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Will the Birthers Doom the GOP?
The GOP, reduced to hosting loonies who obsess over Obama’s birthplace, is slipping into the ash heap. The Daily Beast’s John Batchelor on why Republican incoherence may doom the party to the fate of the Whigs.
The romantic yarn that Barack Obama was born in Kenya, not in the United States, and is therefore an illegitimate POTUS is the core of a still-evolving conspiracy theory that now explodes like a neutron stink bomb splashing on the right wing while leaving the center and left idly smiling and curious.
What is going on with the despondent Republican Party that it hosts loonies called the birthers in its ranks?
The birther episode is not a media story, or even a story about Obama’s unique youth, but another illustration of the slow-motion decomposition of the GOP.
The answer may be that the birther phenomenon is a mutation of a political virus called incoherence. Incoherence is fatal. It killed the Whigs (and led to the creation of the Republicans); it killed the Klan and the American communists. The birther mutation looks to erase what remains of the GOP’s credibility with the electorate, already at an all-time low and still sinking to third- and fourth-party numbers, if there were a third or a fourth party.
In sudden alarm Monday night, 158 House Republicans voted with the Democrats to endorse the self-evident fact that Barack Obama was born in Hawaii. No whipping by the GOP leadership was necessary. The House Republicans understood that birtherism has jumped to a pandemic Phase 6, multiple infections in all states, much too late to stop with a quarantine on the Hill.
Already, a handful of House Republican members show signs of succumbing to the symptoms of brain fever—wagging fingers, dry-mouth stammering—by co-sponsoring a bill to require presidential candidates to submit a birth certificate. The primary patient is California Republican John Campbell, who showed tertiary impatience with his triteness on TV when he proposed, “It doesn’t matter if I have doubts or not, OK?”
August recess means that the Hill Republicans must go home to their districts to face the birtherite pod people, and there will be additional farcical confrontations similar to what the chump moderate Republican Rep. Mike Castle faced recently at a town-hall meeting in Delaware, when birthers flourished their birth certificates at him.
The pandemic is out of control, and those who argue cynically that birtherism is being stoked by the media, or fed by the cunning White House political operation to gain sympathy for a panicky presidency, are not examining the peculiar details of the potency of the illness.
This is not a pandemic that spreads only by the airplane, the Internet, or even by word of mouth, because a single exposure to the central whopper is not usually sufficient. Daily reinfection is needed or the disease goes dormant like algebra. Birtherism has found a durable vector, ubiquitous like insects and slippery like long-tailed mammals, in the institution of talk radio and its cable-TV compadre. The boss vectors just now are the burlesque artist Rush Limbaugh—“Barack Obama has yet to prove he’s a citizen”—and Limbaugh’s parasitic rival of bloviation, faux rueful Lou Dobbs: “I don’t know what the reality is. No one does.”
What is also striking about this mutation is that, as a talking vector, you do not need to endorse the birther template that the president was born of an 18-year-old girl who raced to Mombasa in time to deliver in an unnamed setting. You are just as effective a vector if you deny the birtherite creativity, if you produce the Hawaii documents, if you say the magic words “smear” or “tin-foil.”
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs is a fertile source when he uses the briefing room to evince exasperation: “…this question in many ways continues to astound me.” Cable-TV stars such as the giddy Chris Matthews—“The birthers don’t let the facts get in the way”—and the stern Bill O’Reilly—“The Factor investigated it and found out that it’s bogus …”—become like Typhoid Marys, spreading an illness to which they claim immunity. Ratings, anyone?
Grimly, the birther episode is not a media story, or even a story about Barack Obama’s unique youth, but rather it is another illustration of the slow-motion decomposition of the GOP. The party, having lost its principles, its confidence, its courage, and then having lost an election, now experiences what it is to lose its mind, too, while it slips into the ash heap with other novelties.
The conduct of the Republicans in Congress since January has been astonishingly frail, as if the party had lost immunities to race-baiters like Limbaugh and Newt Gingrich, to liars like John Ensign and Mark Sanford, to yammerers like Eric Cantor and Michele Bachmann, to the goofily vain like Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin, and Mike Huckabee.
The party has wasted away to the point where opportunistic eruptions like the birthers and much worse are natural sorrows. Republican incoherence didn’t begin with Mombasa. There is logic to the closing down of a great political party that has abandoned its own greatness to cheer on churls. Perhaps what appears terminal cowardice is only venality; perhaps what sounds like a death rattle is only the wrinkled ranting of crones in the Senate; perhaps the polls showing the Republican brand not as well regarded as Drano are just outliers. Perhaps, too, like miscreant HAL 9000, the GOP is warming up to sing, “Daisy, Daisy.”
John Batchelor is radio host of the John Batchelor Show in New York, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, and Los Angeles.
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Lloyd Grove is editor at large for The Daily Beast. He is also a frequent contributor to New York magazine and was a contributing editor for Condé Nast Portfolio. He wrote a gossip column for the New York Daily News from 2003 to 2006. Prior to that, he wrote the Reliable Source column for the Washington Post, where he spent 23 years covering politics, the media, and other subjects.
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Jacob Bernstein is a senior reporter at The Daily Beast. Previously, he was a features writer at WWD and W Magazine. He has also written for New York magazine, Paper, and The Huffington Post.
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Jeff Madrick is a contributor to the New York Review of Books and a former economics columnist for the New York Times. He is editor of Challenge Magazine, visiting professor of humanities at Cooper Union, and senior fellow at the New School's Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis. He is the author of Taking America, The End of Affluence (Random House) and The Case for Big Government.
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John Batchelor is radio host of the John Batchelor Show in New York, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, and Los Angeles.
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John Batchelor is radio host of the John Batchelor Show in New York, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, and Los Angeles.
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John Batchelor is radio host of the John Batchelor Show in New York, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, and Los Angeles.
Wow, this is the most intelligent and insightful analysis of a situation that I have read on ANY on-line magazine in a very long time. Thanks for the brain food, we were starving.
Hope you write more articles in the future as well as consider joining a 3rd party.
This comment has been removed by The Daily Beast's editors.
Well said democracyforall. How's that tin-foil hat fitting anyway?
This statement is incoherent.
No tin foil hat here...nothing is wrong with the truth.
indeed, democracyforall, nothing is wrong with the truth -- no matter how many times you attempt to deface it, there it stands, 100% unmolested.
It's impossible to deface the truth, it's simply the truth.
i'm glad we are in agreement.
Unfortunately hithere3, democracyforall's idea of the truth seems to be something entirely different. Otherwise, he would realize that the birth certificate has already been shown and certified by the state of Hawaii, thus proving he's a citizen. To hold him to a higher standard than any other president smacks of something more than just looking for the truth. Anyone who claims that he hasn't already proven he is a citizen is either really lazy or just stupid.
Great point, Democracyforall.
President Obama is spending a lot of resources (lawyer fees) to keep these documents concealed. In the president's mind, the negative consequences of releasing these documents must outweigh the cost of concealing them.
What could those consequences be?
Or, perhaps there are no negative consequences and instead he is keeping them concealed simply out of pure ego. That's a reasonable explanation for a narcissist like BHO.
How does the holder of the country's highest public office get away with showing such contempt for so many of this country's citizens?
If he truly wanted to satisfy the American people on this matter, he could simply say, "Fine, here is access to my transcripts, applications, vital records. I have nothing to hide.
His unwillingness to do this creates the appearance that he has something to hide and fans the flames of doubt and suspicion.
He was born in Hawaii. That's what I've read, given that the birth certificate is accurate and his family in Kenya were lying.
Gee, democ, you got me convinced. But how come Hillary or McCain didn't use this stuff against Obama? That sure is puzzling.
Batchelor: "The boss vectors just now are the burlesque artist Rush Limbaugh-"Barack Obama has yet to prove he's a citizen"-and Limbaugh's parasitic rival of bloviation, faux rueful Lou Dobbs: "I don't know what the reality is. No one does." - So, Mr. Batch: RUSH AND DOBBS ARE LIARS? AND THE REPUBLICAN PARTY IS INDEED A DEAD HORSE? MY, WHAT A NOVEL IDEA...you just find that out? Rest of us got on that train 'bout election time...where you been?
www.marklevinshow.com for REAL radio commentary
That's perfect
For you Nicky-
I could have guessed it.
The screaming insane angry lunatic
Neo-con is your guy.
Say no more.
Didnt realize the no-talent radio man is a RINO but it seems he is.. thanks for coming out of the closet Johnnie.
Are you saying that anyone who can do intelligent analysis is too smart to be a Republican and is thus a RINO?
cry-
I think that's exactly
What he's saying-
He just doesn't know it.
Cry, that is actually a fairly accurate statement given the state of the GOP now. If you can do intelligent analysis then you likely are too smart to be a republican.
I doubt birthers will be the end of the GOP, but can this conspiracy theory be any surprise? The GOP has scoffed at and/or been downright hostile toward rational thought ever since they inherited the Democratic Party's Christian conservatives back in the 50s and 60s.
God I wish the GOP was strictly ideological, and not this Frankenstein's monster-hybrid of ideological and religious conservatism. It would be so much better for the country.
A RINO is a Republican in Name Only. That is what conservatives call those who are elected to Congress as a Republican, but vote otherwise.
well, democracyforall, since i've seen you call people "RINO"s whose voting record you could not possibly know, i reckon your definition of a RINO probably extends to something broader, say... anyone who disagrees with you.
crymeariver - "Are you saying that anyone who can do intelligent analysis is too smart to be a Republican and is thus a RINO?"
It's the way it has to be. Fortunately, they can become blue dog Democrats.
The fact that the word "RINO" exists is a very bad sign. Ideological purity has triumphed over electability. As the moderates are made unwelcome and leave, the party is further removed from mainstream politics. As reasonable people leave, unreasonable people become a larger proportion of the party. Death looms.
Either something will happen to change this course of events or we will witness events similar to those of the 1850's, which saw the death of the Whigs and birth of the Republicans.
If the rational, moderate, centrist Republicans ever decide to form their own party to get away from the loons, they definitely should choose the rhino as their symbol.
Enough of the RINO crap...that is why your party is becoming irrelevant. You do not determine who is in the Republican party or not.
We're always looking for reasonable people in the Democratic Party. The Blue Dog Coalition has plenty of room for growth.
Rush says he is not a Republican, he says he is a conservative.
Al Franken says Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot. There is the truth for you.
Rush suffers
From a chronic case
Of Bush embarrassment
Like all former Republicans
Who now run from the name
Of their party.
I'm not a fan of Rush. He isn't a politician, will never run for office and doesn't represent any party. He runs a syndicated radio talk show.
And why is it that the Chairman of the Republican Party had to go to Limbaugh, kiss his, uh, ring, and apologize for calling Rush just an entertainer?
This is why your party is dying, nick. Because anyone who offers well reasoned criticism gets called a RINO and worse. You are beating the drums for the GOP's funeral.
Paranoia within the GOP didn't start with the birthers. Remember Iraqi WMDs? Sadam & 9/11? Nato in Kosovo is a distraction from Lewinski?
And orange alerts.
Be afraid be very afraid.
But don't worrry-
Jack Bauer will handle it.
Hey nice article. If this is what it takes to finally get a credible 3rd party option (or with the existing ones..ehem...even a 2nd or 1st!!) then let the birthers continue merrily blithering on abou it...
It would be great to have a 3rd party option.
There is no true home for a Conservative anymore. The Republican Party has been taken over by a bunch of loonies and the Democratic Party is owned by the Unions. Something has to give.
As the health care "debate" progresses, it is clear that outside of the loonies, everyone else (Republicans and Democrats) are both owned by large companies and industrial organizations.
Nice catch there chgotchr. I just had to respond to neverlate because his observation about the dem party was sooo out of sync with reality. Hasn't he been paying any attention? I have been saying for a while that I believe all the partisan bickering we see is just a distraction so the shell game they are running in congress can continue. Neither of the two parties contingents in congress is doing anything for the American people except allowing us to pay for corporate excess. Welcome to the military industrial complex.
Demand that your congressman and his/her immediate family have the same healthcare as their lowest paid constituent, it can be state by state, but federal office holders are bound by their states laws.
Let 'em get their families skin in the game and see what happens.
neverlate: According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics: "In 2008, union members accounted for 12.4 percent of employed wage and salary workers".
This doesn't seem high enough for them to "own" the Democratic Party. Based on what is happening to health care bills in congress, I suspect that the insurance, pharmaceutical, and medical industries have a far bigger ownership of the Democratic Party.
If you really want a true home for Conservatives, I suggest you get Pat Buchanan to start you a new party. Good luck...
These folks are Republican terrorists. I would include the media who dig to find the pod people mentioned in your article.
You may be my new hero.
The Republican Party has been the enemy of the American people for a long, long time. They opposed Social Security in the 1930s, and I'd hate to think we're most senior citizens would be today without it. Ditto on Medicare, which they also opposed.
They're modus operandi has been to give huge tax cuts to the rich, and against all evidence, claim it was "good for the economy." Raygun's and Bushboy's tax cuts have contributed significantly to the $10 trillion national debt we now have, while having little to show for it.
They have been the enemies of the U.S. Constitution, ever ready to violate the civil liberties of American citizens in the name of the latest "fear du jour" (communism, terrorism, etc.).
Now the Republican Party is trying to block healthcare reform. Without it another 1 million Americans will go broke this year, because of a failed private insurance system. And eventually this failed healthcare system we have will break businesses and the federal government.
In spite of all this the Republican Party is monolithic in its opposition to healthcare reform. May the GOP R.I.P.
The Rebublicans may have opposed both social security and medicare, but arent both of those programs going broke? dont both of those programs have unfunded liabilities approaching the $100;s of Trillions. So can we pian that future debt on the Democrats? I'd trade 10 trillion with 100 trillion.
Yes they are going broke because no one will keep their hands out of the till. We pay a tax for these programs our whole "working" life. If they didn't use the money as part of the budget and left it there soley for SS and Medicare, it would have a huge surplus.
I get sick of hearing people act like these are welfare programs and I hate hearing them called "entitlements", like it is a bad word. You are entitled because you paid every week for years and years to have this benefit. Its like someone complaining because you want to get your 401K when it is time for you to have it.
If we would make them leave the money alone (as Clinton attempted) the programs would be ok.
The fact that both those programs are not financially sound has nothing to do with the reason they were instituted. Instead it is a result of fiscal irresponsibility on both sides of the aisle with congress borrowing funds that should have been used to fund these programs and these programs alone. An NO you can't pin that future debt on dems alone, and why don't you take your head out of your arse and realize that your republican party is not the savior and the evil democrats the problem = they are both guilty and both part of the problem.
theoPitt: Social Security is doing just fine. With occasional minor tweaks, it should be good for at least 50 years. "Going broke" is just a Rush Limbaugh and Fox News talking point.
Bush's Medicare D drug plan was written by drug industry lobbyists for the benefit of the drug industry, requiring the purchase of drugs at full retail price. Other Medicare restrictions imposed by congress also add to its costs. If the current health care reforms succeed, Medicare's costs will go down. Republicans, proud sponsors of industry profits, naturally oppose this.
If I were you, I would be more worried about the $7 trillion national debt run up by Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush. There are also estimates that our current two wars will end up costing us another $3 trillion before the last war veterans die.
I'm so sick of Republicans spending away "our children's future" on Haliburton, Oil companies, War Profiteers, Drug Companies, etc.
But when it comes to providing for the Children's Healthy Future it's too expensive.
I dont blame the Democrates for the "problems" with Social Security or Medicare. they are what they are and we have had both Dems and GOP running the white house and congress since their inception. They were mismanaged, the costs were under-estimated. It will happen again.
And, AlanD2, if you think the fiscal problems with SS are talking points of the GOP, get your head out of the sand. The "little tweek" fix is reducing everyones benefit to 70% of current levels. Good luck with that.
And sure, it won't technically go "broke", for what? 30-40 years? But the SS piggy bank will start paying out more than it takes in in a decade, and funny thing is, there is no surplus cash in there. Its filled with IOUs.
Third party candidates lead to idiots like Al Franken and Jessie Ventura. Obama is doing more than enough right now to lead to a Republican comeback next year.
Your statement is inaccurate Ventura was a third party candidate, but Franken wasn't. And when it comes to idiots, I'd say Republicans and their mindless followers have had a monopoly on that state of mind for the past century.
Technically, Al Franken is a member of the Minnesota Farmer Labor Democratic Party. But safariman's statement rejects objective reality: regardless of how you feel about the man's politics, Sen. Franken is a well-educated, well-read, thoughtful man.
The election of Senator Franken raised the collective IQ of the US Senate by at least 5 points.
You are too kind
Spot on.
You are truly delusional if you think there is going to be a republican comeback next year. What are you smoking? BTW - intellectually Al Franken for certain, and very likely Jesse the Body - would run circles around you.
No doubt the Republican comeback will be led by Michelle Bauchman, Mark Sanford, John Ensign, Paul Stanley, etc. Oh, and don't forget those true conservative heroes - Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, Michelle Malkin, Ann Coulter, etc. - who will also be leading the Republican charge to victory.
And Ross Perot. Don't forget him.
The Republican Party is disappearing because of race and class.
Republicans have traditionally been white, (male), and affluent.
The demographics of the nation have been changing drastically over the last 50 years.
More and more "minorities" of all kinds have grown in the United States.
There are more "have-nots" than "haves".
These groups are traditionally democrats.
The Republican Party has always been the party of "Big Business".
The Democratic Party has always been the party of the "Working People".
So many Republicans are paranoid.
But that wont be the main " illustration of the slow-motion decomposition of the GOP".
That actually isn't true, unless by "traditionally" you mean since the 1960s.
you are right.....big business has been disappearing.......and so have the jobs, which allowed there to be "Working People".
Good article. I think it also is a sad commentary on America. Too many of us who are addicted to the political ball-game/freak-show seek out those in the media who will agree with our opinions (right or left). As such we spend our time glued to the TV watching the whack-jobs on MSNBC (for the left) or Fox (for the right), all the while eschewing real understanding and news and opting out instead for the lunatic fringe opinions that will only perpetuate our political proclivities.
I'm as guilty as the next person although I think I'm improving. I stopped watching Fox a year or so ago. I couldn't stand their lack of objectivity. I'm at the point now where I can't stand watching MSNBC anymore (especially those two idiots Olbermann and Maddow) for the same reason.
What's really weird about this whole thing is that the media of the left (this website included) continues to pile on to try and bury the GOP. This is truly mind boggling to me! Its as if the left wants only one party. What's the old saying about absolute power corrupting???
Your statement is illogical on several points. First off equating Fox Noise to MSNBC is like saying there's no difference between Pravda and The New York Times. While Olbermann and Maddow are opinionated, I challenge you to tell me any lies they've told. Lies are the staple of O'Reilly, Hannity and the Fox Noise channel.
In addition, the demise of the GOP is a good thing. The Democratic Party is so fractured and diverse that one wing of it will either split off and become a third Party or it will simply act as an opposition Party- as they currently are doing.
And as far as calling Olbermann and Maddow "idiots," you should have half their IQ.
periscope: I agree. I would also add that when Olbermann and Maddow make mistakes, they apologize on-air. I have never noticed this on Fox News.
...and when Maddow and KO make a statement, they back it up with fact: checkable sources, video clips, quotes from recongnized sources, etc. I have seldom seen that on Fox (although I can only watch Fox for about 5 minutes at a time before I start to search for something to throw at the TV).
I can speak about MA where I live. Here it is essentially a one party state but the party is so splintered that there are clearly at least two parties within it that fight it out on a regular basis. Being rather left leaning myself I am appalled at how conservative much of our "democratic" government is.
You said it better than I ever could. I am a disaffected centrist Democrat who reluctantly voted for McCain. Both sides are so extreme; I take a bit from both and try to figure out the truth. I live near DC and see the piles of fraud, waste, and abuse by the feds all the time; a friend's husband was a whistleblower on waste and suffered terribly for it. Secondly, if you live near the nation's capital, sooner or later you meet someone who works on the Hill, WH, Secret Service, etc. and they tell you what some of these public figures are really like, and much of it isn't pretty on either side. I become more quasi-libertarian all the time; there's a lot of Medicaid and Medicare fraud, by the way... and we want the government to take over our health care???
Bagbabe lets not forget the rest of the picture - extreme corporate greed. The problem of waste and fraud is not restricted to the gov sector.
Do you guys really think that a frail old man with a violent temper, who admittedly knows zero about economics, who thinks foreign policy amounts to "a fight," would have been better as President? With Sarah Palin waiting for the heart attack to occur?
The mind boggles.
Hello supposed centrist Democrat. Who voted for McCain. Why don't I believe you?
I see you are also parroting the Republicant talking points on Medicare and Medicaid. Do you not think people defraud private insurers? How about the health care our military gets -- is that worse than yours?
Why do people hate Rachel Maddow? She has a sense of humor. She encourages those with opposing views to come on her show and discuss the issues with her. She quickly corrects any mistaken information that went out on her show. She always backs up her opinions with facts. She definitely does not take herself too seriously.
Keith can be over the top, but he also will issue corrections when he makes a mistake. He also backs up his opinions with facts, showing video of the person's own words when possible. Anyone knows that the Worst Person in the World is done somewhat tongue-in-cheek.
How often have Bill, Rush, or Hannity admitted they were wrong?
Even though I watch KO and Rachel for the reasons you state, I have to say Olbermann's ego gets kind of grating.
BTW, Lawrence O'Donnell's substitution for KO on Monday night shows how good he would be in that spot. Great job. Look out behind you, Keith!
People don't like her because they're intimidated by her! She's a big, scary lesbian woman! The horrors!
YES roger! I am LOVING Lawrence O'Donnell! Dude does NOT mince words....
The story that Obama was really born in Kenya is a smokescreen to turn people away from the real truth - that the President of the United States is a full blooded North Korean Colonel who was given a series of surgeries to make him look African. He answers directly to Kim Sung Il and is their secret weapon to destroy America and get the entire population to submit to a "branding," administered by government tattoo artists who plan to require all citizens to have the numbers "999," placed on their forearms. I don't have to tell you what "999," is when upside down.
But isn't Kim Sung Il actually a tool of the Reverend Sun Myung Moon, aka the Messiah and the Second Coming of Christ, fulfilling Jesus' unfinished mission, crowned by Daniel K (Danny) Davis, Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives, as "the King of Peace"?
BTW, Moon's real name is Mun Yong Myong (and in what is now North Korea), which means dragon in Korean, which might be interpreted as referring to the serpent, devil, or the antichrist of the Book of Revelation. Hence "999", which of course leads us back to Nazi Germany and one of the other anti-christs of note, Adolf Hitler.
The Republicans are disappearing because demographically speaking, Americans are becoming less vile. This "vileness deficit," is threatening their very existence. But professional blabbermouths on the Right are hoping to give vileness in America a boost by spewing fear, paranoia and outright lies 24/7. Only time will tell if they're successful.
vileness deficit? no more lies? I guess Biden has resigned. How rosy!
Well said. However you might have given the birthers some new ammunition with your N. Korean Colonel parody... many of them are obviously dumb enough to believe it, and take it as fact! LOL
Excellent article. The Republican party began to canniblize itself when it catered to the the hypocritical religious right.Do what I say, not what I do has been their credo for decades.
However, the GOP wouln't have gotten so crazy IF more people would have voted when it mattered in the 80s and 90s. Becasue so many people stayed home thinking their vote didn't matter, the loonies got control.
So if nothing else this tale of a party that's lost its way should remind everyone to VOTE and pay attention to what our government (national, state and local) are doing.
Things we once believed couldn't happen here have and we need to make sure never again does a party get so far away from the mainstream that it nearly destroys this nation.
The religious right does not exist politically anymore, they were killed off by heathens.
I really think
Karl Rove engineered
This horrific downfall-
By installing the talking dummy
As President.
But how much sympathy
Can you really have for a party
When they stood enthusiastically
Behind a talking dummy?
And then chose another to be the candidate for their next vice-president.
Their presidential candidate wasn't so hot either, graduating 894th out of the 899 in his class at the Naval Academy.
A lack of academic success doesn't necessarily lead to a lack of political success, but I'll stick with Obama anyway.
I find it particularly interesting that Republicans are increasingly retreating into a modern-day equivalent of a Southern strategy.
They seem to think that they can stoke White anger and resentment for political gain...it's like Nixon and the '60s all over again.
This party is heading the way of the Whigs unless they can figure out how to make conservatism work for a wider swath of Americans.
Let me say that plenty of us in the South don't care for their Southern strategy. Many of us are sick of them and their attacks on the Pres and their failure to help get healthcare reform, soley for political gain. Hope it backfires on them and any democrat who votes against.
The Republicans have basically dropped any pretense of reaching out to minority voters.
Rather than quashing this racist birther nonsense, the Republicans have decided to let it fester and give it tacit approval.
And they wonder why minorities won't vote for them??
I'm sure the Republican vote on Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor will also increase their appeal to minorities. [/snark]
Literally EVERYTHING the Republicans now say is a lie, so why should the "Birther" nonsense be any different?
I suspect the Republicans and their vast media machine are rather surprised they've actually been called out and exposed on this particular bit of agitprop.
EVERYTHING really is an all encompassing word. So I guess the Republicans who cross-over party lines and vote Independent or Democrat from time to time are liars also.
Vast media machine? What has that got to do with anything?
You ASSUME that only one group wants to know the truth?
EVERYTHING really is an all encompassing word
Yes it is -- it's awesome in the magnitude of mendacity.
so a person who seeks the truth and votes Democrat is a birther?
The Republicans need to gain some leadership but FAST.It is unbelievable that this party can't or won't find someone to relate to anyone but the 20% loony tunes base. It will be a tragedy if these clowns leave only one viable party.
REPUBLICANS PLEASE get your act together!
a minority party does not have an act
Incoherence certainly describes Republican actions lately, but what really killed the Whigs was Irrelevance, and it's not too large a step from incoherence to irrelevance. Continuing to oppose meaningful health care reform and similar feckless efforts will lead to irrelevance soon enough.
National health insurance has taken several forms the last 3 months....any idea of exactly what it will be?
The Republican Party started down that slippery slope with Ronald Reagan. He allowed the type of people that were extremist's to take it over. A lot of us just quit voting for them in the 80's. They were no longer the party we had voted for in the 70's. They became filled with right wing extremists, religious nuts, hate filled people and every other wacko that this country could offer up.
Our dear Republicans..... Love the continuation of the self destruction....Both parties have extremes..but you just can't
stop the bleeding of the Republicans..
More, more,more....Rush, Newt,Ensign,Sanford,Vetter ( he's just snarly along with Eric Cantor....oh and Michelle Bachman, Marsha Blackburn, Ann Coulter, Michele Malkin, Sean Hannity
The Republican Party deserve to die.
And then what do you attack next, the Blue Dog Democrats, the Conservative Democrats or the Far Left Democrats?
No, the Libertarians, who are naive enough to really believe that human greed and avarice will not be the driving motivators in their kind of economy.
roger that...
There are lots of decent people in the Republican Party. But the wealthy party leadership latched on to Christian Conservatives as their path to power in the '70s and '80s, and now they have lost control of the party.
Until Christian Conservatives are forced out of the party (or at least out of its leadership), the Republican Party does deserve its loss of power.
There's no question about the loss of power. And I do believe the Christian element has been removed already by lost of seats.
John Bitchelor wrote:
The conduct of the Republicans in Congress since January has been astonishingly frail, as if the party had lost immunities to race-baiters like Limbaugh and Newt Gingrich, to liars like John Ensign and Mark Sanford, to yammerers like Eric Cantor and Michele Bachmann, to the goofily vain like Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin, and Mike Huckabee.
Your adjectives to describe these people are birtheresque.
This is Batchelor's death knell for serious consideration.
Crymeariver sounds like a birther wannabee.
Lunacy? Listen to Obama for the last 11 days.
I have listed to Obama. And he makes a hell of a lot more sense than the Republicans. And what was their healthcare proposal, again? Oh, yes, they don't frigging have one!
Paranoia politics is political science 101. When you are losing an issue, create fear of the winner. Whether it is the birthers, 9-11, patriotism, etc, fear and paranoia will move a certain margin of voters or legislators from the winner's corner. Unfortunately, for the Republican Party, most people have maxed out on the relentless feeding of this diet. I am a proud Rhino. I have saved my sanity.
two words: great read...
ridiculous article, juvenile
democracy fall
juvenile response, ridiculous...
Thank you.
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