The Confused and Conflicted GOP 2.0

Hello Papamoka Readers! I want to talk about the strange goings-on in the GOP today, using Senator Arlen Specter and Rush Limbaugh as tools for our discussion. Let's just assume Specter is really a Republican. :)

I think they are very good examples of two very different, yet equally retarded, approaches to an evolving GOP electorate. Both represent a certain inertia within the party - neither seems to understand how to handle the changes going on around them.

Let's start with Rush Limbaugh, who we all know is known for his rude, insane remarks. It seems poignant he was caught this week being particularly insane while speaking to the Heritage Foundation. He joined the GOP leadership - and Justice Clarence Thomas - to JOKE about the recession. He spoke about how there is no recession if you want to work and make money - like him. He was more insensitive and insane than ever.

Incredibly, Limbaugh joked about the recession despite knowing that his fat paycheck is a big reason why his distribution partner Clear Channel - who pays almost all of his $400 million plus contract - had to layoff over 12% of its workforce. That's about 12,000 ditto-fed Americans. Most of the people in that audience knew it too, yet they still laughed and applauded. This type of GOP arrogance is outrageous! Limbaugh and his Heritage Foundation audience deserve scorn from the American people. Let's be honest, they are SCUM!

So, I want to use Limbaugh to represent one large segment of today's GOP. To me, he represents today's DEAF and DUMB Republicans. They may be numerous and vocal, but they are deaf and dumb by and large. They ignore the problems of today. They disregard claims that Americans are suffering. Take for example how Congressman Eric Cantor had to rename his "listening tour" this week a "teaching tour" after Limbaugh demanded it. Despite years of damage in their wake, this group of Republicans look to teach, or propagandize, not listen.

They also have many eccentricities. This is the crazy right that picks and chooses scientific evidence the way they pick and choose morality from the bible. This is part that says America is center-right, when all evidence suggests America is center-left. This is the part that sees tea-bagging as a movement, Sarah Palin as intelligent, hate speech as tough speech, dogs as cats and up as down. There's another way to describe this group, and that is the ends always justify the means. They are DEAF and DUMB, and capable of great damage. Oh yea, and Rush Limbaugh is their leader.

Now on to Arlen Specter. This week proves the man is a Republican. He may now be a Democrat, but he's still a Republican. So, what group does Specter represent? To me, they are the GREEDY SHEEP. They stay silent and avoid morality fights, while quietly fighting for power and wealth. George Bush disguised himself as a DEAF and DUMB Republican, but in reality he was a GREEDY SHEEP - or maybe a weird mixture.

They're the low-tax, leave-me-alone Republicans. They only want money and power, and morality is just a tool to manipulate the masses. In truth, this group doesn't give a rat's ass about the American people, or America. Gays, abortion, flag lapel pins and the like are nothing but wedge issues, to be used as blunt instruments to create division. They play chess with their power, and the American people are simply pawns in their game.

Interestingly, I think Barack Obama understands this group, and may beat them at their own game, but we'll have to wait and see.

They are "sheep" because they enjoy following a strong leader, or despot, as long as he or she leads them to money and power. As long as the Party waves the flag, keeps taxes low and projects power they're happy. Arlen Specter fits perfectly in this mode. His principles are all about money and power. He's a great example of a fiscally conservative, non-empathetic Republican. They're the your-on-your-own Republicans. Individualism and power at ALL COST!

The GREEDY SHEEP are also having trouble adapting to the changing electorate. I think Specter underestimated the importance of change in America today. I think the voters of Pennsylvania are more interested in new ideas and solutions than one old greedy sheep dog. Arlen Specter-like Republicans may be adapting slightly faster than Rush Limbaugh-like Republicans, but it's hard to see the difference. You might as well watch the grass grow.

Michael Boh
Papamoka's Left Coast Contributor
from Our Rants & Raves Blog

Is Olympia Snowe Defecting Too

We had Arlen Specter in the Senate defecting to the Democrats yesterday, is this piece in the New York Times from Senator Snowe of Maine another indicator light on the dashboard of politics a warning that she too might jump ship from the GOP? Having read the full piece penned by the Senator I’m of the inkling that she too is abandoning the GOP sinking ship. Check it out, read it all and tell me what you think…

It was as though beginning with Senator Jeffords’s decision, Republicans turned a blind eye to the iceberg under the surface, failing to undertake the re-evaluation of our inclusiveness as a party that could have forestalled many of the losses we have suffered.

It is true that being a Republican moderate sometimes feels like being a cast member of “Survivor” — you are presented with multiple challenges, and you often get the distinct feeling that you’re no longer welcome in the tribe. But it is truly a dangerous signal that a Republican senator of nearly three decades no longer felt able to remain in the party.

Senator Specter indicated that his decision was based on the political situation in Pennsylvania, where he faced a tough primary battle. In my view, the political environment that has made it inhospitable for a moderate Republican in Pennsylvania is a microcosm of a deeper, more pervasive problem that places our party in jeopardy nationwide. - New York Times

Kudos for the Senator from Maine for recognizing that her political party could give a rats ass about the common voter. Voters didn’t hijack the political thoughts and rules over the last decade on how to govern America, Republican hierarchy and donations to those in service to America did. America was sold out to the highest bidder and once the people accepting the bids are gone, the crisis is at a standoff on where you put your shoes when you bed down for the night. America is no longer facing a 45 caliber gun every single time we fill our gas tanks and that is money that is flowing eventually back into the rest of the economy that is America.

If you really think about it, over the past two or three years the money pit that was Washington has been seeing an abandon ship mentality. The rats have been jumping ship either out of scandal or sheer discouragement. Everyone even thought to be connected with corruption has left office on the right side of the aisle. I’m not saying that the left side of the aisle is innocent but there has been a serious exodus of Republican’s from public service over the last few years. I am just saying that the gravy train in Washington has come to a stop and everyone needs to get off the train. This train has no more stops.

Papamoka

I Guess He's Better Than Nothing

Good Morning Papamoka Bloggers! I would like to share my reaction to the Arlen Specter news yesterday. Let's just say that I'm both happy and sad.

I know I should be very happy, but to be honest my reaction is tainted by my slight bitter belief that we need to move away from the old guard and move toward a new type of politician - a less bought-and-paid-for kind. That said, I do believe Arlen Specter is a man of honesty and integrity, but he's still very much a product of today's broken system.

For me, he'll have to be more progressive on all the new Obama initiatives before I feel comfortable selling his seat out from under a perfectly good, new Democratic talent.

I'll admit, his record on Project Vote Smart shows that he's a very well-rounded, moderate Senator. His voting record paints a picture of a conservative Democrat, one who has helped the middle-class by and large. No matter, I still have reservations. I especially dislike his positions on preemptive war and employee choice, or what the "pro-business GOP" likes to call "card check." They both suck!

Anyway, I guess we're stuck with him since Harry "the wimp" Reid and President Obama obviously struck a deal. I hope they know something we don't, such as a quiet, verbal commitment by him to vote WITH THE DEMOCRATS to end GOP debates. As Martha Stewart likes to say, that would be a good thing.

Overall it's accurate to say the Senior Senator from Pennsylvania is not overly conservative. His conservative special interest ratings are low. The John Birch Society rated him a low 28% in 2008, The Christian Coalition 30%, GOP USA 16%, The Club for Growth 13%, The American Conservative Union gave him a generous 48%, and The Americans for Prosperity 0%. Wow, don't conservatives name their organizations well? The names have nothing to do with their psycho agendas, but they are cool. What a bunch of lying assholes!

So, I guess he's not as bad as some. Despite that fact, I still have a lingering feeling that we may have been better off with a younger, more dynamic Democrat. Age and wisdom are important, but not if they're going to mean another decade or two of old-fashioned, slow, antiquated politics. Like so many of you, I voted for CHANGE in 2008, and I want as much of it as we can get.

Michael Boh

Papamoka's Left Coast Contributor

from Our Rants & Raves Blog

PS - On another subject, I think we should complain to the FCC about the FOX Network's refusal to air the President's news conference. There are few national broadcast networks, and they should all cover the President during times of crisis. FOX denies us news at a time of war, pandemic flu, and economic collapse. It just goes to show you that Rupert Murdoch is the WORST import since our last major pandemic. The man is SCUM!

Specter: man or mouse? The blogosphere moots...

Alex says: It seems that few people, even those who are celebrating the extra step towards the magic 60 Senate seats, have much positive to say about the beloved aisle-hopper. From a quick review of some of my favourite blogs, I’ve assembled a kind of blogospheric conversation on the topic... and the old truism that nobody likes a traitor, not even those who stand to benefit, seems to hold out pretty well.

Certainly, any concerns about Specter himself to one side, no-one short of the true believer is posing this as a good day for the Republicans. ‘Good Riddance’, even in this RINO’s case, can't help but ring false when a party is about to lose its only significant weapon in the senatorial arsenal. As Connecting.the.Dots says, this “is the latest sign of an eight-year process--the shriveling of the Republican Party to a one-size-fits-all collection of conservatives that started in 2001 with Sen. Jim Jeffords leaving and even John McCain flirting with the idea after being splattered by the Rove smear machine in the primaries a year earlier... This politically suicidal process cries out for psychiatric intervention, shrinks to stop the GOP from shrinking itself down to Rush Limbaugh and a few office-holding lookalikes.”

But if this is a bad sign for a rumpish conservative movement – perhaps an inevitable part of the process of political defeat, which only in time will see moderates returning to the fold when the Dems inevitably overstretch themselves? – it’s not produced a wave of enthusiasm for Mr. Specter himself. Freedom Writing voices the widely-held concern of many moderates. He says, ‘I have to wonder if Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele wasn't on to something when he said, "Sen. Specter didn't leave the GOP based on principles of any kind. He left to further his personal political interests because he knew that he was going to lose a Republican primary due to his left–wing voting record."’

BuckNaked Politics shares similar feelings, noting the ‘muted cheers and tepid jeers’ accompanying the switch. “Obviously this is good news for the Democratic Party, though progressives like me aren't going to be dancing in the streets or anything over the party's acquisition of yet another conservative Democrat if not an actual DINO.” And, from the perspective of damage to divided government, Bipartisan Rules goes even further, firmly concluding that “While Specter will undoubtedly be venerated by the likes of Paul Krugman and Rachel Maddow, this move is clearly nothing more than a last-ditch attempt to save his political career ... At this site, of course, we think that an entirely Republican - or Democratic-controlled government is a recipe for disaster (see: 1992 to 1994 and 2004 to 2006), so we are disappointed by Specter's move.”

Bark Bark Woof Woof valiantly answers for the defence, here. “Mr. Specter's decision is based not only on the fact that Pennsylvania is trending to the Democrats and that he faced a daunting challenger in the Republican primary from former Rep. Pat Toomey who is a hard-right-winger, but that the Republican Party, both in Pennsylvania and nationally, is pushing the moderates out.”

My question is this: does this actually change the way votes will turn out in the Senate? Will the switch actually put a notoriously free-wheeling senator under Democratic party discipline? Would the stimulus package, where Specter helped remove hundreds of millions from the original proposal, have gone through differently if this switch had already happened? And what measures in the future will Specter vote for that, as a Republican, he’d have opposed? As Undiplomatic points out, “Predicting how this guy will shift is about as reliable than predicting next week’s weather.”

Alex Goodall
Papamoka’s European Contributor
From A Swift Blow to the Head

Is Michele Bachmann Nuts

How idiotic do you have to be to blame the swine flue and its potential ability to become a pandemic that could kill one third or more of all human beings on the Earth on President Obama? All you have to do is ask Michele Bachmann of Minnesota who is not suggesting it is a Democrat President’s fault but the insinuation is right there on her lips. Her looney tunes logic is that the last time swine flue broke out was during the Carter Presidency.

Umm, it was during the Ford administration honey buns sweet lips. And I now no longer wonder why Arlen Specter is leaving the Republican Party for the Democrat Party. My personal thanks to City Pages for this video and Duh is Michelle Bachmann clip…

Video Link




I wish I could make this stuff up but I honestly do not have to! I could write a couple of posts a day on the lunacy coming out of this far right political Republican that is now the voice of the party. She must be, nobody else is getting any face time on the radio or television. Is she what the Republican Party is today? For all my Republican friends, I hope not. But then again come on over to the political party of common sense. We live in the real world.

Welcome to the party Arlen. We already have a table setting for you. I’m pretty sure you know everyone here. Group hug everyone for Arlen!

Papamoka