Please write and send praise, critique, interesting links or random musings to touchthehandthatfeedsyou@yahoo.com
Showing posts with label gop extremism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gop extremism. Show all posts

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Quote Of The Day - Batshit Crazy GOP Edition

Aug 30th, 2012

"In 2010, when I was running, everybody said 'No, you're too extreme.' But now look, it's where everybody is going."

-- Notorious GOP whack job and former candidate for the U.S. Senate, Sharron Angle

Monday, August 27, 2012

Quote Of The Day - GOP Flashback Edition

Aug 27th, 2012

"Dogmatic ideological parties tend to splinter the political and social fabric of a nation, lead to governmental crises and deadlocks, and stymie the compromises so often necessary to preserve freedom and achieve progress."

-George Romney, letter to Barry Goldwater, 1964

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Creeping Dominionism

June 17th, 2012

Paul Froese writes:
"Today, economic conservatism is inextricably linked to theology. Americans who believe in an Authoritative God simply do not make the same distinction between economic and religious spheres that researchers routinely do. Therefore, it is not enough for a Republican candidate to define himself or herself as mainly a “fiscal conservative” or a “person of faith” to be embraced by believers in the new religious-economic idealism. If he or she is to appeal to the religious-economic idealists, both these things must be claimed in equal measure."
It is time to stop trying to convince this section of American society of anything. They are not to be reasoned with.

Monday, April 9, 2012

What War On Women?

April 9th, 2012

Image via
That's the official GOP line; there is no "war on women."

Today, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) called it a "manufactured issue".

He went so far as to presume that high ranking Republican women agree with him:

"There is no issue. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and Kelly Ayotte from New Hampshire and Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe from Maine, I think, would be the first to say — and Lisa Murkowski from Alaska — ‘We don’t see any evidence of this.' "
Really?

Thursday, March 1, 2012

The War On Women Meets The War On Science

march 1st, 2012

Well, this certainly is a convergence of two lunatic disciplines; practiced denial of science meets institutional misogyny. I suspect a sprinkling of Dominionism was added for flavor.

Igor Volsky writes:

"Just moments after Senators defeated the so-called Blunt Amendment, Rep. Tim Murphy (R-PA) accused Sebelius of lying about the administration’s rule requiring employers to provide birth control coverage in their health insurance plans and falsely insisted that religious organizations would be required to provide “abortifacient” drugs." EMPHASIS MINE

Sebelius: There also is no abortifacient drug that is part of the FDA approved contraception. What the rule for preventive care…
Murphy: Ma’m that is not true…Is the morning after pill or something like that an abortifacient drug?
Sebelius : It is a contraceptive drug, not an abortifacient… It does not interfere with a pregnancy. If the morning pill were taken, and a female were pregnant, the pregnancy is not interrupted. That’s the definition of abortifation.
Murphy: Ma’m that is your interpretation, and I appreciate that’s your interpretation.
Sebelius: That’s what the scientists and doctors…
Murphy: We’re not talking about scientists! Ma’m we’re not talking about scientists here, we’re talking about religious belief. Ma’m, I’m asking you about a religious belief. In a religious belief, that is a violation of a religious belief.
This man is an idiot. Worse, he's a very dangerous idiot. Science isn't a political or theological opinion.

One more time... were talking about organizations that seek to participate in secular society, for commercial benefit, underwritten in dozens of ways by the U.S. taxpayer. They don't like it? Close. Period. I say that as a Christian.

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

The Day In "Slut Shaming"

Feb 29th, 2012

It's been a hell of a day in the world of "slut shaming." A hell of a day, indeed. In case you haven't heard yet, Rush Limbaugh savagely attacked Sandra Fluke, the young woman whom House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) refused to allow to testify during his all-male-witness contraception hearing two weeks ago:

"What does it say about the college coed Susan [sic] Fluke, who goes before a congressional committee and essentially says that she must be paid to have sex? What does that make her? It makes her a slut, right? It makes her a prostitute. She wants to be paid to have sex.

"She's having so much sex she can't afford the contraception. She wants you and me and the taxpayers to pay her to have sex. What does that make us? We're the pimps.

"The johns, that's right. We would be the johns -- no! We're not the johns. Well -- yeah, that's right. Pimp's not the right word.

"OK, so, she's not a slut. She's round-heeled. I take it back." EMPHASIS MINE

via Media Matters


In case you are wondering what set Rush off, Ms. Fluke managed to get her voice heard in a separate hearing held by the The Democratic Steering & Policy Committee. Although House Republicans managed to intentionally prevent her appearance from being broadcast, it wound up being seen by a lot of people anyway. You know how that pesky internet is.



This woman not being effectively silenced altogether was too much for Rush to bear.

Of particular note is his remark today about the quantity of sex a person engages in having anything to do with "contraception."

Beyond a refusal to recognize the fact that a majority of women use "contraception" as an essential component of health-preserving hormone therapies (such as the one related in Ms. Fluke's testimony), this exposes the psyche of the contemporary, self-declared conservative male...
They think this debate is about rubbers and fucking.
Steve Benen raises an eyebrow:

"Behold, the most influential voice in Republican politics.

I'm curious whether GOP officials, including Darrell Issa, are comfortable with the language Limbaugh used today. If recent history is any guide, Republican officeholders are loath to disagree with the radio host publicly, and it'll be interesting to see if GOP lawmakers or candidates make any kind of exception here.

Given that they started this War on Women, it seems unlikely, but here's hoping I'm wrong."


That's a damn good question. And, it should be asked of every single elected Republican in the United States.

Believe it or not, the day got even more depressing.

The National Review published a "hilarious" piece by Charles C. W. Cooke showing just how stupid we liberals are and 'exposing' the fact that access to birth control is a phony issue. His piece, titled "My Contraceptive Haul," (yuk yuk) details how easy it was for him to find condoms simply everywhere in NY City.
"Were one to have listened uncritically to the more hysterical elements in America’s news media over the past month, one would have concluded that contraception is intractably hard to come by in the United States; but a cursory glance at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s well-appointed website gives quite the opposite impression. There, contrarily, visitors are informed that anyone in need of contraception is somewhat spoiled for choice." EMPHASIS MINE
While poking fun at the "NY Condom App" available for a number of smart phones, he says:
"Never has a society been so precisely and easily led to safe sex."
He even describes how his pockets were "bulging" with so many rubbers. Again, it's all about rubbers and fucking.
"Next time someone tells you that, if the federal government does not force all health insurers to cover contraception without raising premiums, the sky is going to fall, why not take him for a walk in a major urban area? You’ll only have to go a couple of blocks." EMPHASIS MINE
You just read that right.
"Take him."
There are so many things wrong with these two men that go beyond their dripping smarm.

They are speaking for millions of Americans who think that women shouldn't be speaking on this subject at all.

Fox News - Proud Member Of The RNC

Feb 29th, 2012

It should come as a surprise to no one that Fox News shapes and crafts their programming to fit RNC bullet points. However, it isn't often that one of their personalities actually reads them on the air.

The GOP Primary Catastrophe

Feb 28th, 2012

Mitt Romney may have won yesterday's contests but even one of the victories was something of an embarrassment. Having appealed to the basest anti-immigrant sentiments of the Arizona GOP and with the support of that state's large Mormon community, he won by a comfortable margin. It's the Michigan contest that has Republicans worried. He barely carried his home state.

Brian Montopoli observes:

"Sure, it wasn't exactly a convincing win. And certainly, there will be those who say the fact that he barely won the state where he was born (and where his father was a popular governor) despite significantly outspending his rivals shows that he is the flimsiest of frontrunners.

But so what? Mitt Romney just avoided what would have been a catastrophic defeat, and in doing so set himself on a course to beat back the latest anti-Romney candidate and ultimately secure the Republican nomination for president."


Thank God that we weren't completely humiliated can't exactly be an inspirational analysis for Romney's team.

The Snowe Announcement

Feb 29th, 2012

Mittens took Arizona and Michigan's GOP primaries, The President gave his most remarkable speech in a very long time, the DOW closed above 13,000... there's a lot of news to discuss today. However, what has everyone talking is the sudden and surprising retirement announcement by Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME)

Jezebel may have the headline of the year so far above Cassie Murdoch's reaction.

"Snowe may be a Republican, but she was known for being a rational, thinking-person's Republican, a rarity in these sad times. 

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

How The GOP Got Here

Feb 28th, 2012

A lot of folks are discussing David Brooks' column today and rightly so. He has stepped back and taken stock of the GOP. His take away:

"The wingers call their Republican opponents RINOs, or Republican In Name Only. But that’s an insult to the rhino, which is a tough, noble beast. If RINOs were like rhinos, they’d stand up to those who seek to destroy them. Actually, what the country needs is some real Rhino Republicans. But the professional Republicans never do that. They’re not rhinos. They’re Opossum Republicans. They tremble for a few seconds then slip into an involuntary coma every time they’re challenged aggressively from the right.

Without real opposition, the wingers go from strength to strength. Under their influence, we’ve had a primary campaign that isn’t really an argument about issues. It’s a series of heresy trials in which each of the candidates accuse the others of tribal impurity. Two kinds of candidates emerge from this process: first, those who are forceful but outside the mainstream; second, those who started out mainstream but look weak and unprincipled because they have spent so much time genuflecting before those who despise them."


I think no one can reasonably argue.

"They Are Running Against A Fictional President"

Feb 28th, 2012

Bill Maher sums up the contemporary GOP:

"This is the bubble they live in. It's hard to get actual facts into this impermeable membrane. They are running against a fictional president. A president who has slashed defense, who has raised taxes, who goes around the world apologizing to different countries, who coddles terrorists, all of which, of course, never happened. But that's who they think the president is."

Monday, February 27, 2012

Quote Of The Day - Here and Now Edition

Feb 27th, 2012

"A party of birthers, creationists, theocrats, climate-change deniers, nativists, gay-bashers, antiabortionists, media paranoids, anti-intellectuals and out-of-touch country clubbers cannot govern America."

--Robert Reich

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Quote Of The Day - Here and Now Edition

Feb 26th, 2012

"Republicans being against sex is not good. Sex is popular."

-- GOP strategist Alex Castellanos discussing his party's re-declaration of culture war in America.

Worth 1,000 Words - Fox News Edition

Feb 26th, 2012

H/T to Raging Teabagger on twitter

The GOP War On The Separation Clause, cont...

Feb 26th, 2012

I wrote recently that the Republican party was engaged in nothing less than a full assault on the principle of separation itself. Some of the responses were heated and accused me of hyperbole. With all due respect, Rick Santorum exploded those arguments a short time ago. Appearing on This Week with George Stephanopulous this morning, he doubled down on remarks he made last year that his reaction to JFK's famous address to the Greater Houston Ministerial Association in Septemer of 1960 made him want to vomit.

"I don't believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute," he said. He then actually argued that the church not participating the "operation of the state" is "antithetical" to our founding.

Confederate Ghosts

Feb 26th, 2012

Over at PoliticsUSA, RMuse notes some ugly mischief brewing in the Georgia state legislature:

"The Georgia legislators introduced the nullification bill that is summed up with the words, “In the event the General Assembly votes by a constitutional majority to nullify any federal statute, mandate, or executive order on the grounds of constitutionality, neither the state nor its citizens shall recognize or be obligated to live under such statute, mandate, or executive order.” The similarities to pre-Civil War sensibilities of Southern states is remarkable and reflect opposition to, among other things, the Affordable Care Act and the right of women to choose their own reproductive health. However, the impetus of nullification is rejection of Barack Obama as President of the United States and not any one particular law." EMPHASIS THEIRS

The GOP's attempt to march backwards continues...

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Another GOP Debate... Again

Feb 23rd, 2012

I didn't have the stomach to liveblog last night's angry-white-man-distortion-fest. Sullivan, whether to his credit or as a sign that he really is a masochist, did so HERE. His takeaway:

"Maybe I've lost my mind after all these debates, or maybe I secretly want him to win (because he would finally expose all the insanity that has been building in this party and needs venting). But I thought Santorum was on form tonight. My sense is that he will not lose his current momentum after tonight. I didn't feel Newt tonight. Romney doesn't wear well. Paul was great and funny and human.

But there was a winner, it seems to me. He's in the White House."

Yup.

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Romney Watch - Et Tu, Mittens?

Feb 22nd, 2012
by F. Grey Parker

Barry Goldwater once said, 
"Religious factions will go on imposing their will on others unless the decent people connected to them recognize that religion has no place in public policy. They must learn to make their views known without trying to make their views the only alternatives."
My. How things have changed.

There was a time when I had some regard for Mitt Romney. He once seemed contemplative and fair. There is plenty in his record to respect no matter how much he's running from it lately.

But that's just it... he's really running from it. What's more, what he is running to is un-American.

A few months ago, he was not just the GOP elite establishment's choice. He also seemed the smart choice. Not anymore.

I believe that yesterday, Romney not only sealed the fate of his campaign but also that of his party.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

How Social Conservatives Are Derailing The GOP, cont...

Feb 21st, 2012

Josh Holland notes that one of the interesting things to come out of the GOP's war on contraception is a fracture in messaging:

"Most progressives have come to hold a grudging admiration for the conservative movement's message discipline. We're often impressed by the way the entire movement repeats and reinforces its preferred narrative on most issues – from the most obscure bloggers in the fever swamps of wingnuttia to the Republican caucus in the senate. There's real power in that discipline."

At first, the arguments against the so-called "contraception mandate" were framed exclusively as an issue of "religious liberty." I thoroughly debunked this nonsense HERE. My expectation was that the establishment would keep order, the wing-nuts would follow and, as usual, I would have to keep making my point in an attempt to expose the underlying hypocrisy.

However, when you use a dog-whistle you can't always control how the hounds respond. From the recent disgusting pronouncements of Dana Loesch to the extreme proposals of Republican Senator Roy Blunt which would expand conservative demands for exceptions beyond the religious and into the "moral," the discipline of GOP propaganda which we once expected is showing signs of collapse.

The real and underlying fear among "conservatives" over changes in women's roles over the last two generations has erupted and is "throwing them off message and making it clear to the public at large that this fight is first and foremost about women's role in society, and not “conscience” or “liberty” or any of the other talking points that might have won the American people over to their side in the debate.

And that clarity will play out in this election cycle. As Greg Sargent notes, over the past three months pollsters have seen a dramatic, 18-point swing from Romney to Obama among unmarried women, and the president now leads the supposedly “moderate” contender by a stunning 65-30 margin among that group. When it comes to this bizarre fight over contraception, social conservatives are proving to be their party's own worst enemies."


And it's still only February.

Newt Watch - Turning Up The Crazy

Feb 13th, 2012

Image via Salon
It's understandable, I suppose, that Gingrich would be trying to beat Rick "Crazy-Pants" Santorum at his own game. After all, Santorum's star seems to be rising with the GOP base in direct proportion to his widening orbit away from both reality and decency.

But, two of Newt's recent statements are particularly unbelievable:

Defeating President Obama is now "a duty of national security" because "he is incapable of defending the United States."

Uh huh. Tell that to Qaddafi and Bin Laden.

Even more rich is this gem from Raw Story:

"At a campaign event in Suwanee, Georgia, the former House Speaker told supporters that he would bring back cheaper gas because "you can’t put a gun rack on a Volt."

Hee haw.