4000 write-in votes in Ga. House election

Voters in the Georgia 10th Congressional district, fed up with their unopposed candidate, instead chose to write in a scientist who's been dead for 130 years.

Remember Rep. Paul Broun, the Georgia Republican whose speech decrying evolution and the Big Bang Theory (the science, not the hit TV show) as lies "from the pit of hell"?

At least a few Georgia voters did: at least 4,000 of them wrote in "Charles Darwin" rather than Broun on their ballots Tuesday.

He isn’t the science guy: Charles Darwin gets 4000 write-in votes against Rep. Paul Broun in Georgia election - UPI.com

Republicans and their supporters who might find themselves looking for another party,………..

Bill Kristol: You know what? It won’t kill the country if Republicans raise taxes a little bit on millionaires. It really won’t, I don’t think.

I don’t really understand why Republicans don’t take Obama’s offer to freeze taxes for everyone below $250,000. Make it $500,000, make it a million.

Really? The Republican party is gonna fall on its sword to defend a bunch of millionaires, half of whom voted Democratic, and half of whom live in Hollywood and are hostile to Republicans?: Weekly Standard Editor Bill Kristol: Raising Millionaires' Taxes 'Won't Kill The Country'

Bobby Jindal: The Republican governor of Louisiana, who signed a bill which allowed intelligent design to be taught alongside evolution, is now calling on Republicans to “stop being the stupid party,” but because of the a party’s anti-science policies.

“We’ve got to make sure that we are not the party of big business, big banks, big Wall Street bailouts, big corporate loopholes, big anything,” Gov. Bobby Jindal told Politico in an interview published on Tuesday. “We cannot be, we must not be, the party that simply protects the rich so they get to keep their toys.”: Jindal to Republicans: ‘Stop being the stupid party’


Thoughts from a Republican mind (?),……………….

A Texas Republican Party official was so distraught over President Obama’s reelection that he suggested the state secede from the rest of the nation and all of the terrible people who supported Obama’s reelection.

As first reported by the Texas Observer and TFN Insider, Peter Morrison, treasurer of the Hardin County Republican Party, wrote in the newsletter he publishes that Obama’s reelection proved the nation is too big and encompasses too many divergent views to be controlled by the federal government. In a vitriolic screed labeling Democrats, “baby-murdering, tax-raising socialists,” Morrison laid out his reasoning for secession.

“Texas was once its own country, and many Texans already think in nationalist terms about their state,” he wrote.


“Why should Vermont and Texas live under the same government?,” he continued. “Let each go her own way in peace, sign a free trade agreement among the states and we can avoid this gut-wrenching spectacle every four years.”

To support his case, Morrison cited General Robert E. Lee and Confederate soldiers who refused to accept Union rule following the Civil War.

“Like the remainder of Lee’s army after Gettysburg, it is our duty to keep fighting to the bitter end, in hopes that Providence might shine upon our cause before it is too late,” he wrote. ”We must contest every single inch of ground and delay the baby-murdering, tax-raising socialists at every opportunity. But in due time, the maggots will have eaten every morsel of flesh off of the rotting corpse of the Republic, and therein lies our opportunity.”

Morrison also explained why Mitt Romney lost the election last week, placing the blame partially on minorities whom he claims are the real racists in America.: Texas GOP official: state should secede from ‘maggots’ who reelected Obama


Who’s to blame,…………….

If “fiscal cliff” talks fail, public blames GOP 53%, Obama 29%

A problem for the rethugs that even breitbart.com sees,…………..

President Barack Obama won Hispanics in 2012 by 44 points (71%-27%) over Mitt Romney, as Latino voters continued the trend of voting for Democrats in greater numbers over the past decade.

In 2004, 44% of Hispanics voted for the Republican ticket. In 2008, only 31% voted for Republican John McCain for president. And in 2012, only 27% voted for Mitt Romney.

According to Pew Hispanic Center, the share of the Hispanic vote in 2012 increased in states such as Arizona, Nevada, Florida, and Colorado.
In Nevada, Obama won 70% of the Hispanic vote. In Colorado, he won 75%.

In Florida, the trends are even more disturbing.

Consider this: Obama won Cuban-Americans, once the staunchest of Republicans, by two points over Romney.

In 2004, 78% of Cubans, the majority of whom are in Florida, voted Republican. In 2012, 47% voted for Mitt Romney, compared to 49% for Obama.

Cubans who came to America from Cuba and became citizens still voted Republican. But Americans of Cuban descent (those who were born here) voted overwhelmingly for Obama.: Hispanic Voters Deserting Republicans

Originally Posted by S Landreth

Republicans and their supporters who might find themselves looking for another party,……….. Bill Kristol: You know what? It won’t kill the country if Republicans raise taxes a little bit on millionaires. It really won’t, I don’t think. I don’t really understand why Republicans don’t take Obama’s offer to freeze taxes for everyone below $250,000. Make it $500,000, make it a million. Really? The Republican party is gonna fall on its sword to defend a bunch of millionaires, half of whom voted Democratic, and half of whom live in Hollywood and are hostile to Republicans?: Weekly Standard Editor Bill Kristol: Raising Millionaires' Taxes 'Won't Kill The Country' Bobby Jindal: The Republican governor of Louisiana, who signed a bill which allowed intelligent design to be taught alongside evolution, is now calling on Republicans to “stop being the stupid party,” but because of the a party’s anti-science policies. “We’ve got to make sure that we are not the party of big business, big banks, big Wall Street bailouts, big corporate loopholes, big anything,” Gov. Bobby Jindal told Politico in an interview published on Tuesday. “We cannot be, we must not be, the party that simply protects the rich so they get to keep their toys.”: Jindal to Republicans: ‘Stop being the stupid party’

This kind of straightforward turn-around on large and deep-seated ideological points of view may be the easiest, least embarrassing way for Republicans who want to survive to respond to the election results--the changing demographics, women's vote, youth, etc.

They don't have to go through that embarrassing stage where they make excuses that everyone knows are phony. It drags out the pain. This way, a quick flip and it's over.

Then they can both get back to bickering and horse trading with Democrats over who gets a what size of a slice of the pie, and who doesn't get any.

^ Agree.

The GOP will have to change on some core issues IMO, and change their style of offense.

Originally Posted by sabang

record food stamp dependency

The food stamp argument is misguided imho.

1980's Democrats: Your trickle down economics plan isn't going to work.
1980's Republicans: Shut up, yes it will.

1990's Democrats: Look, we've managed to clean up the Reagan Recession, but not much wealth is trickling down.
1990's Republicans: Thems fightin' words, how do you like this impeachment?

2000's Democrats: If you keep cutting taxes we're going to have a huge deficit. The gap between rich and poor is getting pretty big.
2000's Republicans: Moar Tax Cuts!! Trickle down will eventually work if we just keep doing it.

Today's Democrats: Ok, seriously, the economy is improving at the top, but the wealth still isn't trickling down! Can we do something different already? There are more folks on food stamps now than ever before!
Today's Republicans: LOL Dumbocrats have caused record numbers of food stamp recipients.

I'm sure it was a great party when there were enough well off folk to prop it up, but now the number of well off folk has dwindled it can never win again unless it adopts more socialist policies.

Originally Posted by Sucubus

the number of well off folk has dwindled

Please define "well off".

If further proof were needed of the two-speed recovery–the rich and the rest–now comes news that America has a record number of millionaires.
According to the annual World Wealth Report from Merill Lynch and Capgemini, the U.S. had 3.1 million millionaires in 2010, up from 2.86 million in 2009. The latest figure tops the pre-crisis peak of three million

The wealth held by these millionaires also hit a record. North American millionaires had a combined wealth of $11.6 trillion, up from $10.7 trillion in 2009.

Originally Posted by quimbian corholla

Originally Posted by Sucubus

the number of well off folk has dwindled

Please define "well off".

If further proof were needed of the two-speed recovery–the rich and the rest–now comes news that America has a record number of millionaires.
According to the annual World Wealth Report from Merill Lynch and Capgemini, the U.S. had 3.1 million millionaires in 2010, up from 2.86 million in 2009. The latest figure tops the pre-crisis peak of three million

The wealth held by these millionaires also hit a record. North American millionaires had a combined wealth of $11.6 trillion, up from $10.7 trillion in 2009.

How about the ones about to lose their tax cuts?

By the way, did everyone know that the Republicans haven't won an election without a Bush or a Nixon on the ticket since 1928?

No wonder the young lad put his name forward recently.

Inside the GOP bubble with a new segment (beside the GOP’s War on Women), The New GOP Outreach Program.

But first the GOP’s continued War on Women.

Republican Congressional Representative from Tennessee Scott DesJarlais who is sitting in the US Congress making reproductive decisions for women, shouldn’t be: Shakesville: Another Star in the Republican Party

A decade before calling himself "a consistent supporter of pro-life values," Tennessee physician and Republican U.S. Rep. Scott DesJarlais supported his ex-wife's decision to get two abortions before their marriage, according to the congressman's sworn testimony during his divorce trial.

Snip

The 679-page transcript reveals new details about DesJarlais' interactions with a 24-year-old-patient, who claimed she became pregnant with DesJarlais' child during a short fling in 2000 and that the doctor later pressed her to have an abortion.

Snip

In further proceedings, DesJarlais acknowledged that the woman was not the only patient he had a sexual relationship with that year.

That year? Really? Only That Year?

With the GOP’s miserable outcome in the 2012 presidential election, some in the GOP have decided it might be best to try to attract certain segments of the voting population they were unable to attract during the last election and thennnn there are some that aren’t so eager to welcome them,……………. The New GOP Outreach Program.

Romney didn’t promise them any gifts (except for the 1%ers),…………..

Mitt Romney told his top donors Wednesday that his loss to President Obama was a disappointing result that neither he or his top aides had expected, but said he believed his team ran a “superb” campaign with “no drama,” and attributed his rival’s victory to “the gifts” the administration had given to blacks, Hispanics and young voters during Obama’s first term.

Romney is a low-life subhuman douche: Romney blames election loss on ‘gifts’ Obama gave to women and minorities

Fuck ‘em, they ain’t gonna vote for us anyway,………….

Worse, the immigration debate itself has frequently been miscast as a referendum on the acceptance of Hispanics in American society — one that has forced most Republicans to appear to be on the wrong side of that question in order to be on the right side of some woefully misguided legislation.

But caving on bad legislation — or writing watered-down Republican alternatives — to address this unfortunate misconception is the easy way out.

Snip

But there’s no reason, besides wishful thinking, to believe an amnesty flip-flop is the solution. : Amnesty won't magically make Hispanics more Republican

Why are black people here? Voting?

Maine Republican Party Chairman Charlie Webster is once again alleging possible voting irregularities, this time claiming that groups of unknown black people showed up in some rural towns to vote on Election Day.

Webster made the claim in a wide-ranging, post-election interview this week with Don Carrigan of WCSH-TV.

"In some parts of rural Maine, there were dozens, dozens of black people who came in and voted on Election Day," he said. "Everybody has a right to vote, but nobody in (these) towns knows anyone who's black. How did that happen? I don't know. We're going to find out.": Maine Republican chairman questions black voters | The Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram

Something about another group in America (Asian-Americans),…………

A poll conducted for community groups found that 72 percent of Asian-Americans voted for Obama on Tuesday, a gain from the two-thirds support he won in 2008 and part of a major shift toward the Democrats over the past 20 years.

While small in total, Asian-Americans are the fastest growing racial group in the United States and made up 3.4 percent of the electorate on Tuesday, up from 2.7 percent four years ago.

The GOP has their work cut out for them (Dear Mr. Right-winger, your Asian girlfriend doesn't like you): Obama got solid support from Asian-Americans | Inquirer Global Nation

A reintroduction of the Latino voter from Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez (D-IL), Nov 15 2012

The GOP has their work cut out for them

Other GOP news.

Rubio, another Republican science guy (suckin’ up to the far right idiots),……

“Whether the Earth was created in 7 days, or 7 actual eras, I’m not sure we’ll ever be able to answer that. It’s one of the great mysteries.”: Rubio: Maybe Earth was created in 7 days because ‘I’m not a scientist, man’

That stupid gene must run deep in that Bush family tree,………….

Jeb Bush Jr., the son of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R), on Tuesday defended Sen. Marco Rubio as “pro-science” after the Florida Republican said he was not sure if the Earth was created in seven actual days because “it’s one of the great mysteries.” : Jeb Bush Jr. claims Rubio is ‘pro-science’ after ‘Earth was created in 7 days’ remark

Sore loser,………….

Florida based restaurant boss John Metz, who runs approximately 40 Denny's and owns the Hurricane Grill & Wings franchise has decided to offset that by adding a five percent surcharge to customers' bills and will reduce his employees' hours.

With Obamacare due to be fully implemented in January 2014, Metz has justified his move by claiming it is 'the only alternative. I've got to pass on the cost to the customer.': Denny's to charge 5% 'Obamacare surcharge' and cut employee hours to deal with cost of legislation


Mind control (they are crazy!) ,……………

President Obama is using a Cold War-era mind-control technique known as "Delphi" to coerce Americans into accepting his plan for a United Nations-run communist dictatorship in which suburbanites will be forcibly relocated to cities. That's according to a four-hour briefing delivered to Republican state senators at the Georgia state Capitol last month.

On October 11, at a closed-door meeting of the Republican caucus convened by the body's majority leader, Chip Rogers, a tea party activist told Republican lawmakers that Obama was mounting this most diabolical conspiracy. The event—captured on tape by a member of the Athens-based watchdog Better Georgia (who was removed from the room after 52 minutes)—had been billed as an information session on Agenda 21, a nonbinding UN agreement that commits member nations to promote sustainable development. In the eyes of conservative activists, Agenda 21 is a nefarious plot that includes forcibly relocating non-urban-dwellers and prescribing mandatory contraception as a means of curbing population growth. The invitation to the Georgia state Senate event noted the presentation would explain: "How pleasant sounding names are fostering a Socialist plan to change the way we live, eat, learn, and communicate to 'save the earth.': Top Georgia GOP Lawmakers Host Briefing on Secret Obama Mind-Control Plot | Mother Jones

Here's a story of a GOP member. Seems these days no one really cares about right and wrong whether they are a republican or democrat. The party who gets rid of these liars will become more empowered.


Rep. DesJarlais, who had affairs with his med patients, says he won’t resign

Speaking publicly for the first time since a judge unsealed records from his divorce proceedings, Rep. Scott DesJarlais (R-TN), who has admitted to numerous affairs and who allegedly pressured a mistress to get an abortion, said he has no plans to resign from office.
In an interview with the Knoxville News Sentinel, DesJarlais said he regretted his actions during his first marriage, and that he had exhibited, “very poor judgment.” Yet the congressman, who was just reelected this year as the allegations began to unfold, said he intended to still serve the voters who had propelled him back into office.
From the News Sentinel:

“I am human,” [DesJarlais] said during an hour-long interview with the News Sentinel. “I don’t think I ever put myself out there to be somebody that was perfect. I put myself out there as somebody who wanted to serve the public.”

Shortly before the November elections, reports surfaced that DesJarlais had engaged in multiple affairs while married to his first wife with patients at the Grandview Medical Center in Tennessee where he served as chief of staff. One woman alleged that she’d slept with and smoked pot with the congressman.
The story exploded in mid-October when The Huffington Post obtained a transcript of a call between Desjarlais—who presents himself as a family values, firmly anti-abortion politician—and one mistress in which Desjarlais allegedly pressured the woman to get an abortion. Desjarlais did not deny the allegations when presented with them, but he brushed them aside as politically motivated.
With Desjarlais reeling, the Tennessee Democratic Party successfully petitioned a judge to release the congressman’s decade-old divorce records, which confirmed many of the previously alleged details and also revealed that, in addition to the affairs with patients, Desjarlais had also cheated with co-workers and drug company representatives around the same time. Newly unsealed records from the 2001 divorce proceedings also revealed that the congressman had supported his then-wife’s decision to have two abortions despite his publicly stated opposition to abortion.
Desjarlais was elected to Congress in 2010 amid the Tea Party-backed wave that swung the House in favor of Republicans. In that election cycle, Democratic incumbent Lincoln Davis sought to use the rumors of Desjarlais’ messy divorce against him, though there was far less evidence at that time.

Rep. DesJarlais, who had affairs with his med patients, says he won’t resign | The Raw Story

Originally Posted by S Landreth

Inside the GOP bubble with a new segment (beside the GOP’s War on Women), The New GOP Outreach Program.

But first the GOP’s continued War on Women.

Republican Congressional Representative from Tennessee Scott DesJarlais who is sitting in the US Congress making reproductive decisions for women, shouldn’t be: Shakesville: Another Star in the Republican Party

A decade before calling himself "a consistent supporter of pro-life values," Tennessee physician and Republican U.S. Rep. Scott DesJarlais supported his ex-wife's decision to get two abortions before their marriage, according to the congressman's sworn testimony during his divorce trial.

Snip

The 679-page transcript reveals new details about DesJarlais' interactions with a 24-year-old-patient, who claimed she became pregnant with DesJarlais' child during a short fling in 2000 and that the doctor later pressed her to have an abortion.

Snip

In further proceedings, DesJarlais acknowledged that the woman was not the only patient he had a sexual relationship with that year.

That year? Really? Only That Year?

With the GOP’s miserable outcome in the 2012 presidential election, some in the GOP have decided it might be best to try to attract certain segments of the voting population they were unable to attract during the last election and thennnn there are some that aren’t so eager to welcome them,……………. The New GOP Outreach Program.

Romney didn’t promise them any gifts (except for the 1%ers),…………..

Mitt Romney told his top donors Wednesday that his loss to President Obama was a disappointing result that neither he or his top aides had expected, but said he believed his team ran a “superb” campaign with “no drama,” and attributed his rival’s victory to “the gifts” the administration had given to blacks, Hispanics and young voters during Obama’s first term.

Romney is a low-life subhuman douche: Romney blames election loss on ‘gifts’ Obama gave to women and minorities

Fuck ‘em, they ain’t gonna vote for us anyway,………….

Worse, the immigration debate itself has frequently been miscast as a referendum on the acceptance of Hispanics in American society — one that has forced most Republicans to appear to be on the wrong side of that question in order to be on the right side of some woefully misguided legislation.

But caving on bad legislation — or writing watered-down Republican alternatives — to address this unfortunate misconception is the easy way out.

Snip

But there’s no reason, besides wishful thinking, to believe an amnesty flip-flop is the solution. : Amnesty won't magically make Hispanics more Republican

Why are black people here? Voting?

Maine Republican Party Chairman Charlie Webster is once again alleging possible voting irregularities, this time claiming that groups of unknown black people showed up in some rural towns to vote on Election Day.

Webster made the claim in a wide-ranging, post-election interview this week with Don Carrigan of WCSH-TV.

"In some parts of rural Maine, there were dozens, dozens of black people who came in and voted on Election Day," he said. "Everybody has a right to vote, but nobody in (these) towns knows anyone who's black. How did that happen? I don't know. We're going to find out.": Maine Republican chairman questions black voters | The Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram

Something about another group in America (Asian-Americans),…………

A poll conducted for community groups found that 72 percent of Asian-Americans voted for Obama on Tuesday, a gain from the two-thirds support he won in 2008 and part of a major shift toward the Democrats over the past 20 years.

While small in total, Asian-Americans are the fastest growing racial group in the United States and made up 3.4 percent of the electorate on Tuesday, up from 2.7 percent four years ago.

The GOP has their work cut out for them (Dear Mr. Right-winger, your Asian girlfriend doesn't like you): Obama got solid support from Asian-Americans | Inquirer Global Nation

A reintroduction of the Latino voter from Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez (D-IL), Nov 15 2012

The GOP has their work cut out for them

Other GOP news.

Rubio, another Republican science guy (suckin’ up to the far right idiots),……

“Whether the Earth was created in 7 days, or 7 actual eras, I’m not sure we’ll ever be able to answer that. It’s one of the great mysteries.”: Rubio: Maybe Earth was created in 7 days because ‘I’m not a scientist, man’

That stupid gene must run deep in that Bush family tree,………….

Jeb Bush Jr., the son of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R), on Tuesday defended Sen. Marco Rubio as “pro-science” after the Florida Republican said he was not sure if the Earth was created in seven actual days because “it’s one of the great mysteries.” : Jeb Bush Jr. claims Rubio is ‘pro-science’ after ‘Earth was created in 7 days’ remark

Sore loser,………….

Florida based restaurant boss John Metz, who runs approximately 40 Denny's and owns the Hurricane Grill & Wings franchise has decided to offset that by adding a five percent surcharge to customers' bills and will reduce his employees' hours.

With Obamacare due to be fully implemented in January 2014, Metz has justified his move by claiming it is 'the only alternative. I've got to pass on the cost to the customer.': Denny's to charge 5% 'Obamacare surcharge' and cut employee hours to deal with cost of legislation


Mind control (they are crazy!) ,……………

President Obama is using a Cold War-era mind-control technique known as "Delphi" to coerce Americans into accepting his plan for a United Nations-run communist dictatorship in which suburbanites will be forcibly relocated to cities. That's according to a four-hour briefing delivered to Republican state senators at the Georgia state Capitol last month.

On October 11, at a closed-door meeting of the Republican caucus convened by the body's majority leader, Chip Rogers, a tea party activist told Republican lawmakers that Obama was mounting this most diabolical conspiracy. The event—captured on tape by a member of the Athens-based watchdog Better Georgia (who was removed from the room after 52 minutes)—had been billed as an information session on Agenda 21, a nonbinding UN agreement that commits member nations to promote sustainable development. In the eyes of conservative activists, Agenda 21 is a nefarious plot that includes forcibly relocating non-urban-dwellers and prescribing mandatory contraception as a means of curbing population growth. The invitation to the Georgia state Senate event noted the presentation would explain: "How pleasant sounding names are fostering a Socialist plan to change the way we live, eat, learn, and communicate to 'save the earth.': Top Georgia GOP Lawmakers Host Briefing on Secret Obama Mind-Control Plot | Mother Jones

Matthews had a piece on Rubio. Basically, he said either he is an idiot or that he is pandering to the hard right. Of course he followed that by clearly indicating that he thought he was not an idiot but rather that he was pandering.

It's not going to be fun to watch the Rethugs self-emolate; they can cause a lot of problems on the way down.

It is satisfying, though.

What deluded idiots.

Interesting article from Bruce Bartlett-

Revenge of the Reality-Based Community

My life on the Republican right—and how I saw it all go wrong.

I’m not going to beat around the bush and pretend I don’t have a vested interest here. Frankly, I think I’m at ground zero in the saga of Republicans closing their eyes to any facts or evidence that conflict with their dogma. Rather than listen to me, they threw me under a bus. To this day, I don’t think they understand that my motives were to help them avoid the permanent decline that now seems inevitable.

So here we are, post-election 2012. All the stupidity and closed-mindedness that right-wingers have displayed over the last 10 years has come back to haunt them.... They were genuinely shocked at Romney’s loss because they ignored every poll not produced by a right-wing pollster such as Rasmussen or approved by right-wing pundits such as the perpetually wrong Dick Morris.
Revenge of the Reality-Based Community | The American Conservative

Bruce Bartlett worked for the republicans & right wing think tanks for around 30 years. The first thing that happened when he started publicly criticising a republican policy (the Bush Medicare porkbarrel for seniors) was to be declared persona non grata on Fox and, as it turned out, all Murdoch outlets. Prior, he had been a regular 'guest commentator'. An interesting read, but at it's root it is ideological closed mindedness, of which overt hostility to criticism and 'factchecking' is just a syndrome, that is mortally damaging the GOP.

Another week has past and the GOP hasn’t changed,…..

Their continued War on Women,…………..

Leaving them out of the picture, is the way they really feel about women.

After a day of meetings closed to the public, the House Republican Steering Committee announced an all-male slate of committee chairs, including 12 returning lawmakers who will head up some of the most important panels in Washington.: House committee chairs all men

But guilt or maybe public opinion changed their simple minds for the time being.

After enduring negative headlines that all of the House Republican committee chairmanships will be filled by men in the next Congress, Republicans have found their woman.

NBC News has learned that Rep. Candice Miller (R-Mich.) will be named chair of the House Administration Committee. Miller did not serve on the committee during the 112th Congress.: After criticism, GOP adds woman to chair House committee

Choice. You no longer have one in Mississippi.

Jackson Women’s Health Organization — the only abortion clinic in the entire state of Mississippi — has been fighting to remain open after Republican legislators, aiming to force the clinic to close, passed a restrictive regulation requiring its doctors to secure hospital admitting privileges.: Mississippi's Only Abortion Clinic Could Be Forced To Close In January

The New GOP Outreach Program,……………..

They must be so proud he’s sticking to the program.

Echoing Mitt Romney’s now-infamous complaint that Obama won by handing out “gifts” to women and minorities, King told radio host Janet Mefferd yesterday that Republicans should not fixate on winning back the Hispanic vote because Democrats can always counter offer with “a great big check.”: Steve King: Democrats Will Win Over Hispanics By Giving Them 'A Great Big Check'

The Rethugs helping hand.

The suit, filed in a federal district court in Arizona, accuses Gov. Jan Brewer (R) and officials at the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) of singling out Latino immigrants who received two-year visas as part of President Barack Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiative, which he signed into effect over the summer.

But under an executive order signed by Brewer in August, said Karen Tumlin, managing attorney for the Los Angeles office of the National Immigration Law Center, DACA participants are specifically barred from being eligible for drivers licenses, even though the program provides Social Security numbers and work permits, which are normally accepted by ADOT, even for non-residents.: ACLU sues to force Arizona to offer licenses to deferred-deportation immigrants

Other GOP news,……………….

Norquist is still a putz.

Every day, more Republicans in Congress are backing away from Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquit’s anti-tax pledge. For more than 20 years, the pledge, which stipulates that those who sign will never — under any circumstance — vote to raise taxes while in Congress, has virtually been a requirement for Congressional Republicans. According to ATR, just 16 of the 234 House Republicans and 6 of the 45 Senate Republicans that comprise the 113th Congress did not sign the pledge.: Forty-Four Congressional Republicans (And Counting) Have Distanced Themselves From Norquist's Pledge


Crazier than the week before.

Appearing on Frank Gaffney’s anti-Muslim radio show, Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) launched into a lengthy tirade criticizing the Obama administration’s decision to provide air support in the international campaign against Qaddafi last year. Rather than acknowledging that Obama launched the mission to stave off a looming massacre in Misrata, the Texas Republican saw a hidden, pernicious reason for the intervention. “This administration sent planes and bombs and support to oust Qaddafi so that al-Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood could take over Libya,” said Gohmert.: GOP Rep. Floats New Conspiracy Theory: Obama Ousted Qaddafi

Arizona helping their citizens.

Arizona is just the latest in a long line of states to officially decide to leave the management of their exchanges up to the federal government. Frankly, I consider this a positive development. Would anyone really want to use an exchange created and run by Brewer, an unwavering opponent to the Affordable Care Act? At least the federal exchange will be run by people who have a vested interest in trying to make them work.: Arizona Won’t Build Its Own Health Care Exchange

What is with these people?

Perhaps you don’t remember Mel Reynolds? Allow us to fill you in. During the 1990s, when everyone wore awful pants and angst rose rapidly alongside the economy, Reynolds defeated Rep. Gus Savage for Chicago’s 2nd Congressional seat, the same spot he hopes to fill in Jackson Jr’s wake. He had lost two previous elections against Savage, but by 1992 allegations had arisen that Savage had done that thing politicians can’t help but do — he engaged in sexual misconduct, forcing himself on a Peace Corps volunteer in Zaire. Two years after this election, Reynolds was himself accused of engaging in a sexual relationship with a 16 year old campaign intern.: Chicago’s Favorite Underage-Sexytime Congressman Wants Jesse Jackson Jr.’s Job Please

Florida’s vote suppression.

Film star Christian Slater live-tweeted his nightmarish voting process in Florida on Election Day. Even as a celebrity, Slater had to endure the same hours-long lines as other Florida voters. Once he finally made it to the front of the line, Slater was told his DMV registration was out of date and he had to cast a provisional ballot. Today he received a letter informing him that, after all that trouble, his vote was discarded.: Florida Rejects Christian Slater's Ballot

Leave it alone!

Conservationists and wilderness enthusiasts across America are mobilizing to defeat a bill passed by the House of Representatives in April that would eviscerate the 1964 Wilderness Act.

Deceptively entitled the Sportsmen’s Heritage Act, the bill (H.R. 4089) purports to protect hunting, fishing, and recreational shooting. The bill is being pushed by powerful groups like the National Rifle Association and Safari Club International and supported by some of the most anti-wilderness Republicans in Congress.: GOP-backed bill is most serious attack on America’s Wilderness Act in history

Thank goodness they didn’t win.

Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) reiterated his call for restructuring entitlement programs like Medicare, highlighting the “very painful cuts” he has proposed as part of a package to avert the fiscal cliff. Corker 242-page plan calls for a Paul Ryan-like proposal to transform the guaranteed Medicare benefit into a voucher plan for beneficiaries.: Republican Senator Demands 'Very Painful Cuts To Medicare'


Related to the article above: After Promising To Preserve Medicare For Current Retirees, GOP Demands Immediate Cuts In Fiscal Cliff Talks

They don’t care.

“The Republicans are in real risk now of looking like they’re defending keeping the current tax rates for the wealthy — the Bush tax rates for the wealthy — and right now the official Republican position is let the payroll tax rate go back up by 2 points. That is a 2 percentage point increase on every American, but it’s a — Republicans care about marginal rates — it’s a marginal increase on everyone making less than $100,000 a year.”

“At the end of the day, President Obama is selling a very simple message, ‘I want to keep taxes low for middle-class Americans,’ and Republicans look like — I’m worried are in the position of looking as if they don’t care about the middle class and just want to keep tax rates low for wealthy Americans.”: Bill Kristol: Republicans look like they ‘don’t care about the middle class’

Rick (not every child needs a college degree) Santorum has found his calling.

Rick Santorum has joined WorldNetDaily, a conspiracy theory blog best known for its indefatigable work advancing the birther movement, as an exclusive columnist.: Santorum To Write Column For Right-Wing Conspiracy Website

Can we give them (in exchange for their property) ½ of Alaska (East side, without any mineral rights) and be done with them?

Twenty five percent of registered Republicans want their state to secede from the United States, according to a new poll from Public Policy Polling.: One Quarter Of Republicans Want To Secede

Birther Lawyer Orly Taitz Does Not Seem To Be Very Good At ‘Law’

Mr. Kerry is quick.

At a press conference urging the ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) jokingly referred to his colleague Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) as “Mr. Secretary.”

“Thank you very much, Mr. Secretary,” McCain said following Kerry’s remarks on the treaty.

But Kerry was armed with a comeback. After McCain gave his speech, Kerry took to the podium and said, “Thank you, Mr. President.”: McCain calls Kerry ‘Mr. Secretary,’ Kerry responds ‘Thank you, Mr. President’

An interesting and quite wide-reaching opinion piece which will no doubt add weight to what many already think: that Republicans / Right-wingers are a pack of psychopaths:

Schizophrenics, Psychopaths Holding America Hostage
Wednesday, 05 December 2012 00:00
By Dr Brian Moench, Truthout | Op-Ed


"The greatest threat to the United States will never be al Qaeda, Russia, China or Iran. It will be our failure to wrest control of public policy from the inmates of our own insane asylum," says Brian Moench.

My father, a psychiatrist whose practice focused on the severely mentally ill, used to say, "Well, schizophrenia is better than no phrenia," and, "In poker, a paranoid always beats one of a noid." He also pioneered the subspecialty of forensic psychiatry, before it had a name, in that he was often asked as an expert witness to evaluate psychopaths and the competency of criminals to stand trial. Not all criminals are psychopaths, and certainly not all psychopaths have violated the law. Serious mental illnesses are family tragedies not to be trivialized. But in ruminating about a post-election America, I've been struck by how large portions of the country are mired in schizophrenic distortions of reality and how prominent business leaders and politicians overtly display personality traits common to psychopaths. Vestiges of widespread mental illness abound.

Although hurricane Sandy has likely been the trigger for a sharp rise in the percentage of the population who believes the climate crisis is serious and must be addressed in public policy, still, about 30 percent of American adults don't believe it, and there is no indication that the leaders of the Republican Party have joined the "Reality" Party. Let's briefly outline how disconnected this position is.

Eighty international scientific societies have endorsed the concept of a primarily human-caused climate crisis that is already starting to threaten the health and well-being of millions, and soon to be billions, of people in the next few decades. The total number of scientific organizations that dispute this is zero. If you were watching a basketball game where the score was 80 to 0, with one minute left in the fourth quarter, and you decided to bet your entire nest egg on that losing team, no one would argue that you were not severely delusional.

Almost weekly, more studies are published strongly suggesting that the chaos and destruction built into the greenhouse gas phenomenon has been underestimated and that climate-related extreme outcomes are happening even faster than worse case predictions of even a few years ago. Our own Pentagon, the insurance industry, the World Bank, the United Nations, the American Meteorological Society and virtually every other country in the world accepts the science. The American Republican Party and the Fox News/right wing entertainment complex are the only organizations in the world that deny the validity and reality of the science. And because the Republicans control the US House of Representatives, there is no hope any legislation will be passed to address the climate crisis. Inability to discern reality is the hallmark of schizophrenia.

One of my professional friends - smart, well-educated, and seemingly otherwise sane - has been relentlessly trying to sell everyone I work with on the conspiracy theory that Barack Obama's real father was an African-American communist activist, Frank Marshall Davis, and that Obama's secret agenda is mind control and the collapse of the American way of life through diabolical UN-mandated sustainable land use planning - a pillar of Glenn Beck's circus tent of amazing conspiracy theories. People who believe others are reading their minds, controlling their thoughts, or plotting to harm them are usually medicated to make them safe to live among us. But institutions that promote the same paranoid delusions are rewarded with handsome profitability.

For the first time since the Civil War, hundreds of thousands of American citizens have petitioned the federal government to allow their states to secede from the union. This is more than just a new expression of undying racism. It is also a sharp detachment from reality. The efficacy of tax cuts for the rich as an economic stimulus, has no empirical substantiation - in other words no basis in reality, just like global warming denial.

Much has been written about the Karl Rove/Republican/right wing/Fox News bubble and their group delusion in truly believing that their polling heralding a Romney victory was superior to everyone else's reality. Rove is also widely thought to be the source of the famous quote from a George W. Bush insider, offered to Ron Suskind for an article in the New York Times Magazine in 2004, "We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality." That's how schizophrenics talk and think.

Psychopaths often appear normal, even charming. Underneath, they lack conscience and empathy, making them manipulative, volatile and often (but by no means always) criminal. The psychologist Kevin Dutton in his book, The Wisdom of Psychopaths, notes society, and especially Wall Street, admires and rewards many of the qualities of psychopaths - fearlessness, emotional sterility, supreme confidence, ruthlessness, lack of remorse, refusal to take responsibility, narcissism and delusions of grandeur. Who could argue that those characteristics virtually defined the Wall Street crowd responsible for blowing up the world's economy in 2008? In fact, a recent study showed psychopaths were four times more common among business leaders than among the general population. [1]

A 2005 British study compared the psychological profiles of 39 senior business executives at leading British companies with those of mental patients in the UK's Broadmoor Special Hospital. The business leaders scored a clear "victory" in the three traits normally used to identify the emotional dysfunction of psychopaths: histrionic personality disorder, narcissistic personality disorder, and compulsive personality disorder.

Other studies suggest that financial elites, like psychopaths, are more likely to feel like rules and societal constraints don't apply to them. Mitt Romney's entire business and political career, especially his approach to paying taxes, is the freshest, most conspicuous example of this personality trait.

Dr. Dale Archer, a psychiatrist and frequent guest on "FoxNews.com Live" of all places writes, "Physically, studies have shown that the brain chemistry is different in powerful politicians, leading to sensation seeking and risky behavior. They have lower levels of the brain chemical monoamine oxidase-A, which means they have higher highs when they engage in risky behavior and that they get bored much more easily than the norm."

Enter the 71 corporate CEOs behind the current Campaign To Fix The Debt. These are CEOs making the media rounds and spending $30 million dollars pounding the table on achieving federal deficit reduction exclusively by dismantling the social safety nets - Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security - while they sit on their own massive retirement funds averaging $9.1 million. These are the same CEOs who have contributed mightily to and benefited personally from the deficit they now want closed. Their companies have received trillions in federal war contracts, subsidies and bailouts, as well as specialized tax breaks and loopholes that virtually eliminate the companies' tax bills - companies like Goldman Sachs, Honeywell, AT &T and Boeing. And no, they are not offering to reduce their feeding at the public trough, instead they want us to turn away the poor, disabled and the vulnerable, calling government support for them "low priority spending." Meanwhile, CEOs of the major fossil fuel companies have enough scientific expertise to know that their business model of extracting all the carbon they can get their hands on threatens the very survival of all of mankind, yet they are undaunted in doing exactly that. Who cares about the collapse of civilization when there are quarterly profits to be made? How are these captains of the fossil fuel industry not psychopaths?

Psychopaths are notoriously refractory to treatment or behavioral modification, another trait they share with business and political elites. As F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote in The Great Gatsby, "Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me...They think, deep down, that they are better than we are.” Our nation's responses to the climate crisis, the federal deficit, our economic stagnation and many of our other serious challenges are still being held hostage by people who manifest a detachment from reality as profound as that of schizophrenics. We are still allowing a powerful elite, who behave like psychopaths, to steer our government towards protecting their interests at the expense of everyone else. The greatest threat to the United States will never be Al Qaeda, Russia, China or Iran. It will be our failure to wrest control of public policy from the inmates of our own insane asylum.


1. Babiak P, Neumann CS, Hare RD. Corporate psychopathy: Talking the walk. Behav Sci Law. 2010 Mar-Apr;28(2):174-93.

Schizophrenics, Psychopaths Holding America Hostage

^^the voter suppression in Florida is amazing, isn't it? Rejected because the signatures did not match. I would love to see the 2 side by side.

Originally Posted by TLansford

^^the voter suppression in Florida is amazing, isn't it? Rejected because the signatures did not match. I would love to see the 2 side by side.

It is and some Dems are trying to correct the problem.

State Sens. Arthenia Joyner (D) and Gwen Margolis (D) have pre-filed two bills, SB 80 and SB 82, that would re-institute 14 days of early voting in Florida, beginning on the 15th day before an election and continuing through the Sunday prior to Election Day.
The News Service of Florida has more:

More voting hours also could be available under the bills. Current law requires at least six hours of voting per day, while the bills would require 12 hours per weekday and 12 hours total on the weekend.

In another change proposed by Joyner and Margolis, local supervisors of elections could expand the types of places where early voting is allowed. Currently, supervisors must offer early voting in the supervisor’s offices, and can allow voting in libraries and city halls. The bills would allow supervisors, if they want, to also offer early voting in other government facilities such as a courthouse, as well as colleges, churches, or community centers. The bills would also prevent counties from reducing the number of early voting sites from what they used in 2008.: Defying Rick Scott, Florida Legislators Introduce Bill To Restore Early Voting Days

But I don’t think it has any chance with Rick (I am a dick) Scott in office. If the rethugs keep it up, they will again find out what it means to most of us and trying to take our (voting) rights away from us and we’ll show up in droves again at the voting booth.

Though Republicans control both chambers of the legislature, both incoming Senate President Don Gaetz (R) and incoming House Speaker Will Weatherford (R) have “promised that lawmakers will try to figure out what went wrong on Election Day that led to the long lines, and do something about it.”

Republican promise

Originally Posted by S Landreth

Originally Posted by TLansford

^^the voter suppression in Florida is amazing, isn't it? Rejected because the signatures did not match. I would love to see the 2 side by side.

It is and some Dems are trying to correct the problem.

State Sens. Arthenia Joyner (D) and Gwen Margolis (D) have pre-filed two bills, SB 80 and SB 82, that would re-institute 14 days of early voting in Florida, beginning on the 15th day before an election and continuing through the Sunday prior to Election Day.
The News Service of Florida has more:

More voting hours also could be available under the bills. Current law requires at least six hours of voting per day, while the bills would require 12 hours per weekday and 12 hours total on the weekend.

In another change proposed by Joyner and Margolis, local supervisors of elections could expand the types of places where early voting is allowed. Currently, supervisors must offer early voting in the supervisor’s offices, and can allow voting in libraries and city halls. The bills would allow supervisors, if they want, to also offer early voting in other government facilities such as a courthouse, as well as colleges, churches, or community centers. The bills would also prevent counties from reducing the number of early voting sites from what they used in 2008.: Defying Rick Scott, Florida Legislators Introduce Bill To Restore Early Voting Days

But I don’t think it has any chance with Rick (I am a dick) Scott in office. If the rethugs keep it up, they will again find out what it means to most of us and trying to take our (voting) rights away from us and we’ll show up in droves again at the voting booth.

Though Republicans control both chambers of the legislature, both incoming Senate President Don Gaetz (R) and incoming House Speaker Will Weatherford (R) have “promised that lawmakers will try to figure out what went wrong on Election Day that led to the long lines, and do something about it.”

Republican promise

you would think that since the republicans have a monopoly on patriotism, love of the constitution, and democracy, that they would want everyone to vote.

It's sinking in now. The Republicans are already taking about the next election and their chances of winning. (0%)

Gingrich on Meet the Press yesterday:

“I mean, if their competitor in ’16 ia going to be Hillary Clinton, supported by Bill Clinton, and presumably a still relatively popular President Barack Obama, trying to win that will be truly the Superbowl. And the Republican party today is incapable of competing at that level.”

Gingrich: GOP “is incapable of competing” if Hillary runs in 2016 - Salon.com