John McCain demands Ted Cruz apologize to Sen. McCain… I mean, to Bob Dole

Houston Chronicle: Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona) called on Texas GOP Sen. Ted Cruz to apologize Friday for a joke Cruz made about retired senator Bob Dole of Kansas at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference on Thursday.

“All of us remember President Dole, and President McCain and President Romney,” Cruz said. “Now, look, those are good men, they’re decent men, but when you don’t stand and draw a clear distinction, when you don’t stand for principle, Democrats celebrate.”

Cruz’s speech encouraged CPAC attendees to “stand with principle.”  Dole, McCain, and Romney, all of whom had unsuccessful presidential bids, were the butt of Cruz’s joke that was intended to exemplify Republicans who did not draw a clear distinction between them and their Democratic opposition.

In an interview Friday morning with Andrea Mitchell of MSNBC, McCain, a close friend of the 90-year-old Dole, criticized Cruz, saying that any joke about an injured veteran not having principle was in poor taste and that he needs to issue an apology.

“…When he throws Bob Dole in there, I wonder if he thinks that Bob Dole stood for principle on that hilltop in Italy when he was so gravely wounded and left part of his body there fighting for our country,” McCain said. “Bob Dole is such a man of honor and integrity and principle. I hope that Ted Cruz will apologize to Bob Dole because that’s — that has crossed a line that to me that leaves the realm of the politics and discourse that we should have in America.”

Let’s be honest here; McCain’s not talking about the “Pres. Dole” crack, he’s upset about “Pres. McCain.” McCain — being McCain — is butthurt that Cruz made an example of him as a bad candidate who lost because he was a RiNO. He just thinks it looks better to demand an apology on behalf of someone else, rather than himself. What he’s clearly hoping for are words to the effect of “I apologize for a joke I told at CPAC.”

But how stupid was Cruz’s statement in the first place? The candidates who ran in all those election were chosen by Republican voters. The sort of candidate that Ted Cruz argues is able to win presidential elections can’t even win Republican primaries. If they could, the names he’d be referencing would be names like Santorum, Brownback, and Gramm. It’s a silly argument and McCain would make a much better case against it by pointing out the gaping logical hole in it.

Instead, McCain makes it personal. This leaves the weakest part of the argument standing, in order to play a cheap victim card. It’s an argument that the Republican Party would do well to kill — and the Arizona senator is in a position to help do just that — but everything is all about John McCain and his intense desire that Ted Cruz get off his lawn.

[photo by Gage Skidmore]

Rand Paul, foreign policy genius

Rand Paul’s clownishness is apparently bottomless. It seems the events in Ukraine have opened up a new front in the GOP Civil War. On one side are the hawks — epitomized by the always-happy-to-bomb John McCain — who believe that the best response to events in Ukraine are to provoke Russia because… I’m never really clear on the “because” with these guys. Just because, I guess.

On the other are the more Libertarian anti-interventionists like Paul, who want to deal with Russia in a more diplomatic fashion and see if we can resolve things without brinksmanship and provocation. “Some on our side are so stuck in the Cold War era that they want to tweak Russia all the time and I don’t think that is a good idea,” Paul says. So far, so good.

Things get a little stupid as he goes on, however, because that’s what happens when Sen. Poodlehair doesn’t hit the off switch on his mouth. “We still need to be conscious of the fact that Russia has intercontinental ballistic missiles,” he told the Washington Post. “Though the Cold War is largely over, I think we need to have a respectful - sometimes adversarial - but a respectful relationship with Russia.”

We can’t be mean to Putin or Russia will nuke us — and Paul is warning against falling into a cold war mindset. Insert your favorite facepalm photo here.

[photo by Gage Skidmore]

In Senate draft resolution on Syria, McCain finally meets a military action he doesn’t like

Talking Points Memo: Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said Wednesday that he doesn’t support the Senate’s version of the resolution to authorize force in Syria, MSNBC’s Kasie Hunt reported on air.

According to Hunt, McCain said that he’s opposed to the resolution because it “doesn’t make any reference to changing the momentum on the ground in Syria” and it also fails to arm the Free Syrian Army, a rebel group fighting the Assad regime there. The Arizona Republican indicated that several other senators share his misgivings about the resolution.

Although he left the door open to voting against the Syria resolution, McCain suggested Tuesday at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing that it would send a "seriously bad message" if Congress voted against taking military action. On Monday, McCain said it would be "catastrophic" if Congress failed to pass the resolution.

Ah yes, this is the old John McCain that all of us know and few of us love. If I were to boil this position down to one cogent point, it would be that McCain opposes this resolution precisely because it’s carefully drafted to avoid mission creep and escalation into all-out war. The resolution deals strictly with chemical weapons and McCain desperately wants us to join in the fighting with the rebels because that’s what John McCain does — if there’s a war going someplace without American involvement, McCain feels sad and left out, like the only kid not invited to a birthday party.

Of course, McCain’s dissatisfaction is the equivalent of the Peace-Lover’s Seal of Approval. Greg Sargent points out that “McCain refusing to support limited use of force resolution makes it easier for liberals and Dems to support it.” Politics is much more the art of the kneejerk contrarian than the art of the possible these days.

It’s tempting to suspect that this is McCain’s strategy to get more people on board with military action, but his reported unhappiness with the resolution is just so John McCain. He’s opposing the current draft because it’s not an open declaration of all-out war, not because he’s playing chess. He’s wanted to join in with the rebels for a very long time and if any action isn’t specifically designed to aid the rebels and topple Assad, McCain has no use for it.

McCain probably will vote for this in the end, but only because he’s settling for what, in his eyes, is the only possible alternative to doing nothing.

[photo via NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan]

John and Cindy McCain helpfully demonstrate the GOP’s ‘rebranding’ problem

ThinkProgress: Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has emerged as one of the Senate’s most vocal opponents of granting immigration rights to bi-national same-sex couples. But his wife said Monday that she expects his anti-LGBT views to be out of the mainstream even in his party by 2016.

McCain, who fiercely opposed Don’t Ask Don’t Tell repeal in 2010 and voted against adding LGBT protections to the federal hate crime law. said in March that he doubts he’ll ever change his strong opposition to same-sex marriage.

Cindy McCain, his wife of 33 years, said at a Monday fundraiser for the anti-bullying Trevor Project that she believed the Republican Party would come to support legal equality for same-sex couples over the next three years: “You’re going to see a major turn. By the next presidential election I think this will be an issue that will be very much agreed on by both parties.” She added that she believes even her husband will come around, noting that the Senator “hears from his own daughters and his own children and from me a little bit about this.”

And this is what the whole rebranding effort has devolved into:”The GOP’s going to come around to your point of view any time now — just you wait! — so go ahead and vote for us now.” The Republican Party is slowly becoming rebranded as the party who are just about to stop being so stupid and hateful. Unfortunately for all the talk, there’s very little evidence that this is the case.

Ed Kilgore has a good post up about the rebranding effort, but it doesn’t lend itself to quoting — just go read it. The gist of it is that the party isn’t going to make any headway until it stops listening to people who think rebranding — minus any actual change — is all the party needs to do. They seem to think being the party of haters and hater-enablers is just fine — so long as you get people to pay attention to enablers like Cindy, while haters like John continue to do all the damage they want, just like always.

[photo by ronnie44052]

Schumer, McCain agree that legislation regulating guns will be back

L.A. Times: Two top senators predicted Thursday that gun legislation will come up again for a Senate vote – possibly before the end of the year – as public attitudes shift toward stricter controls.

Their assessment comes after the defeat last week of a widely popular bipartisan background check measure that was drafted in response to the elementary school shooting in Newtown, Conn., after a gunman opened fire, killing 26 people, mostly children.

“I think we’re going to bring this bill back before the end of the year and I think you may find some changes,” said Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), a chief backer of the bill, at a breakfast hosted by the Christian Science Monitor.  “Lots of senators who thought it was safe to vote against it” he said, “are not so sure any more” because of changing attitudes.

Sen. John McCain of Arizona, a key Republican backer of the measure who spoke at the same event, concurred. “I do agree with Chuck. I think the issue is going to come back,” he said.

McCain said Congress needs to address specific aspects of gun violence that were not covered in the bill, including “the issue of crazy people who do terrible things,” as he noted the mass shootings in Connecticut, Colorado and in Tucson in his home state of Arizona.

OK, so McCain’s comment that “the issue of crazy people who do terrible things” wasn’t covered in the legislation is just straight up horseshit. The bill would’ve expanded background checks, which is how you see to it people who have been ruled unfit to own firearms don’t get their hands on firearms. If McCain — or any gun freak — can come up with another way to keep guns out the hands of these individuals, I’d love to hear it. Because it’ll be interesting to see how they manage to see who can and can’t legally own a firearm without checking.

But the good news is that this isn’t over. And it won’t be over if this next bill fails. It won’t be over if the next bill passes, but is pointlessly weak. This isn’t over until we win.

On everything.

McCain meets GOP base, discovers they’re still insane

Associated Press:

[On] Tuesday, McCain hosted two town hall meetings in Arizona, during which he defended his immigration plan to upset residents concerned about border security. A bipartisan group of senators — including Arizona Republicans McCain and Jeff Flake — want assurances on border security as Congress weighs what could be the biggest changes to immigration law in nearly 30 years. Arizona is the only state with both of its senators working on immigration reform in Congress, a sign of the state’s widely debated border security issues.

[…]

During a heated town hall gathering in the Phoenix suburb of Sun Lakes, McCain said the border near Yuma is largely secure, but he said smugglers are using the border near Tucson to pump drugs into Phoenix. He said immigration reform should be contingent on better border security that must rely largely on technology able to detect border crossings.

McCain said a tamper-proof Social Security card would help combat identity fraud, and noted any path to citizenship must require immigrants to learn English, cover back taxes and pay fines for breaking immigration laws.

“There are 11 million people living here illegally,” he said. “We are not going to get enough buses to deport them.”

This did not go well. AP reports that “Some audience members shouted out their disapproval.”

One man yelled that only guns would discourage illegal immigration. Another man complained that illegal immigrants should never be able to become citizens or vote. A third man said illegal immigrants were illiterate invaders who wanted free government benefits.

Of course, John McCain knows how crazy the GOP base has gotten over the years. If he didn’t, he never would’ve inflicted Sarah Palin on the nation. These people are a monster of the GOP’s own creation; the result of using Fox News, talk radio, and rightwing blogs to sway public opinion. Now, when Republicans speak to their base, they’re speaking to a crowd of ignorant, panicked, and intolerant dopes who repeat the unworkable wingnut media talking points back at them.

And this is what’s going to throw the Republicans’ big plan for a party makeover. They can’t change anything without pissing off the base and they can’t win over new voters without changing anything. In the end, self-interest kicks in, elected officials realize they need the base to be reelected, and all plans for change go out the window. Their own efforts to drive Americans crazy have now doomed them to further and deeper irrelevance.

Republicans are victims of their own success. Serves them right.

McCain’s racist joke called out by fellow Republican

Buzzfeed:

Senator John McCain’s joke comparing Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to the monkey that Iran claimed it sent into space earned him a scolding from a fellow Republican, Michigan congressman Justin Amash.

“Maybe you should wisen up & not make racist jokes,” Amash, who is of Palestinian and Syrian descent, tweeted at McCain. McCain had sent a tweet in response to the strange news that Ahmadinejad was offering himself up to be Iran’s first astronaut, writing, “So Ahmadinejad wants to be first Iranian in space - wasn’t he just there last week?” and linking to a story about the monkey.

McCain then told everyone on Twitter who had taken him to task for the tweet to “lighten up.”

Amash, 31, is a libertarian Republican who was endorsed by Ron Paul and who has in a way molded himself in Paul’s image — which includes calling out more senior Republicans.

“Can’t you take a joke?” is an old-school dodge for people trying to shrug off accusations of racism. The newer take is “Oh, don’t be so PC!” As always, McCain’s not quite up with the times.

A McCain spokesperson reiterated the dodge, releasing a statement that told the press, “As Senator McCain said in his follow-up tweet, he was poking fun at Ahmadinejad’s outer space ambitions…” Of course, he was “poking fun” by saying middle easterners look like monkeys.

That McCain can’t see what all the fuss is about speaks volumes about him. And that the vast majority of Republicans didn’t call McCain out like Amash did speak volumes about his party.

McCain’s fake concern over Benghazi

Dave Weigel:

Josh Rogin reports that John McCain and Rand Paul, both of them very public critics of the administration over Benghazi, skipped yesterday’s private hearing on the debacle. And McCain spent basically the entirety of Wednesday criticizing the administration — TV in the morning, a press conference in the late morning, a Senate colloquy after President Obama attacked him.

So McCain skipped out on a hearing about Benghazi to go do his media darling gig — and demand hearings about Benghazi. It’s not about Benghazi or Amb. Rice, it’s about John McCain turning into a vindictive jerk every time he or his side loses a presidential election. He became an insufferable ass four years ago, as many will recall.

McCain wants to punish Obama for having the temerity to defeat the Republican nominee. Which is why private hearings aren’t important — he doesn’t care about getting to the bottom of anything, he just wants to ruin careers and reputations with a big public spectacle that serves no other purpose.

“McCain wants public, select committee hearings, which have been accurately described as ‘Watergate-style’ — public, on TV, key players dragged in front of a national audience,” Weigel writes. “And neither the Speaker of the House nor the Senate Majority Leader want to take this step.”

Stories to Watch: 7/18/12

Finally got a soaking rain up here -- got dark as night and came down in sheets. Also, I'll probably be out most of the day tomorrow, so I'll probably let posting slide. Now here's the news...


I don't know what's in Mitt's tax returns, but it must be really bad. Check out this lede from Ryan grim and Abby Huntsman (emphasis mine); "Mitt Romney has been determined to resist releasing his tax returns at least since his bid for Massachusetts governor in 2002 and has been confident that he will never be forced to do so, several current and former Bain executives tell The Huffington Post. Had he thought otherwise, say the sources based on their longtime understanding of Romney, he never would have gone forward with his run for president." Wow.


I really, really want to know who this dopey "conservative blogger" is.


You may not have thought it was possible, but Romney's Bain argument gets even weaker.


Meanwhile, Mittens gets on board with debunked rightwing black helicopter conspiracy theories.


How to be a pundit.


John McCain has apparently had enough of Shelly Bachmann's foolishness.


Finally, Americans still think it's all Bush's fault.

Related articles

• Romney's Midsummer Test

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• Mitt Romney's NEW AD Attempts To Dodge His Tax Returns/Bain Debacle With Desperate Distractio ns & Dancing Horses

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• Ron Paul, Republicans Pressure Romney To Release Tax Returns, But He May Not Budge

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News Roundup for 7/18/12

Rep. Marsha Blackburn thinks you're really nosey

-Headline of the Day-
"RNC Finds One Republican Who Doesn’t Believe Romney Should Release Tax Returns."

Mitt Romney's released about five minutes worth of tax records and that's enough! My God, what does it take to sate your blood lust? Ten minutes? Fifteen? Can't you see the poor man's done enough? For the love of God, all he wants to do is run your entire country! How much do you really have to know about him?

That's the way the Republican National Committee wishes people would talk about Romney's tax returns. The problem is, that's the way no one's talking about Romney's tax returns. Even Republicans are going on the teevee and wondering aloud what the heck the deal is. They have to get everyone off this tax return kick and back to hating President Obama -- so they got Rep. Marsha Blackburn to talk about Romney's taxes. Because they're smart like that.

"[W]hen it comes to tax returns, it’s my understanding that the governor has released the same amount of tax returns as Sen. McCain had released," Marsha said on a conference call with reporters. "And quite frankly, what the American people are talking about is not tax returns, what they’re talking about is jobs and the economy"

A couple of problems here. One, the American people most definitely are talking about Romney's tax returns -- if they weren't, you wouldn't be talking on this here conference call -- and two, McCain kind of didn't really so much win. Using McCain as your yardstick for what people expect from their candidates isn't really all that wise. The report points out that "John Kerry, Al Gore, George W. Bush, Bob Dole, Bill Clinton, and Michael Dukakis all released many years of tax returns" and some of those guys won. There is no list of winners as chintzy with their returns as McCain and Romney.

Sorry. (Talking Points Memo)


-Who is Willard Mitt Romney?-



Wouldn't you like to know? (Truthdig)


-Bonus HotD-
"Report: Voter ID Laws Put Undue Burden On 10 Million Voters."

Let me translate that for you conservatives out there -- "Voter ID laws work exactly as intended." (Talking Points Memo)

News Roundup for 4/30/12

Don't you dare accuse him of telling the truth


-Headline of the Day-
"Inside the Mitt Laden Smackdown."

Last week, the Obama campaign put out a video suggesting that Mitt Romney wouldn't have dropped the hammer on Osama Bin Laden. Obviously, this was terrible. Mittens is not happy with it.

The problem, of course, it's Mitt's kneejerk messaging strategy -- i.e., everything Obama does is wrong. This puts him in the situation of having criticized the president for doing the sort of thing that eventually got Osama.

"In line with the late Bush administration policy and messaging on OBL, Romney repeatedly said that the US shouldn’t focus on hunting him down," writes Josh Marshall. "The point wasn’t that OBL was off the hook but that we shouldn’t be focusing on this one guy. Romney followed by attacking Obama in 2008 for suggesting that he would unilaterally send American troops into Pakistan to kill bin Laden. In both cases, Romney was doing little more than repeating the strategic or political orthodoxy of the GOP leader of the moment, in the first case George W. Bush in 2007 and then John McCain in 2008."

If Mittens says he wouldn't send troops into Pakistan to kill Bin Laden, how is he supposed to get into the situation where he gives the order for troops to kill Bin Laden in Pakistan? Romney specifically ruled out doing exactly what it took to get the guy. So when the President said Romney wouldn't have killed OBL, he was just taking the man at his word.

In other words, Mitt's getting bent out of shape because President Obama is not calling him a liar. That might be a first. (Talking Points Memo)


-I'm a terrible person-



I thought this was hilarious. (Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal)


-Bonus HotD-
"Depressed Bin Laden thought about ‘al-Qaida' name change, White House says."

Unfortunately, "The Apple Dumpling Gang" was already taken. (Yahoo! News)

Stories to Watch: 4/28/12

I was going to head out to Milwaukee today, but the weather is crap. Cold and rain. So tomorrow it is. Now here's the news...


Obama pushes the killing of Osama Bin Laden as one of his signature accomplishments. John McCain doesn't care for this and wants it off his lawn. Of course, McCain is a clown.


Not that Obama's forgetting about the War on Women.


Speaking of that war, Susan G. Komen for the Cure is still limping from their self-inflicted wound.


Robert Reich on the GOP's demographic kamikaze run.


Science confirms; religion makes a lot of sense -- until you think about it.


Finally, politicians like to point to silly-seeming studies as a waste of taxpayer money, but the bigger picture tells a different story; all knowledge has value. And real world applications.

Related articles

• McCain Is Outraged That Obama Politicized 9/11, But He Did The Same Thing
• Presidential race ad war begins in earnest
• McCain: What war on women?

Stories to Watch: 3/27/12

Got the tornado mess all cleared up. I hadn't been up there since it happened. Man, it was devastation. A big wide path right through the woods. Oddly, my mother's trailer home up there was fine. It must've stopped right at her front steps. Now here's the news...


This is kind of surprising: a fairly decent majority -- 55% -- haven't heard about the Romney Etch a Sketch comments. This seems odd to me, since everyone but Romney -- Republican and Democrat -- has been pushing the story.


IMF chief Dominque Strauss-Kahn finds himself in another sex scandal after being charged with "aggravated pimping."


Santorum's latest ad takes fearmongering to a new low. Luckily, it's also so ridiculous that it's impossible to take seriously. As Steve Benen says, "I don't generally laugh out loud at these sorts of things, but Santorum's video is the most unintentionally hilarious video from a presidential candidate I've seen from someone whose name does not rhyme with Sherman Bain." Move over, Demon Sheep.


Dick Morris has finally snapped.


Embattled Wisconsin Gov. Walker barely leads his two most likely rivals, indicating a tight recall race. It also shows his ad campaign has gotten him nowhere.


Also in Wisconsin news, Mitt Romney may be ahead, but he's having trouble getting anyone's attention here.


For coverage of the Supreme Court and the Affordable Care Act, Talking Points Memo has healthcare reform feed.


Does working for an airline make you crazy?


John McCain -- probably correctly -- predicts corruption scandals in the future because of unlimited campaign cash.


Finally, conservatives would rather smear Trayvon Martin than admit that overly liberal gun laws are stupid.

Related articles

• Romney's Mansion to Have Elevator ... for Cars (newser.com)
• Santorum lashes out at reporters; Romney spokesman calls him 'unhinged' (mercurynews.com)
• Santorum Sweeps Louisiana (thedailybeast.com)
• Romney Advisor's 'Etch A Sketch' Comment Shakes Up The Web [VIDEO] (mashable.com)

Stories to Watch: 3/18/12

I just installed the NoScript addon for Firefox. I think it may have changed my life. I guess my little laptop didn't like Java very much. Now here's the news...


Poachers are on the verge of wiping out rhinos in South Africa.


John McCain is not happy with the way the GOP primaries are going. Can't say I blame him -- and I can't say I feel sorry for him, either.


Speaking of primaries, Rick Santorum is damned determined to lose the one in Puerto Rico. Why are you even letting yourself get hung up on this one, Rick? There's no big movement for Puerto Rican statehood. I think this whole flap is evidence that Rick Santorum is a dumb, dumb man.


Also, NO MEN KISSING MEN AT SANTORUM EVENTS! VERBOTEN!


Angry women ridicule Rick Perry on his Facebook page. This is becoming a trend.


Mitt Romney's latest lie, carazy-assed wingnut blog conspiracy edition: Obama wants high gas prices.


The Heartland Institute, already in trouble for dishonest shenanigans, tried to steal documents from Greenpeace. Hypocrisy in action.


Finally, Ron Paul caucusers get a little too enthusiastic in Missouri.

Related articles

• Geraldo To O'Reilly: Santorum 'Torpedoed His Campaign' In Puerto Rico With English Comments (mediaite.com)
• Rick Santorum lost Puerto Rico by talking (dailykos.com)
• Puerto Rico a force in Florida voting (tampabay.com)
• Rick Santorum Confirms Shirtless Lounging Man In Puerto Rico Is Him, Apologizes (mediaite.com)

News Roundup for 3/16/12

2012 is starting to seem very familiar

-Headline of the Day-
"Romney, Santorum Stir Less Enthusiasm Than McCain Did."

Remember back in 2008, when all the Republicans were all like, "Oh crap, I guess I have to vote for John McCain?" Well, it turns out that GOP voters in 2012 are feeling even more oh-crapper than they did then.

According to the report, "A little more than one-third of Republicans say they would vote 'enthusiastically' for either Mitt Romney or Rick Santorum if either candidate were to win their party's nomination for president. Slightly fewer say they would vote enthusiastically for Newt Gingrich. This level of enthusiasm is similar to Republicans' feelings about voting for Romney in early 2008, but lower than the enthusiasm level for that year's eventual GOP nominee, John McCain." In fact, enthusiasm for Mitt Romney was about where it was in 2006, when he -- you know -- lost.

If you ask me, you can blame Super PACs here. They've bought contests all over the country and the people the billionaires want don't really match up with what the people want. To be fair, what those people wanted seemed to be Herman Cain, but then he went and turned out to be a serial buttpincher and that ruined that dream.

Still, it doesn't seem very likely that the GOP electorate would go from Herman Cain to Mitt Romney all on their lonesome. Mittens has been winning races not because everyone thinks he's so awesome, but because he and his Super PAC buddies have been running "don't vote for Mitt's opponent -- he's even worse than Romney!" ads. People are settling for what they see as the lesser of two evils -- which is kind of tough, since those evils are like Satan and Beelzebub.

Of course, there's still a way to juice things up again come the general. It's the John McCain way: grab some random featherheaded lunatic who knows all the empty talking points and buzzwords by heart as a running mate, then hope they aren't exposed as a lightweight before election day.

Romney-Hannity 2012! (Gallup)


-On a related note-



"Now go ahead and pledge allegiance to the Koch brother, kids -- or do you hate America?" (McClatchy)


-Bonus HotD-
"GOP Strapped to the Roof of Romney's Car."

File under "Perfection in Metaphors." (Political Wire)

Stories to Watch: 3/11/12

Welcome to "Stories to Watch" -- brought to you by Barney's Butt-Crack Balm and the Syrian Tourism Board. Now here's the news...


John McCain thinks it's unfair that President Obama would be mean to people who want to charge headlong into war with Iran. Keep in mind that this is a guy who's never voted against any type of military action ever. Someone needs to be mean to you, Senator. Your foreign policy toolbox is a little spare.


Also from McCain, he claims that Sarah Palin was "the best qualified" to be Vice President.


Kathleen Geier, who covers Washington Monthly's Political Animal blog on weekends, makes on observation on the gusher of advertisers leaving Limbaugh's show; it demonstrates that our poisonous national discourse is not beyond repair.


Even the hardcore Libertarian, Koch-funded Cato Institute says that President Obama isn't to blame for high gas prices. The words "supply" and "demand" pop up in their report. Note to Republicans and Fox News: you might want to look those two words up. They're really important in economics.


Some American psycho goes on a shooting spree in Afghanistan, killing at least 16 people -- including children. In response, Newt Gingrich calls for the withdrawal of troops from that country. You read that right.


Team Obama moves quickly to capitalize on the GOP's War on Women, which is bleeding women voters from that party.


Finally, a proposal for a new rule for legislators: if it's too gross to be printed in a newspaper, you shouldn't pass laws do it to a woman. Deal?

Related articles

• Greg Mitchell: Game Change As It Happened: When Tina and Amy Nailed Sarah Palin (huffingtonpost.com)
• Super Tuesday leaves McCain worried about November (cbsnews.com)
• Lauren Brown Jarvis: My Live Blog of Game Change (huffingtonpost.com)
• Mark Joseph: John McCain's Game Change (huffingtonpost.com)

Stories to Watch: 2/18/12

I think I'll make chili tonight. And corn bread. That sounds awesome right now. I'll make the chili, put it in a baking dish, spoon the corn bread batter over the top with some cheese, onions, and pepper rings, and bake it. Dang, I've made myself hungry and lunch is the pressing problem. Now here's the news...


Hey, remember the guy the John McCain's "build the danged fence" ad? He seems to be guilty of all different kinds of hypocrisy. Not to mention at least one actual crime. According to the report, "Rising Republican star and well-known border hawk Sheriff Paul Babeu, who’s now running for Congress in Arizona, was hit Friday night with bombshell accusations from a Mexican immigrant who said he dated the sheriff for years and was threatened with deportation if he ever told anyone about their romance."


Santorum's newly released tax records show that, despite being a multi-millionaire, he gives almost nothing to charity.


GOP panic over their presidential field deepens.


This goes a long way toward explaining the GOP's problem here; "There is no other way to put this without resorting to demographic bluntness: the small fraction of Americans who are trying to pick the Republican nominee are old, white, uniformly Christian and unrepresentative of the nation at large."


How far outside the mainstream is the GOP voter? Their frontrunner is getting wild applause for praising income inequality.


***
Wingnut bloggers are super-excited about a recent poll giving Scott Brown a big lead over Elizabeth Warren in the Massachusetts Senate race. Here's the thing though; not even Republicans believe it.


And why should they? Think about it. All the polling before this either had them pretty much tied or Warren leading. Now, all of a sudden, Brown opens up a big lead. And this is because...?

Yeah, it's because nothing. Nothing has changed. No one has switched strategies, no one's launched a big ad campaign or switched to a new message. No one got involved in a big scandal or saved a bunch of orphans from a burning building. The numbers lack any underlying explanation -- which is why even GOP insiders think they're inaccurate.


***
Finally, saying that Super PACs represent the 1% is severely understating the problem. Super PACs represent the .0000063%.

Related articles

• Poll: Scott Brown opens up 9-point lead over Elizabeth Warren (thehill.com)
• An Attack on All of Us By Elizabeth Warren, Reader Supported News (jhaines6.wordpress.com)
• Fight For GOP Soul, SuperPACs Spur Negative Political Ad Explosion (npr.org)
• Feingold: Obama super-PAC decision is 'dancing with the devil' (thehill.com)

Stories to Watch: 1/12/12

You know how to prepare to clear snow? First you get out cocoa powder, sugar, milk, and vanilla, make hot cocoa, and put it in a thermos. This is readiness. Now here's the news...


Hey, want to see Newt Gingrich's attack movie on Mitt Romney? Here ya go. It's 28 minutes, so make sure you've got the time. Steve Benen says, "Aside from some oblique xenophobic slights sprinkled into the script, it is as liberal an indictment against the former governor as anything I’ve seen." I haven't seen it yet, but I'll probably watch it tonight -- with popcorn.


Rudy Giuliani is decidedly unimpressed with Newt's cinematic opus. I like to see that.


And if Mittens thinks he's getting hammered with Bain now, wait until the general election.


The concept of poetic license is completely alien to wingnuts.


Rick Santorum is a clown.


Rush Limbaugh is a racist.


McCain flip-flops on Romney's Bain career.


Finally, Newt's a commie.

Related articles

• Rudy Giuliani To Newt Gingrich: 'What The Hell Are You Doing?' (huffingtonpost.com)
• Newt Gingrich: I Didn't Admit Attacking Mitt Romney On Bain Capital Was A Mistake (huffingtonpost.com)
• Private Equity Investor Rudy Giuliani Slams Attacks On Romney, Bain Capital As 'Ignorant, Dumb' (thinkprogress.org)
• Giuliani Calls Gingrich's Anti-Romney Attacks 'Ignorant, Dumb' (abcnews.go.com)

News Roundup for 1/4/12

New GOP logo

-Headline of the Day-
"Gingrich Floats Idea of Anti-Romney Alliance."

The Republican presidential nominating process is already starting to feel like some crazy reality TV game show. Now Newt Gingrich proposes a strategy straight out of Survivor -- weaker candidates form an alliance to take out the stronger one.

In an interview with wingnut radio host Laura Ingraham, Newt was asked, "Can you see a scenario under which [Rick Santorum and yourself] would align together to try to defeat the establishment candidate, Mitt Romney?"

"Absolutely. Of course," Newt said. "I mean Rick and I have a 20-year friendship, we are both rebels, we both came into this business as reformers, we both dislike deeply the degree to which the establishment sells out the American people. We both think Washington has to be changed in very fundamental ways, and we have lots of things that fit together. And the thing that's interesting is if you take the votes, you add to that Perry and Bachmann, you begin to see the size of the conservative vote compared to Romney...if you take, you know, Santorum and Perry and Bachmann and Gingrich you get some sense of what a small minority Romney really represents."

This will probably work out great -- provided Mittens doesn't find the immunity idol hidden in New Hampshire. (Political Wire)


-Cartoon time with Mark Fiore-
Hey kids, the roundup is finally back and that means I can get lazy right off the bat with a leftover Mark Fiore cartoon! Yay!


Click for animation

I know, there was a lot more crazy than that, but these things can only run so long... (MarkFiore.com)


-Bonus HotD-
"Jon Huntsman Reacts To Sen. John McCain’s Romney Endorsement: 'Nobody Cares.'"

Probably the truest thing a Republican has said all week. (Mediaite)

Stories to Watch: 12/4/11

Went out yesterday in the petition drive to recall Gov. Walker. It was fun. In fact, only one person refused outright and she was pretty nice about it -- all the rest of the doors that didn't sign had already signed elsewhere. Mostly, I got thanks. Seems to be going strong. If you're in Wisconsin and interested in volunteering, either find a petitioner and sign up through them (that's how I did it) or contact One Wisconsin Now or United Wisconsin. There's tabling and phonebanking too, so if you're not up to trekking through Wisconsin weather this time of year, you've got options. Now here's the news...


In related news, PolitiFact confirms that it is indeed perfectly legal to sign the recall petition more than once, if you feel you might've been scammed by someone collecting signatures to keep them from being turned in. Just don't sign every time someone puts a petition in front of you.


In a sign that Mittens' troubled past is going to be an issue, the LA Times runs an article on Romney's time with Bain Capital. It's the second time I've seen that exact photo illustrating a piece; the other was a similarly less-than-complimentary New York Times article on the same subject.


Sen. John McCain suggests we should find a "humane" solution to illegal immigration and that several states, including his own Arizona, might be "up for grabs" as Republican rhetoric on immigration drives away Hispanic voters.


Powerline's John Hinderaker joins Herman Cain in blaming Democrats for Herman Cain's fall -- proving once again that John Hinderaker is an emptyheaded lightweight. When Herman Cain went down the drain, I'd imagine they held a wake at the White House, just as they would've thrown a party had he been nominated. He was just such a poor frontrunner, an Obama win would've been guaranteed.


Presidential pardons still bias white.


Sen. Tom Coburn, who was a mere House member at the time, does not have fond memories of Speaker Gingrich's leadership.


Ron Paul says he won't attend the Donald Trump-moderated celebrity game show GOP debate.


Finally, Michele Bachmann seems to confuse Occupy Wall Street with Wall Street execs. "If you go to the essence of what Occupy Wall Street stands for, it’s having other people pay for their stuff," she told CNN. "That’s not where the American people are at." Meanwhile, the bank bailouts + huge executive bonuses = huge taxpayer-funded executive bonuses.

Related articles

• With Herman Cain out, Newt Gingrich storms to the lead in Iowa poll (100gf.wordpress.com)
• Top 10 Tweets: Herman Cain's #CainWreck Speech (mashable.com)
• Michele Bachmann And Ron Paul Say They'll Pick Up Herman Cain Supporters (huffingtonpost.com)
• Ron Paul pans Donald Trump as false GOP deity (politico.com)