Everyone is giving their two cents. I guess it doesn't matter what people say, because as long as Rush occupies the center stage as the de facto leader of the GOP, the worse off it is for the GOP. You can peruse the links (from Memeorandum) below, but the general landscape is this: The Republicans are divided about whether to … Read More
Rush’s Clarification (Sort Of)
From The Plum Line, an email exchange between Limbaugh and Greg Sargant: After I asked Rush a question about the Michael Steele fight, Rush replied: [P]lease, Greg, try to stand out from the MSM chorus and NOT distort, as they all are, on behalf of the Obama Admin, my meaning on wanting him to fail. I want the country to … Read More
The Bush Legal Memos
As much as possible, I've resisted Bush-bashing since he was ushered out of office. He's gone, let's go forward I figure. But certain legal memos of the Bush Administration, released yesterday, really are truly frightening. Michael Isikoff from Newsweek gives an example: In perhaps the most surprising assertion, the Oct. 23, 2001, memo suggested the president could even suspend press freedoms … Read More
The Right’s Rush Problem
Former Bush speechwriter David Frum weighs in, anti-Rush: Here’s Rahm Emanuel on Face the Nation yesterday: “the voice and the intellectual force and energy behind the Republican party.” What a great endorsement for Rush! (And we know Rush is fond of compliments – listen to his loving account in his CPAC speech of the birthday lunch given him by President … Read More
GOP Meltdown
Wow. The infighting is very ugly: In a little-noticed interview Saturday night, Steele dismissed Limbaugh as an “entertainer” whose show is “incendiary” and “ugly.” Steele’s criticism makes him the highest-ranking Republican to pick a fight with the popular and polarizing conservative talk show host. But the new RNC chairman’s extraordinary comments won’t sit well with the millions of conservative listeners Limbaugh draws … Read More
Full-On Crazy
Andrew Breitbart of the Washington Times welcomes the new Messiah, and no, it's not Obama. Brace yourselves. The mood at the Omni Shoreham Hotel late Saturday afternoon was off the electrical meter when Rush Limbaughtook center stage at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). *** Fox News joined C-SPAN in carrying the nearly hour-and-a-half experience, while CNN broke ranks with the … Read More
As Suspected
Following up on yesterday's post, it turns out that Jindal wasn't telling the truth after all. For those needing a recap, here's the video of the relevant portion of Jindal's response: Some story, huh? Turns out, it's not so true. Specifically, when Jindal told the nation that he was in the sheriff's office "during Katrina," he didn't mean "during Katrina." … Read More
Sticks and Stones
Huckabee called Obama a socialist yesterday. Sen. DeMint (R-S.C.) called Obama a socialist today. And of course, calling Obama a "socialist" was S.O.P. during the election season. (Both Palin and McCain invoked the phrase). Socialism is, of course, a political theory and economic system in which the collective (i.e., the government) owns industry (the means of production) and capital. Now when Republicans call … Read More
Ex-President Bush Goes Back To School
Pershing Elementary School in Preston Hollow, Texas: The Bushes [George and Laura] were scheduled to visit three classes, but they ended up popping in on any room with an audience. Ducking in one room, Bush asked, "Hey kids, do you know who I am?" Gasps all around, and then someone blurted, "George Washington!" O.K. That didn't go well. But a … Read More
An Open Letter To The GOP
Stop it. Stop it now. It's uncomfortable to look at. Stop trying to be cool. Stop trying to be "hip". Stop with "the Twittering". Don't try to convince us that the Republican Party is "off the hook". Don't look at the RNC chairman (an African-American) and shout, "You be da man!". Don't be sending some "slum love" to Republican governor … Read More
Why The GOP Is Still Lost In The Woods
Daniel Larison: It seems to me that conservatives and Republicans have assumed the GOP is the natural governing party, at least regarding the Presidency and to some extent as it relates to Congress since ‘94, which is why so many have continued to insist that America is a “center-right nation” in face of mounting evidence that it is not and … Read More
And Jindal Lies
From Jindal's reponse speech earlier this week: During Katrina, I visited Sheriff Harry Lee, a Democrat and a good friend of mine. When I walked into his makeshift office I'd never seen him so angry. He was yelling into the phone: 'Well, I'm the Sheriff and if you don't like it you can come and arrest me!' I asked him: … Read More
Best Reaction To Jindel Speech
And it speaks to both Jindel and Palin: Absent any deep thoughts, the Republicans are going to complain about waste. The high point of Jindal’s address came when he laced into “wasteful spending” in the stimulus bill, and used as an example a $140 million appropriation for keeping an eye on the volcanoes in places like Alaska, where one is … Read More
Obama Won The Night
A CBS News poll of approximately 500 people saw approval of the president rise from 62 percent before the speech to 69 percent afterward. Meanwhile, a poll on CNN showed that 68 percent of respondents — who skewed a bit Democratic — viewed the speech positively, 24 somewhat positively, and only eight percent not positively. Eighty-two percent supported the president's economic plan … Read More
Jindel? Really?
I was going to make fun of Bobby Jindel's response to the Obama address, but everyone else beat me to it. Ezra Klein was spot-on when he suggested that Jindel had the oratorical stylings and naive optimism of Kenneth, from 30 Rock. What was most striking about Jindel's response was using Katrina to stand as the example that government help … Read More