Vicious Wingnut Valentines And Other Right-Wing Eye Vomit

[BlogBox]

This week on the blogs: Clinton's a pimp, and Obama's a pussy; If Clinton could rearrange the alphabet...; Three years in the Senate qualifies Obama to do what?; Pay no attention to Republicans cheating each other and running up ridiculous campaign debts; And liberal bloggers have more time for abortions. Plus, something you might not have known about Tom Lantos and the transgender community. And DUers Tom Rinaldo, trof, and WillyT do it best. Enjoy!

Wingnut Valentines

Warning! Right-wing eye vomit ahead! Leave it to Wonkette to post this RNC valentine:


If you follow Wonkette's provided link to "RNC Valentine's Day Cards," here's a sample of what Republicans think is funny about Senator Clinton:


Think those are bad? There's more right-wing eye vomit to come (further down the page), and it's not just lame. It's ugly, and it's aimed at Obama. As for the merely lame, R's are still wondering why wingnut comics and writers can't cut it in the big time gigs. Duh. Speaking of Duh...

CPAC: Still Crazy After All These Years

When those Conservative Political Action Conference members (trans. Republicans) get together for their annual crapfest in DC, it helps to have a spy/blogger roaming around. Hey, how else are we gonna know how bat guano crazy they really are? American Street has posted all of the individual links to Sadly, No's clandestine spying adventures, in which he pretends to be a lobbyist for the fictitious "American Milk Solids Council." Good times. Good times. Here's a choice paragraph from part 1:

Fully embracing my new role as a man who's attending a convention of right-wing crazies with the idea that their maddened, self-serving efforts to run the country into the ground are actually a good thing, I've even crafted an alternate identity for myself. Gone is Mister Leonard Pierce, a freelance writer and small-time criminal who is fond of Scandinavian social democracy, gangsta rap and the writings of Terry Southern. In his place is the modestly dressed, all-American Leonard Pierce, lobbyist for the Texas-based American Milk Solids Council, who only reads books with the word "management" or "Bible" in the title and wants nothing more out of his politicians than that they lower his taxes at any cost, allow him to do business any way the market will allow, and maybe if there's enough time keep the homo queers from marrying each other. It is through the ruthless management of this façade that I will survive a weekend with a group for whom 1968 is something that happened to other people. My mantra for the next four days: pills, populism, and participatory journalism.

This is must-read stuff if you want to understand how far we have to go in our fight for honest government. Chilling, but crucial. Also reporting on CPAC shenanigans, Think Progress notes that Tom The Bugman DeLay says he can't run for president this year because... wait for it! It's as juicy as a squished cockroach under the pointed toe of a Stetson...

DeLay: I can't run for President because I'm indicted.

After Sen. John McCain's (R-AZ) CPAC speech yesterday, Huffington Post's Sam Stein spoke to former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, who complained that McCain "didn't address his record." Asked by Stein "if he himself would run" for president, DeLay replied: "I don't think somebody who's indicted ought to run for president." DeLay, who resigned from Congress in 2006, is currently facing two charges of money laundering and conspiring to launder money.

Add DeLay's indictment excuse to Willard Romney's "I don't want the terrorists to win, so I'm stepping aside" excuse, and what've you got? If you missed Romney's American Psycho exit speech (at CPAC, of course), Chris Floyd sums it up:

And thus the climax of Romney's peroration: a frantic blithering about "evil and radical jihad" and "the inevitable military ambitions of China" and the burning need to "raise military spending to 4 percent of our GDP" and overriding imperative to keep the Terror War raging, particularly its central front in Iraq. None of this is remotely connected to the actual wellbeing, security and prosperity of the American people; quite the opposite. It is, however, absolutely vital to the preservation of the elite's power, privilege, self-image and status. And as they demonstrate day after day, they don't care how many people must die or suffer for this.

This is moral psychosis on a monumental scale. It is the complete and utter repudiation of every civilized ideal, of every fragment of enlightenment wrenched from the blood-drenched slagheap of human history. Yet it passes for normality in our political discourse.

Two of the worst ever excuses for "honorable" men lament their inability to cause more mayhem behind the desk in the Oval Office, while we mourn the loss of one of the most truly honorable men ever to serve our country...

In Memoriam

Rep. Tom Lantos of California, the only Holocaust survivor ever to serve in Congress, died early Monday morning. We all know how hard he worked for democracy, but did you read JVoices' post on Lantos' support for the transgender community?

What You May Not Know About Lantos

Folks have probably heard about Rep Tom Lantos' passing. One tidbit you may not know yet is the support he gave to transgender folks. Emails flooded my inbox highlighting this not so well-known talking point. Here's just one of the emails I received from the National Transgender Advocacy Coalition:

(snip)

Particular to the transgender community, Rep. Lantos authored and sponsored the very first legislative language introduced into Congress that mentioned "gender identity." After an initial entry into the congressional session in 1998, Rep. Lantos introduced HR 259 in early 2000.

While Lantos was speaking for the voiceless, Republicans were planning for this November 5th's inevitable (barring some kind of wingnut Martial Law gambit) dismissal of Gee Dubya Bush. Knowing how much they... er, don't want to give up power, it behooves us to pay close attention to their primary race as much as our own:

Rudolph 9iu11ani Can't Pay Campaign Debts

Sure, he's finally gone; but, what does it say about someone who wanted to be the steward of America's bourse but can now only pay his "qualified" creditors 10% of the money he owes them? KMarks The Spot has the 411 on Mr. 9/11. In other GOP Snoozer/Loser news...

Fred Thompson (Who?) Endorses McCain

David Kurtz at TPM writes:

Even His Endorsement Is A Snoozer

Did you hear? Fred Thompson endorsed John McCain.

Don't worry. No one else heard either.

I, for one, sincerely hope that NBC didn't have a Thompson-Presidential-Loss contingency clause when they replaced him with Sam Waterson on Law and Order. And now...

Watered-Down Kool-Aid Of Moronic Rightwing Hatred, Anyone?

Now that the GOP has decided on the best candidate they've got (which is, of course, their least pathetic from a roster of truly pathetic choices), is anyone remotely surprised that Washington state GOP chair Luke Esser decided to stop counting the primary votes and declare John McCain the winner? Never mind that Huckabee had cleaned Mac's clock in several areas, and he was probably about to declare a 3-state blowout. He's not the chosen one. As Josh Marshall notes:

I guess I'm not surprised that the GOP bigwigs are yawning over this. Huckabee's just a speed bump they want to roll over and be done with. But I'm more than a little curious why the national political press hasn't tuned in to this yet. This Esser fellow makes Boss Hogg look like a good government man.

What's worse, though: Boss Hogg or Huckabiblethumper? Our good friend Don at Satirical Political writes:

Huckabee Claims He's Ready to be President From 'Day Six,' LITERALLY!

By Don Davis

"I'LL JUST CONVERT THE ROSE GARDEN TO THE GARDEN OF EDEN, AND PUT ADAM IN CHARGE OF THE FDA'S FRUIT INSPECTION PROGRAM."

Sigh. I wonder how Huckabee feels about that older religion's nation (Israel) now that their government has approved gay adoption. Huckabee's head will explode in 5... 4... 3...

Two Word That Begin With P

Did Mark Halperin really claim that John Edwards thinks Barack Obama is a "pussy" when it comes to readiness and toughness? Greg Mitchell at Pressing Issues says it's true. Of course, Halperin apologized... after the fact. This "pimp" and "pussy" talk has got to stop. To those who give passes to anyone calling a woman a nappy-headed ho or accuses a mother (even in the form of a question) of pimping out her daughter, Todd Gitlin at TPM asks:

Don't you think that the General Electric network is unlikely to feature anybody referring to Cindy McCain's campaign appearances as pimp-out sessions?

Note: To date, I haven't heard a single person comment on Cindy McCain's new face, her new hair, or even her successful battle to overcome her prescription drug dependency. If the US Constitution didn't tell me so, I'd be thinking that Republican women are more equal than Democratic women... and Democratic men who don't dress up in flight suits and parade around. Silly me. Maybe all women and sensitive men are just focused on the economy...

How About That Bush 30-Day Foreclosure Freeze?

Thirty whole days. Wow! People who're now six months behind in mortgage payments must be ecstatic. No? They're already too far behind? Wait! There's even more Bushit. The Wall Street Journal Blog reports that banks are now returning to subprime loans. Yep, another round of bubble blowing. Check out this excerpt:

You would think Wall Street would take the same approach to its own failed relationship with subprime mortgage lending. The investment banks have taken $100 billion in writedowns - and nearly as much in emergency capital infusions from foreign funds.

But Wall Street seems to still believe there's money in them thar failed mortgages.

In fact, several firms, like JP Morgan Chase and Bear Stearns, are sidling back towards their subprime exes, looking to grab some assets cheaply. This despite our WSJ colleagues' news today that the Securities and Exchange Commission is taking aim at Merrill Lynch's subprime securitizations.

Big Banking wants to screw even more people? Shocker. Ready for more shocking wingnut news Valentines?

Liberals Have More Time For Abortions And Blogging

Think I'm kidding? Read Matt Stoller's (Open Left) post on Redstate's explanation of liberal blog dominance:

Why the Right is Behind Online

From Erick Erickson, Redstate editor and influential Republican.

Erick Erickson, editor of the popular conservative megablog RedState, conceded that progressives currently enjoy an advantage over conservatives online-though he attributed it to an asymmetry in free time, since conservatives "have families because we don't abort our kids, and we have jobs because we believe in capitalism."

Now, being a doctor who performs abortions is in fact a job, so one might find conflicting narratives in Erick's quote. And if the way to use the Internet well politically is to up the number of abortions, then the GOP is kind of fucked.

At any rate, Erick, keep those insights coming and above all, please stay classy.

Really. Can wingnuts get any nastier? Of course they can. Meanwhile, it's way past time to...

Thank A DUer!

Thanks to Tom Rinaldo for stating the case for following the DNC rules this year and working toward changing them, if necessary, in the future:

Some activists have a real problem with the influence Super Delegates will have in picking our nominee. Some have a real problem with the influence multiple caucuses, that do not use secret ballots and which are only open for a few fixed hours for voters to participate in, will have in picking our nominee. And it is tragic if the voters in Florida and Michigan end up having no say in who our nominee is. No doubt however that is decided it will be controversial.

But we are selecting our nominee using sets of rules that all parties to this process knew in advance. If we don't like 'em we should work to change 'em, but these are the rules we have now. In the case of Michigan and Florida the ultimate jury is still out, but at some point a decision will be made.

Whoever wins the Democratic nomination will have done so playing by the rules as written. I will fully support our Democratic nominee, even if I don't fully respect some of the rules that may help him or her win that nomination.

Many thanks to trof for supplying us with another sick and twisted example of CPAC souvenirs:


And for posting the link to more.

Finally, thanks to WillyT for this sage advice:

If You Really Need To Hold Your Nose In Order To Vote For The Dem Nominee, Help Is Here !!!

Thanks, DUers! And now...

Something To Chew On

Nicole Kidman has been outed... as the actress cast to play Valerie Plame, that is. From MTV Movies Blog:

"Nicole Kidman," director Doug Liman revealed. "She's perfect if you've ever met Valerie. Nicole was supposed to play Jane Smith in 'Mr. and Mrs. Smith.' We owe a movie together! That's an unrequited thing between me and an actor where I fell in love with them for a role and never get to consummate it."

That Doug Liman himself is attached to the project is something of a surprise all by itself, but a perfect fit, the "Jumper" director said, based on his history working with (REDACTED)…his training in (REDACTED)…and, above all, his unique approach to the material - perhaps a necessity given that the Plame's memoir, "Fair Game: My Life as a Spy, My Betrayal by the White House," was heavily censored by the CIA.

Hm. Everyone can now ponder the rest of the cast list. I'm thinking Danny DeVito as Bob Novak.

There you have it: Republicans don't change; they just regroup and plan for future attacks. Their vicious Valentine rouses show how ready they are to play dirty as soon as they have a clear candidate target. If you think our chances of defeating their candidate, who was easily crushed by BushCo in 2000, are much greater this year, think again. This is just the beginning of a long, hard slog. Gather your strength and let's band together once our primary season is over. It'll take all of us working together, fighting fire with fire, to extinguish the Bush wildfire. Keep sending those great blog links, and keep fighting those tightie righties!

-- Delilah Boyd

[NewJeffCT]

1. I always laugh at those family comments

Our two candidates are both with their first spouses...

meanwhile, John McCain dumped his first wife for his second.

[The Wizard]

2. God's Own Party

Or the Arabic translation for party of god: Hezbollah

[meow2u3]

4. Does that mean Republicans are terrorists?

:think:

[The Wizard]

5. Did you hear Bush yesterday?

He was trying to terrorize the American people. What's new?
The Ku Klux Klan is a terrorist organization, and they vote Republican.
Ever hear of the Gathering of Eagles (Kleigles)? Their goal is to terrorize Democrats.

[yardwork]

3. "Maybe all women and sensitive men are just focused on the economy..."

Very good! k&r