INSTAPUTZ

Refusing to serve bigots in Knoxville.

2012-01-30T14:57:00.002-06:00

This story of a Knoxville restaurant refusing to serve an anti-gay Republican bigot is buzzing around the internets.

And, surprise!, Putz hasn't touched it.

You'd think a "pro-gay rights libertarian" would be on top of a story like this in his own hometown -- but nah. Contradicts the narrative that the real bigots are on the left.

In Dan Riehl's world...

2012-01-30T13:07:00.003-06:00

...the National Review is a left-wing rag.

The media and non-conservative outlets like NRO are going to try and spin Florida as, this primary is over. It's already beginning.

Jonah, K-Lo, JPod, Ramesh, Steyn -- the whole gang. All squishy middle-of-the-roaders.

Yes, he's that crazy.

Blaming Obama for the GOP's craziness.

2012-01-30T11:09:00.003-06:00

All these "polarizing" polls show is just how radical Republicans are.

Obama could cut taxes, expand the War on Terror, preside over a 50% stock market surge and kill bin Laden -- and the Republicans would still hate him.

Oh wait.

The tight, snug coziness of the wingnut cocoon.

2012-01-29T08:41:00.003-06:00

Facts really don't matter to these crazies.

Romney’s attacks on Newt’s late 1990s ethics charge also were distinctly from the left, echoing the talking points of anti-conservative Democrats like Nancy Pelosi. It took people like Byron York and Mark Levin to expose the truth that the charges were part of a Democratic Party vendetta, and that substantively Newt did nothing wrong and was vindicated.

Imagine if you lived in a world where Mark Levin was an arbiter of truth.

And why are we so much in debt, Mark Steyn?

2012-01-28T16:20:00.002-06:00

I'm really sick of Republicans complaining about the debt after Reagan tripled it, George W. Bush doubled it, and the main cause of the debt right now is that taxes have been at historic lows over the past 20 years.

STFU already.

The conservative reverence for the Constitution.

2012-01-27T15:55:00.001-06:00

These people are nucking futs.

NJ What if the Democrats still have control? What’s your scenario then?
NORQUIST Obama can sit there and let all the tax [cuts] lapse, and then the Republicans will have enough votes in the Senate in 2014 to impeach. The last year, he’s gone into this huddle where he does everything by executive order. He’s made no effort to work with Congress.

Well, first of all.

2012-01-27T12:39:00.001-06:00

Jonah Goldberg: Obama's SOTU was "disgusting."

2012-01-27T08:59:00.002-06:00

Pantload:

President Obama’s State of the Union address was disgusting.

The president began with a moving tribute to the armed forces and their accomplishments. But as he has done many times now, he celebrated martial virtues not to rally support for the military, but to cover himself in glory — he killed Osama bin Laden! — and to convince the American people that they should fall in line and march in lockstep.

Do these wingnuts remember the Bush years at all?

Twitter machine update.

2012-01-27T07:12:00.000-06:00

Instaputz is now tweeting at:

BlueTexanTweets.

Newt's toast.

2012-01-26T20:20:00.002-06:00

I just caught about 20 minutes of the GOP debate tonight, and Newt completely got his ass handed to him in those 20 minutes.

I think the party's over.

UPDATE

And as I wrote that, Mittens surged to 89% on Intrade. Damn Republican Establishment.

Note to Goldberg: "Israel" is not the same thing as "Likud."

2012-01-26T16:12:00.002-06:00

I hate this shit.

Glenn Greenwald just tweeted this: "Last week, @Goldberg3000 depicted himself as a McCarthyism victim - now he's back to smearing people as Israel-haters http://is.gd/4a13jH"

Put aside for a moment Greenwald's over-reliance on the verb "smear" to describe any sort of criticism of him. I do think that a reasonable reading of Glenn Greenwald's work on Israel would suggest that he likes it not at all. There's no proof in his writings that he has any affection for Israel, or any sympathy for Israel. Which, as I've said, is his right.

I don't understand why we can't distinguish from "Israel's current government" or "some of Israel's policies" and "Israel."

This just in: bigots and fundies are stupid.

2012-01-26T15:04:00.001-06:00

Not surprising.

There's no gentle way to put it: People who give in to racism and prejudice may simply be dumb, according to a new study that is bound to stir public controversy.

But then there's this:

The research finds that children with low intelligence are more likely to hold prejudiced attitudes as adults. These findings point to a vicious cycle, according to lead researcher Gordon Hodson, a psychologist at Brock University in Ontario. Low-intelligence adults tend to gravitate toward socially conservative ideologies, the study found. Those ideologies, in turn, stress hierarchy and resistance to change, attitudes that can contribute to prejudice, Hodson wrote in an email to LiveScience.

Also not surprising.

These are the same people who gave Newt the win in South Carolina, and who gave Bush the presidency in '04 and '00.

Rubio's "financial problems."

2012-01-26T12:20:00.001-06:00

Why would wingnuts care?

The Quitter had a far, far worse rap sheet and McCain picked her anyway. What the base wants, the base gets.

The tight cocoon Glenn Reynolds has wrapped himself in.

2012-01-25T12:34:00.003-06:00

Putz, on the SOTU.

He’s a divider, not a uniter.

Everyone else.

An overwhelming majority of Americans approved of the overall message in President Obama's State of the Union speech on Tuesday night, according to a CBS News poll of speech watchers.

According to the poll, which was conducted online by Knowledge Networks immediately after the president's address, 91 percent of those who watched the speech approved of the proposals Mr. Obama put forth during his remarks. Only nine percent disapproved.

UPDATE

OK, that poll was from 2011. But -- similar result this year.

A few highlights from the memo:

In a before-and-after test, the proportion of participants describing Obama as “a strong leader” rose from 39% to 71%.
Fully 78% said after the speech that Obama “looks out for the middle class,” up from 59% before the speech.
The share of participants who said Obama has good ideas for improving the economy rose from 39% before the speech to 79% after the speech.

The Next Anyone But Romney: Mitch Daniels?

2012-01-25T07:30:00.003-06:00

And yes, it's Clown Hall, but...

I really do think if Willard tanks in FL, there will be some sort of shakeup.

Silly, Conor. Of course it's the media's fault.

2012-01-24T14:46:00.001-06:00

Friedersdorf:

So why this exaggerated narrative, wherein the establishment foists Mitt Romney on an unwilling Republican primary electorate? I'll tell you. GOP partisans are eager to persuade themselves that the base is engaged in a sympathetic protest against malign elites, because the alternative is accepting that they've been manipulated by a flip-flopping pol who offered red meat and ressentiment in place of substance. In fact, it is Tea Partiers and "thought-leaders" from their wing of the Republican Party who are as much to blame as anyone for Romney's shot at the nomination, and the emergence of Gingrich as his last serious obstacle to running against Obama. Just ponder the pathetic alternatives that non-moderate Republicans and movement conservatives produced in 2012: Sarah Palin, Donald Trump, Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, and Herman Cain. As GOP voters are well aware, this is a flawed bunch, and their respective failures cannot be blamed on academics or scientists or media elites or secularists or any other conservative bogeyman.

But that's exactly what Putz has been doing all along. The Quitter didn't implode because she's a half-smart grifter -- she imploded because "the media" destroyed her.

Uh-huh.

More evidence of the crushing, tyrannical wealth redistribution under Obama.

2012-01-24T07:08:00.002-06:00

Why is Obama constantly punishing success?

Newtmania!

2012-01-23T13:42:00.001-06:00

D'oh!

(Yes, it's Newsmax, but...)

If Establishment Republicans aren't freaking out yet, they should be.

But...but...Gingrich's fall from power was totally partisan!

2012-01-23T08:34:00.003-06:00

Mittens:

“Speaker Gingrich has also been a leader,” the former Massachusetts governor said. “He was a leader for four years as speaker of the House. And at the end of four years, it was proven that he was a failed leader and he had to resign in disgrace. I don’t know whether you knew that, he actually resigned after four years, in disgrace.

Romney continued: “He was investigated over an ethics panel and had to make a payment associated with that and then his fellow Republicans, 88 percent of his Republicans voted to reprimand Speaker Gingrich. He has not had a record of successful leadership.”

All true, but Gingrich continues to blame Democrats for his disgraceful ejection from Congress.

Christie: Gingrich is an embarrassment.

2012-01-22T12:15:00.003-06:00

Chris Christie will never be the darling of the Teabag set. He's called out the nutters in his party for their Islamophobia -- and now he's pissing all over their candidate.

And yes, I realize stating the obvious shouldn't qualify as "pissing on" -- but that's the way it is in wingnutland.

Grassroots Republicans for fat, corrupt DC insiders.

2012-01-22T07:51:00.005-06:00

So sez Erick Erickson, who adds:

Basically, today’s vote is about Republican grassroots giving the Washington Republican establishment the finger. The base is angry, and right now, only Newt is left to fight for them, as imperfect as he is. We may still end up with Romney, but voters aren’t going to let him have it easily.

Three questions:

1) When is the base of the Republican Party not seething with rage?

2) What has the "Republican Establishment" done over the past 2 years to make them so angry? Failing to shut down the government? Failing to impeach Obama? I honestly can't think of anything.

3) If this really is a "grassroots"/Teabaggers vs. DC Establishment vote, why is the beneficiary Newt Freaking Gingrich, the Establishment candidate par excellence? Newt is even more "Establishment" than Willard. Has Willard even lived in Washington?

Wingnuts are weird.

Go Newt!

2012-01-21T19:06:00.003-06:00

This just in: GOP voters are still crazy.

Why is the Kenyan Marxis Socialist Destroyer of America So Popular?

2012-01-21T08:27:00.002-06:00

Why does America hate Real America?

John Hawkins: Stop calling Republicans racists!

2012-01-20T17:30:00.003-06:00

This post is such a target rich environment, but let's just look at this bit.

The idea that the Republican Party of today is being compared to the Democrats of yesteryear who organized the KKK, encouraged the abortion of black children, and fought to keep black children from going to school has always been ridiculous on its face. Unlike the Democratic Party, the Republican Party was founded on fighting slavery and has nothing in its entire history, from its beginning to the present, to be ashamed of.

This again?

Those "Democrats of yesteryear" Hawkins mentions were Southern conservatives -- and that's the group that dominates today's Republican Party.

Why must they always insist on this little shell game?

Also, what human organization as old as the Republican party have done "nothing in its entire history...to be ashamed of"?

Off the top of my head: Sarah Palin, Iraq, Afghanistan, the Clinton impeachment, torture, Jack Abramoff, Iran-Contra, Watergate, Cambodia, Richard Nixon, McCarthyism, Teapot Dome.

And of course, Lee Atwater.

You start out in 1954 by saying, "Nigger, nigger, nigger." By 1968 you can't say "nigger"—that hurts you. Backfires. So you say stuff like forced busing, states' rights and all that stuff. You're getting so abstract now [that] you're talking about cutting taxes, and all these things you're talking about are totally economic things and a byproduct of them is [that] blacks get hurt worse than whites.

And since the former chairman of the GOP apologized for the Southern Strategy, I don't want to hear this is some made-up librul accusation.

Somewhere, Lee Atwater is smiling.

2012-01-20T13:22:00.001-06:00

South Carolina wingnuts are so classy.

Feel the Newt-mentum!

2012-01-20T11:05:00.002-06:00

Bad news for Willard.

Here's hoping Newt wins SC and Florida...

Love it or leave it.

2012-01-20T08:59:00.001-06:00

It's bad when the American Conservative calls you on your BS.

Romney’s tactic of pretending to speak for a “united” America against the division represented by the OWS protester perfectly mimics the OWS rhetoric about “the 99%”: Romney pretends that he speaks for the whole of the country against those awful few who would “divide” it (i.e., disagree with him), just as the protester imagines that he is speaking on behalf of everyone else except multimillionaires and billionaires. Of course, Romney is playing the demagogue here to imply that his political opponents are insufficiently American, since they must prefer the political and economic models of authoritarian and communist states, which is just the latest version of what he has been doing for most of the last three years.

Theocrats attacking Republicans makes me smile.

2012-01-19T10:51:00.001-06:00

How's it feel when the panty-sniffers go into your bedroom, Newt?

Uh-oh.

2012-01-19T09:27:00.002-06:00

I'm shocked, shocked that Mittens is hiding millions from the gubmint.

There seems to be no good working definition of "conservative."

2012-01-18T20:05:00.002-06:00

The Cornell Putz:

Newt’s conservatism isn’t something concocted by campaign strategists, he’s lived it his entire political life and fought battles which would have made lesser candidates run against conservatism just to get elected.

George Will:

Gingrich … embodies the vanity and rapacity that make modern Washington repulsive. And there is his anti-conservative confidence that he has a comprehensive explanation of, and plan to perfect, everything. …

Gingrich, who would have made a marvelous Marxist, believes everything is related to everything else and only he understands how. Conservatism, in contrast, is both cause and effect of modesty about understanding society’s complexities, controlling its trajectory and improving upon its spontaneous order. Conservatism inoculates against the hubristic volatility that Gingrich exemplifies and Genesis deplores: “Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel.”

Republican partisans toss this word around all the time, but as far as I can tell, it has absolutely no meaning these days other than "opposing things that liberals like, updated daily."

Who are those random people behind Glenn Beck?

2012-01-18T17:00:00.000-06:00

And what are they doing?

Clearly, GBTV doesn't have quite the same caliber of art direction staff as Faux News.

The socialist, freedom-hating era of "Leave It to Beaver"

2012-01-18T12:55:00.006-06:00

Via Atrios, we get this from Bobo:

I was also struck, as in New Hampshire and Iowa, by the mood of this year’s rallies. Republican audiences this year want a restoration. America once had strong values, they believe, but we have gone astray. We’ve got to go back and rediscover what we had. Heads nod enthusiastically every time a candidate touches this theme.

I agree with the sentiment, but it makes for an incredibly backward-looking campaign. I sometimes wonder if the Republican Party has become the receding roar of white America as it pines for a way of life that will never return.

Sometimes?

Duncan makes the point, quite rightly, that they're pining for an era in which Jim Crow was the law of the land and the womyns knew their place.

But the other irony is that they're longing for a time in which rich people paid a 91% marginal tax rate and over a third of the country was unionized.

Good news.

2012-01-18T11:35:00.000-06:00

Something that would not be happening under President Romney.

It's not weak, they got what they wanted.

2012-01-18T10:14:00.002-06:00

Terrible post title, but more of the same narrative.

The book is Fighting For Our Health, by Richard Kirsch, who directed the advocacy group Health Care for America Now during the push for reform. HCAN is a well financed umbrella group backed by scores of liberal groups, unions, and other reformers — making Kirsch a close witness to the entire saga. He confirms that the White House treated the public option like a bargaining chip with powerful industry players, and believes that when his group became most critical of the bill mid-way through the fight, that top White House aides sought to have him canned.
“The White House had negotiated a number of deals with the health industry, designed to win their support for reform, including agreeing to oppose a robust public option, which would have the greatest clout to control how much providers got paid,” writes Kirsch, largely confirming what has become an open secret in Washington.

Evan Bayh and Ben Nelson were problems, to be sure, but the White House got the bill they wanted.

Someone please kill me.

2012-01-17T16:49:00.005-06:00

I think my favorite parts of this monstrosity are when Putz pretends he's not a fringe wingnut partisan ("libertarian transhumanist" = neoconservative Southern gun fetishist who always votes Republican and hates Democrats) -- and when he laments that so many Americans don't pay taxes. Buncha moochers.

What the hell is Harvard thinking? What is this, 2003?

Black Jimmy Carter! A disaster! Worst president ever!

2012-01-17T14:35:00.003-06:00

Eric Boehlert took a shot at Putz's Obama Derangement Syndrome the other day on Twitter. And what he's saying is true: Obama can't go to the bathroom without Putz and his fellow travelers criticizing him for it. He's such an obvious a failure to them, that surely, he's going to get crushed in 2012, they believe.

In light of that, one really does wonder what they think of polls like this.

You probably pay higher taxes than Mitt Romney.

2012-01-17T13:12:00.001-06:00

Probably one of the reasons he doesn't want to release his tax returns.

No one could've predicted...

2012-01-16T08:01:00.001-06:00

...that a former member of the Obama administration and someone who said that global warming was real wouldn't have a chance in the GOP primary.

No, it's not "nuanced."

2012-01-15T12:22:00.002-06:00

Absolutely awful article in the NYT about how sorry we should feel for all those poor slobs on Long Island, having to get by on a measly $380K.

“On Long Island, it’s barely a living,” said Steven R. Schlesinger, a lawyer and professional poker player. “In Plano, it’s a living.”

In fact, in Plano, asshole, the median household income is $84,000.

And the median household income in Suffolk County? $82,900. Oops.

I would be much more sympathetic to these one-percenters if they didn't sound like clueless versions of Marie Antoinette every time they opened their mouths.

Who wrote this?

2012-01-14T09:15:00.000-06:00

Hint: he's a moron.

My heroes are people like Milton Friedman, F.A. Hayek and Ayn Rand.

Damn — they’re all gone.

Another caption contest.

2012-01-13T21:38:00.001-06:00

So weird.

Caption contest.

2012-01-13T17:45:00.000-06:00

(Via)

Out of control, activist judges.

2012-01-13T15:21:00.001-06:00

Who uphold the law.

When you lie down with dogs, CNN, you get fleas.

2012-01-13T13:23:00.004-06:00

After you've employed Erick Erickson as a "political analyst" -- you've pretty much abandoned all journalistic standards.

Creepy

2012-01-13T10:27:00.003-06:00

Oh, look. Another right-wing Christianist preacher who's seriously disturbed.

Yes, that's what the media's for, New York Times.

2012-01-12T18:58:00.002-06:00

Wow, I just saw this:

As an Op-Ed columnist, Mr. Krugman clearly has the freedom to call out what he thinks is a lie. My question for readers is: should news reporters do the same?

If so, then perhaps the next time Mr. Romney says the president has a habit of apologizing for his country, the reporter should insert a paragraph saying, more or less:

“The president has never used the word ‘apologize’ in a speech about U.S. policy or history. Any assertion that he has apologized for U.S. actions rests on a misleading interpretation of the president’s words.”

Yes, and I would go a step further.

Until Romney withdrew the accusation or produced evidence to the contrary, he would not be granted interviews with the New York Times, and the New York Times would regularly make it clear why.

Unless you have the second part, the first is useless.

Our broken media.

2012-01-12T15:09:00.002-06:00

I've made the point before, but I'll make it again. As long as high-ranking elected officials can go on national television and do nothing but spout a series of lies with impunity -- no amount of fact-checking or "Biggest Lie of the Year" awards will make a damn bit of difference.

Another Ponzi scheme from Arthur Laffer.

2012-01-12T08:27:00.002-06:00

We all know "Trickle Down" Economics is a Ponzi scheme -- but it looks like Arthur Laffer came up with another one as well.

Hell hath no fury...

2012-01-11T20:55:00.001-06:00

...as a grifter scorned. Day-um.

Terrorism in Iran.

2012-01-11T13:04:00.006-06:00

But it was done by the Israelis or Americans -- so we won't call it terrorism.

UPDATE

And yes, the silence has been deafening.

UPDATE 2

It doesn't occur to Putz, apparently, that the guy he's spent the past four years accusing of being an America-hating Jimmy Carter-esque Weakling Who Will Surrender to the Arabs -- is to the right of Bush on this.

He's gloating about progressives' supposed double standards -- while ignoring his.

Typical.

The Secessionist tanks.

2012-01-10T20:50:00.002-06:00

Less than 1% so far.

Good call, New Hampshire Republicans.

What if Tim Tebow were a devout Muslim?

2012-01-10T14:26:00.004-06:00

The problem I have with the Tebow worship is that it's so obviously tribalism. "He's one of us."

It goes without saying that, if Tebow were wearing traditional Islamic clothes and praying to Allah after every touchdown, most of the pro-Tebow crowd outside of Broncos fans wouldn't treat him like the Second Coming. In fact, they'd likely have a great deal of disdain for him -- much like they did Chris Jackson, aka, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf.

Yes, there's an element of tribalism among the anti-Tebowists, but really -- what's driving the worship of Tebow nationally is the same thing that propelled the Quitter to prominence.

I would say the correlation between Tebow fans and Palin fans is very, very high.

Funniest headline in the history of headlines.

2012-01-10T11:19:00.001-06:00

I may never stop laughing.

If Democrats were like Republicans, the election would be over.

2012-01-10T07:00:00.001-06:00

Willard's "firing people" should be exactly like Kerry's "voted for the bill before I voted against it" line -- or even better, like Al Gore inventing the Internets. Democratic politicians and media should just start repeating it over and over and over until it becomes a fact that Willard is a guy who gets off on canning workers.

Republicans have been yanking shit out of context and distorting it for years -- be good to see some payback.

Entry level.

2012-01-09T20:45:00.001-06:00

Everyone should be born into an entry level life like Willard.

The Most Meaningless Endorsement in the World

2012-01-09T15:04:00.003-06:00

I generally find endorsements to be meaningless -- but this one is exceptionally so.

Equal opportunities.

2012-01-09T07:33:00.001-06:00

Krugman makes a great point.

Rich people need only apply.

2012-01-08T19:08:00.002-06:00

Just curious. Did Romney defer his salary as governor of Mass.? JFK deferred his presidential salary -- but the Bushes didn't.

Seems to me that if you're saying you don't need the money, you shouldn't take the money.

Shorter right-wingers: Wah! Stop talking about wedge issues!

2012-01-08T13:05:00.002-06:00

Everyone from Hugh Hewitt to Mark Steyn is outraged, outraged! -- that people are asking Republicans to defend the crazy shit they've been saying about choice.

This country is broke, and the unprecedented scale of its brokeness is an existential threat. Yet, with the exception of Newt’s occasional flashes of contempt for the questioners, everyone else plays along with this absurd game.

These guys realize they've been winning elections since 1968 with this "absurd game" -- right?

I mean, who was it that ran on banning gay marriage right in the middle of the Great Patriotic War Against Terra in 2004 and 2006?

George W. Who?

2012-01-08T09:22:00.001-06:00

Yeah, don't hear too much about that guy these days.

Remember him? Not long ago, he was president. For eight turbulent years. But you wouldn’t know it from listening to the Republican candidates who are vying to evict his Democratic successor and reclaim the White House for their party. On the subject of the way the country was governed — and how it fared — when they last ruled that particular roost, they’re almost consistently mum.
They seldom mention Bush positively. They seldom mention Bush negatively. They also never mention the Bush before Bush — the other slice of bread in the Clinton sandwich — and have thus turned the father and the son almost wholly into ghosts.

But...but...the president can't control Congress!

2012-01-07T16:46:00.002-06:00

Of the excuses why the public option was stripped out of the health care bill, that was by far the lamest.

Last year, Nader said there was an almost 100 percent chance Obama would face a primary challenge.

Nader explained that he had planned to organize a slate of six candidates to primary Obama on a variety of issues. The plan didn’t work out though, Nader said, partially blaming those who are working to get Obama reelected.

“The minute any name was mentioned ... they made the calls,” Nader said of the White House’s efforts. “They jumped like a cat.”

Nader said it’s understandable why pressure from the Obama administration would deter liberal candidates.

“The retaliation is incredible,” Nader said.

For example, he said if former Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) had opted to run against Obama, his future in the Democratic Party would be finished.

No, everyone doesn't need to go to college.

2012-01-07T15:30:00.003-06:00

But then the government needs to create a viable educational alternative to get to the middle class -- advanced trade schools like they have in Germany.

I'm pretty sure Santorum isn't proposing that.

Also, too.

Charles Krauthammer: Rick Santorum is a "common man."

2012-01-06T12:50:00.002-06:00

Geebus:

Santorum’s electoral advantage is sociological: His common-man, working-class sensibility would be highly appealing to battleground-state Reagan Democrats.

Working-class?

Perhaps the most jarring detail from his tenure in office is the unorthodox $500,000 mortgage that Santorum and his wife secured on the home in rural Virginia they had purchased for $643,361. According to a series of reports in the Philadelphia Daily News, the mortgage came from Philadelphia Trust Company, a fledgling private bank catering to "affluent investors and institutions" whose officers had contributed $24,000 to Santorum's political action committees and re-election campaign.

"Reagan Democrats"? What is this, 1988?

Rick Santorum: We found the WMDs in Iraq.

2012-01-05T12:31:00.002-06:00

Remember this?

Hugh Hewitt proven right!

2012-01-04T16:19:00.003-06:00

Four years later, of course, but...

Now posting at C&L.

2012-01-04T13:01:00.001-06:00

Stop by and say hello.

Teabagger fail.

2012-01-04T11:42:00.003-06:00

The great thing about last night was it officially made the Teabaggers totally irrelevant.

As you wake up this morning, the tea party has failed because it has surrendered itself into the hands of Romney, Santorum, or Gingrich — all of whom would use government to suit allegedly conservative ends, which is not conservative in and of itself.

It's almost as though the "Tea Party" wasn't a distinct political movement at all -- and just another name for "Bush/Cheney Republican." Shocking, but true.

At least we're all honest about that now. Even Putz.

I THINK HE’S RIGHT: Rand Paul on a third-party run by Ron: The tea party’s better off within the GOP.

Notice he didn't say "with" -- but "within."

UPDATE

Yeah, the jig's up, Teabaggers.

Lesson One: The Tea Party isn't a small government-first movement. It was Sarah Posner who coined the term "Teavangelicals," a little neologism for a simple idea. The Tea Party, she argued, was not some new force of libertarians. It was a new framework for the same conservatives who dominated the GOP a month before the Tea Party began. Iowa may not have been the best place to test this, as its Republicans have always been more economically populist than not, and in the last decades they've been reliable social conservatives. But its Tea Partiers did not demand much economic libertarianism from their GOP. Sixty-four percent of caucus-goers called themselves "Tea Party supporters," and 30 percent of them backed Rick Santorum -- a social conservative who proudly defended his earmarks.

Rick Perry must be a masochist.

2012-01-04T10:29:00.001-06:00

Looks like the Secessionist is back in. Feel the Perrymentum!

Rick Santorum just compared Obama to Mussolini.

2012-01-03T23:25:00.001-06:00

But he's running a very positive campaign!

Adios mofo.

2012-01-03T22:59:00.001-06:00

Damnit, the Secessionist just dropped out. I was enjoying watching him humiliate himself and get his ass repeatedly kicked.

No one should care who wins Iowa.

2012-01-03T20:26:00.002-06:00

If Santorum wins, Romney will be the nominee.

If Paul wins, Romney will be the nominee.

If Romney wins, Romney will be the nominee.

Southern right-wingers have a bad track record for being wrong about stuff.

2012-01-03T12:45:00.005-06:00

Reich:

America has had a long history of white Southern radicals who will stop at nothing to get their way - seceding from the Union in 1861, refusing to obey civil rights legislation in the 1960s, shutting the government in 1995, and risking the full faith and credit of the United States in 2010.

Not to mention the tacit approval of 100 years of lynching after the Civil War.

Pants on fire.

2012-01-03T09:16:00.005-06:00

I remember quite vividly that the Obama-Clinton primary was pretty rough -- but I don't think the candidates themselves got quite this ugly.

Then again, these are Republicans, and no one does ugly personal attacks like they do.

Prediction

2012-01-02T19:36:00.001-06:00

No matter who wins the Iowa caucuses, it will be a big win for the Tea Party.

Ronald Reagan cut taxes to 0% and personally took down the Berlin Wall with a sledgehammer.

2012-01-02T13:26:00.002-06:00

The cult of Reagan is fun to watch, certainly, but if I were Eric Cantor, I would not want my press secretary shouting at interviewers.

Terrorism in NYC

2012-01-02T08:10:00.001-06:00

But it's against Muslims, so -- we won't call it "terrorism."

This would've been extremely useful in 2009.

2012-01-01T18:13:00.004-06:00

I assume the Obama administration thought that by the fourth year of his first term, the economy would be pretty much fixed.

Even so, the GOP has been the Rich People Party since the 1920s. So this "new" positioning they've come up with should've been the positioning from the beginning -- and really, should always be the positioning of any Democratic politician, period.

Surrender

2012-01-01T08:18:00.005-06:00

In wingnutland, Obama can dramatically increase drone attacks, surge in Afghanistan, expand the war into Libya and kill bin Laden -- and it's all still "surrender."

(Above: Henry Kissinger's non-surrender to the North Vietnamese.)

UPDATE

Pavlovian Putz picks up the "surrender" meme.

Yes, that Obama is seeking to end a decade long war George W. Bush completely fucked up means he's "surrendering."

Rubes

2011-12-31T10:22:00.002-06:00

I guess I was the only one who saw this coming.

“They put the campaign together like all the other Perry campaigns: raise a bunch of money, don’t worry about the [media coverage], don’t worry about debates and buy the race on TV,” said a top Perry official. “You have to be a total rube to think a race for president is the same as a race for governor.”

I get that the national media would've been easily taken in by the Secessionist, but remain baffled that Texas-based politicos were bullish on his chances when he entered the race.

The only path to victory for him was to, a la Palin, skip the debates and not give interviews -- which is exactly what they've done in Texas for years. And when those restrictions weren't put in place, it didn't take long for him to start babbling about Ponzi schemes and lynching Ben Bernanke.

Game over.

Yes, Glenn Reynolds lies.

2011-12-30T18:41:00.003-06:00

Duh.

Also love that Heritage foundation deficit chart Putz was obsessively posting for a while that ends the Bush presidency in 2008.

HAHAHA Obama's not an American citizen HAHAHAHA.

2011-12-30T17:26:00.001-06:00

The Romney boys are such entitled little assholes.

Keeping it classy at Fox.

2011-12-30T14:41:00.001-06:00

Speechless.

Pointless polling.

2011-12-29T16:41:00.003-06:00

The only thing this poll shows is that Republicans and the right-wing media are much better at consistently and forcefully screaming "liberal" and "far-left" than Democrats are at calling Republicans "radical" and "far-right."

If you poll issue by issue, this doesn't happen. Does anyone seriously believe Ron Paul is closer to the median voter than Barack Obama?

One thing it reminds future Democratic presidents is that, no matter how "centrist" they govern -- they will always be labeled as a "liberal" and "out of the mainstream" uniformly by the right.

Clinton for veep?

2011-12-29T08:58:00.002-06:00

Normally, I'd ignore a rumor like this from a pundit, but Reich is pretty connected.

Not sure it matters. Unemployment keeps nudging down and the clown show that is the GOP keeps screwing up.

Flu season sucks.

2011-12-28T11:33:00.002-06:00

Whatever I've got isn't going away. Any suggested remedies for the nastiest head cold ever?

Meanwhile, I still think Paul is going to win in Iowa, because his supporters don't seem to care about the racist newsletters and crazy positions.

The fiscally responsible, anti-government crusader.

2011-12-27T19:50:00.001-06:00

Nice work if you can get it.

Extended holiday hiatus, plus virus ickiness.

2011-12-26T17:44:00.002-06:00

Hence the non-posting.

But here's a great read on Ron Paul.

Jesus weeps.

2011-12-23T08:56:00.000-06:00

Blessed are the grifters.

Tax cuts are not stipends.

2011-12-23T08:32:00.005-06:00

Krauthammer:

When George McGovern campaigned on giving every household $1,000, he was laughed out of town as a shameless panderer. President Obama is doing exactly the same — a one-year tax holiday that hands back about $1,000 per middle-class family — but with a little more subtlety.

So, the Bush tax cuts were "wealth redistribution" for the rich?

The neocons come out against Paul.

2011-12-22T11:15:00.002-06:00

WSJ:

Hear Dr. Paul on the subject of the 9/11 terror attacks—an event, he assures his audiences, that took place only because of U.S. aggression and military actions. True, we've heard the assertions before. But rarely have we heard in any American political figure such exclusive concern for, and appreciation of, the motives of those who attacked us—and so resounding a silence about the suffering of those thousands that the perpetrators of 9/11 set out so deliberately to kill.

Does Rabinowitz think al Qaeda attacked the US for some other reason besides our foreign policy in the Middle East? That they did it because they hate our freedoms?

Understanding your enemy is the first obligation of war. Not, apparently, to neocons.

Elitism

2011-12-22T08:59:00.001-06:00

Klein:

Is it elitist to expect that a candidate for President of the United States have a passing familiarity with the English language?

Yes.

The latest version of "Obama's a radical socialist."

2011-12-21T11:52:00.002-06:00

Again, it does seem strange that the Republicans are running against an Obama that exists only in their little right-wing brains.

Opposing whatever Democrats want, updated daily.

2011-12-21T07:37:00.002-06:00

Since that's their MO, it's not surprising at all that Republicans "lost the tax issue to Obama."

Republicans don't care about the "Lie of the Year" -- so why should Democrats?

2011-12-20T14:22:00.003-06:00

I'm a bit puzzled by all the hand-wringing over the totally meaningless PolitiFact stuff.

As I've pointed out before, until PoltiFact's "lies" are recognized and enforced by the legacy media -- that is, until NBC or CBS or CNN or the NYT says, "Sorry, you lied about this -- you can't come back on the air or in print until you correct the record" -- any designation by PolitiFact is effectively meaningless.

There is absolutely no for Republicans to stop lying about stuff. They haven't stopped saying "death panels" or "government takeover" over the past two years, despite winning PolitiFact's award.

Pissing in the wind.

Teasing the rubes.

2011-12-20T07:12:00.001-06:00

That's just mean.

Tea Party = "Bush Republican"

2011-12-19T17:35:00.001-06:00

More evidence that "Tea Party" was just a quick and dirty rebrand.

Glenn Reynolds: Obama might be stupid.

2011-12-19T14:53:00.002-06:00

I'm shocked, shocked:

I have to say that the evidence for Obama’s being especially bright is unclear.

But, of course, back in 2005...

HMM. MAYBE BUSH IS AS SMART AS SOME PEOPLE SAY.

The "some people" Putz is approvingly referring to is -- Assrocket.

Jeb Bush's answer to inequality: less taxes and regulation.

2011-12-19T11:09:00.005-06:00

Hilarious.

We either can go down the road we are on, a road where the individual is allowed to succeed only so much before being punished with ruinous taxation, where commerce ignores government action at its own peril, and where the state decides how a massive share of the economy's resources should be spent.

Or we can return to the road we once knew and which has served us well: a road where individuals acting freely and with little restraint are able to pursue fortune and prosperity as they see fit, a road where the government's role is not to shape the marketplace but to help prepare its citizens to prosper from it.
In short, we must choose between the straight line promised by the statists and the jagged line of economic freedom. The straight line of gradual and controlled growth is what the statists promise but can never deliver. The jagged line offers no guarantees but has a powerful record of delivering the most prosperity and the most opportunity to the most people. We cannot possibly know in advance what freedom promises for 312 million individuals. But unless we are willing to explore the jagged line of freedom, we will be stuck with the straight line. And the straight line, it turns out, is a flat line.

1) The current tax rates aren't "ruinous" -- they're at historic lows.

2) When was this era when individuals acted with "little restraint" that produced widespread upward mobility? Because from 1945-1975 there was lots of upward mobility -- to go with extremely high taxes and ever-expansive regulations.

3) If lower taxes and less regulations are the answer to better upward mobility, why have middle class wages been flat and wealth inequality increased since the Reagan revolution?

Bush Republicans would make great Stalinists. The revolution of lower taxes and less regulation cannot fail, comrades! It can only be betrayed!

The Dear Leader is dead.

2011-12-18T21:51:00.001-06:00

The Axis of Evil ain't what it used to be.

St. Reagan of California

2011-12-18T14:07:00.000-06:00

Glenn is shrill.

As media and political figures lavished him with politicized praise, there was virtually no mention of the brutal, civilian-extinguishing covert wars he waged in Central America, his funding of terrorists in Nicaragua, the pervasive illegality of the Iran-contra scandal perpetrated by his top aides and possibly himself, the explosion of wealth and income inequality ushered in by “Reagonmics” which persists today, his escalation of the racially disparate Drug War, his slashing of domestic programs for the poor accompanied by a deficit-causing build-up in the military budget, the racially-tinged (at least) attacks on welfare-queens-in-Cadillacs, the Savings & Loan crisis resulting from deregulation, his refusal even to acknowledge AIDS as tens of thousands of the Wrong People died, the training of Muslim radicals in Afghanistan and arming of the Iranian regime, the attempt to appoint the radical Robert Bork to the Supreme Court, or virtually anything else that would undermine the canonization. The country was drowned by a full, uninterrupted week of pure, leader-reverent propaganda.