[xerxes]

From the arch-liberals at The AEI and The Brookings Institute.

$1:

Let’s just say it: The Republicans are the problem.

By Thomas E. Mann and Norman J. Ornstein, Published: April 27

Rep. Allen West, a Florida Republican, was recently captured on video asserting that there are “78 to 81” Democrats in Congress who are members of the Communist Party. Of course, it’s not unusual for some renegade lawmaker from either side of the aisle to say something outrageous. What made West’s comment — right out of the McCarthyite playbook of the 1950s — so striking was the almost complete lack of condemnation from Republican congressional leaders or other major party figures, including the remaining presidential candidates.

It’s not that the GOP leadership agrees with West; it is that such extreme remarks and views are now taken for granted.

We have been studying Washington politics and Congress for more than 40 years, and never have we seen them this dysfunctional. In our past writings, we have criticized both parties when we believed it was warranted. Today, however, we have no choice but to acknowledge that the core of the problem lies with the Republican Party.

The GOP has become an insurgent outlier in American politics. It is ideologically extreme; scornful of compromise; unmoved by conventional understanding of facts, evidence and science; and dismissive of the legitimacy of its political opposition.

When one party moves this far from the mainstream, it makes it nearly impossible for the political system to deal constructively with the country’s challenges.

“Both sides do it” or “There is plenty of blame to go around” are the traditional refuges for an American news media intent on proving its lack of bias, while political scientists prefer generality and neutrality when discussing partisan polarization. Many self-styled bipartisan groups, in their search for common ground, propose solutions that move both sides to the center, a strategy that is simply untenable when one side is so far out of reach.

It is clear that the center of gravity in the Republican Party has shifted sharply to the right. Its once-legendary moderate and center-right legislators in the House and the Senate — think Bob Michel, Mickey Edwards, John Danforth, Chuck Hagel — are virtually extinct.

The post-McGovern Democratic Party, by contrast, while losing the bulk of its conservative Dixiecrat contingent in the decades after the civil rights revolution, has retained a more diverse base. Since the Clinton presidency, it has hewed to the center-left on issues from welfare reform to fiscal policy. While the Democrats may have moved from their 40-yard line to their 25, the Republicans have gone from their 40 to somewhere behind their goal post.

Rest of the op-ed here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/lets-just-say-it-the-republicans-are-the-problem/2012/04/27/gIQAxCVUlT_story.html

[DanSC]

I'm quite happy with the Republicans over the last few days.

Calling out the Department of Justice for their stonewalling of the Fast and Furious investigation was an excellent move towards legitimacy in government.

[rickc]

Anyone who thinks that the Republicans are to blame should spend some time in the Democratic stronghold that is Detroit. Most Americans would not believe that they are still in the States. They would think that they had been sent to the trashiest third world shithole on the planet.

[Thanos]

The tin-hatted conspiracist government-hating militia-nutcase roots of the Fast & Furious scam here. It makes the contrived and farcical attempt to impeach Bill Clinton look respectable by comparison.

History of Fast & Furious here. Hey, the whole stupid idea was started back in 2006 by the ATF when the, ahem, previous guy was still in the White House. And the ATF guys in charge of the program didn't even bother to inform the Obama Administration what it was that they were up to.

Another nightmarish Bush-era legacy with tentacles that extend long past the expiry of the Bush presidency? Go figure.

[Zipperfish]

I think the the problem is the Democrats and Republicans have been coopted by money. In either case it's a government of millionaires working for the interests of billionaires.

[PublicAnimalNo9]

Zipperfish Zipperfish:

I think the the problem is the Democrats and Republicans have been coopted by money. In either case it's a government of millionaires working for the interests of billionaires.

Exactly. As I was trying to explain to a few Americans that kept harping about how Canada isn't a democracy, the US is teetering on the brink of plutocracy, if it already isn't one.

[rickc]

Thanos Thanos:

The tin-hatted conspiracist government-hating militia-nutcase roots of the Fast & Furious scam here. It makes the contrived and farcical attempt to impeach Bill Clinton look respectable by comparison.

History of Fast & Furious here. Hey, the whole stupid idea was started back in 2006 by the ATF when the, ahem, previous guy was still in the White House. And the ATF guys in charge of the program didn't even bother to inform the Obama Administration what it was that they were up to.

Another nightmarish Bush-era legacy with tentacles that extend long past the expiry of the Bush presidency? Go figure.

If it was possible to give you 2.5 rep points for that post I would. I tried to rep and I got the old" spread them around first" message.The Wiki piece was pretty good,I will admit. I would have given 5 points for that. I would have to ask though: if all this was just leftover from the Bush administration, why the use of Executive Privilege? Why make it look like a coverup? Why not just turn over everything and let the facts speak for themselves? If there were criminal acts from the previous administation ,then prosecute! I am sure that the statute of limitations are not up by now. President Obama could go on tv and say "hey this flaming bag of shit was dropped on my doorstep by the last admin, and here is all the proof". It would be over in days,and his accusors would look like fools. The President made a choice to withhold evidence and give the impression of impropriety. Thats on him.

I would have deducted 2.5 points for the Rachel Maddow part. I like Rachel, and I watch her show every day to see the issues from both sides. Her assertion that some right wing nutjob calling for breaking windows of Democrats is to blame for this whole fast and furious scandal is laughable at best. It reeks of that whole "thermite bombs being strapped to the fuselage of the jets" striking the trade towers bullshit. If some crakpot is publicly calling for breaking the windows of Democrats, then why is he not arrested on charges of inciting violence? Or conspiracy? Or crosssing State lines to commit violence? Voter intimidation? The fact that some inbred white trash with a 3rd grade education could concoct this vast conspiracy on his own to bring down the Obama administration, mearly shows how inept the administration really is. The President is a graduate of Harvard Law. He is surrounded by the greatest minds on the planet. And yet some hick with no education was able to deal the most powerful man on the planet a fatal shot to the political body all on his own? I call bullshit! Hell I call total bullshit!!

Lastly I have a major problem with Rachel acting like her article is about educating my crazy uncle that I keep locked in my basement all day watching Fox news. http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2012/0 ... 12/138890/
That link sais it all. Fox News beats all the competion combined.Rachel Maddow's show is absolutely blown away by Fox news. She is lucky to even be on the air. Its only because of right wingers like me admitting to Neilson that I watch her show,that she even has a show. Get off of your high horse Rachel. The crazy uncle locked in the basement is being forced to watch YOUR show! He is a major part of your ratings.

[sandorski]

America is fucked. They refuse to truly punish their Political parties, they are too easily swayed by non-sense, they keep defending policies that are against their own interests, corruption of the entire political process is rampant and they defend it as Noble.

[BartSimpson]

Thanos Thanos:

The tin-hatted conspiracist government-hating militia-nutcase roots of the Fast & Furious scam here. It makes the contrived and farcical attempt to impeach Bill Clinton look respectable by comparison.

History of Fast & Furious here. Hey, the whole stupid idea was started back in 2006 by the ATF when the, ahem, previous guy was still in the White House. And the ATF guys in charge of the program didn't even bother to inform the Obama Administration what it was that they were up to.

Another nightmarish Bush-era legacy with tentacles that extend long past the expiry of the Bush presidency? Go figure.

The talking point that Fast & Furious was somehow 'Bush's Fault' only started yesterday when Jay Carney first voiced it in a press conference. Prior to yesterday there is no such mention of it in over eighteen months of Congressional hearings on the topic.

And if the White House wants to prove that it's Bush's fault then all they have to do is come forward with the documents that would support that accusation. Which they don't want to do.

So Democrats then should be asking why Obama is apparently running a cover up for Bush.

[DanSC]

If you're going to post a link to the history of Fast and Furious, you should at least convey the correct content of your link.

Operation Gunrunner was started in 2007, and the key component was the American and Mexican authorities tracked the guns, which actually lead to arrest and convictions in 2010.

Fast and Furious spun off from Gunrunner in late 2009. The difference was, Fast and Furious didn't have a mechanism for tracking the guns, and those guns' whereabouts were unknown until they started showing up in Mexican crime scenes.

[BartSimpson]

Thanos Thanos:

The tin-hatted conspiracist government-hating militia-nutcase roots of the Fast & Furious scam here. It makes the contrived and farcical attempt to impeach Bill Clinton look respectable by comparison.

History of Fast & Furious here. Hey, the whole stupid idea was started back in 2006 by the ATF when the, ahem, previous guy was still in the White House. And the ATF guys in charge of the program didn't even bother to inform the Obama Administration what it was that they were up to.

Another nightmarish Bush-era legacy with tentacles that extend long past the expiry of the Bush presidency? Go figure.

Bush ran something called 'Wide Receiver' in which the Mexican government was a full operating partner and it succeeded in the arrests of 1,400 drug cartel members within Mexico and the USA. It also ended in 2007, well before Obama was even nominated.

Fast and Furious started in October 2009, ten months after Obama took office. According to Eric Holder's testimony it has resulted in exactly no arrests and according to the current Mexican government and Eric Holder it took place without any knowledge of the Mexican government.

Even better, here's the March 2009 announcement by the Obama administration of the planned program:

http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/284798-4

So kindly stop repeating bullshit you're hearing from Jay Carney because it just isn't true.

[Thanos]

More on Fast & Furious here. Eric Holder and the DOJ have been remarkably co-operative with Congress. Of course one has to operate under the assumption that the GOP congressional committee is actually motivated by finding the truth behind a botched ATF program. When one realizes that this whole thing is just another political front to destroy the Obama Administration then the actual reality of the how and why of GOP actions becomes a lot clearer. One could also question how an unidicted* car thief like Darrell Issa end up in charge of a congressional committee in the first place but here in good ol' boy land we certainly take care of our own.

Saw a comment earlier elsewhere that this entire F & F furour is just revenge against Eric Holder for two things anyway. One, the DOJ's refusal to take the Black Panther "threat", who today maybe number in the tens, as seriously as if the Panthers were as massive a threat as Al Qaeda. And, two, stepping into Florida and halting unindicted* white-collar criminal Rick Scott's illegal purge of voter registration rolls. A purge, BTW, that all 67 Florida county election boards, most of which are currently controlled by Republican county officers, refused to undertake due to their blatant illegality and the ham-fisted, inaccurate, and utterly inept way that the names to be purged were coallated.

Go figure at all of this.

*Unidicted = a common characteristic among numerous GOP heavyweights these days. But hey, don't forget that they're the party of law and order (as they see it, anyway).

[Thanos]

Here's another thinking-man's GOP'er:

$1:

A congressional hopeful has a plan to impeach President Obama, deep in the heart of Texas.

Wes Riddle, a Republican tea party activist locked in a run-off with fellow GOPer Roger Williams in Texas’ 25th congressional district, is campaigning on a conspiracy theory even more bizarre than the fantasy that the United Nations and George Soros are conspiring to eliminate the game of golf.

Riddle has promised to begin the impeachment process against President Obama the day he enters Congress — seemingly implying that he believes Obama will be reelected — because of a boundary treaty that was ratified by the Senate in 1991. Obama was 30 years old at the time and just finishing up law school.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram has the details:

Riddle, a retired Army officer from Gatesville, wants to impeach Obama for “giving away” seven Arctic Ocean and Bering Sea islands near Siberia to Russia.

(Yes, even though those islands were ceded in 1991 under President George H.W. Bush.)

Riddle also wants to impeach Obama, according to the paper, because of “President Obama’s abuse of power and blatant disregard to the Constitution.”

This paranoid fantasy appears to have been spawned by Tea Party favorite Joe Miller. According to his World Net Daily piece, the Obama administration gave away “seven strategic, resource-laden Alaskan islands.” Miller was apoplectic: “We won the Cold War and should start acting like it.”

Though FactCheck.org has thoroughly debunked this conspiracy theory, reality hasn’t stopped Riddle from using it as a rationale for his goal of impeaching Obama.

The run-off election will take place on July 31.

"Hey, this guy's gonna win" - Lionel Hutz.

[BartSimpson]

Obama would not be involved if the stupid f*ck hadn't involved himself with a claim of Executive Privilege. Obama had previously denied any knowledge of F&F and then he claims EP after 18 months? The US Supreme Court has ruled that the White House can ony invoke EP in matters in which the President is directly involved and now Obama has himself in a quandary because this claim of EP implicates him in the scandal and it also means that he lied to Congress when he previously denied knowledge of the operation.

Sorry, Thanos, Obama f*cked up on this one and the GOP is not going to let it go. For that matter, a growing number of the media are starting to side with the GOP that the Department of Justice needs to release the requested documents.

That's another thing, Jay Carney tried to make it sound like 2700 *pages* of documents satisfied the Congressional subpoena for over 70,000 *documents*. Well, if that was the case then why the EP to hide the rest of documentation?

And if they're going to blame Bush then where's the documents to prove it?

Seriously, Obama f*cked up on this one.

[SprCForr]

Ahh, the Dems were saying the same shit in 1859.