From The Daily Beast: The Hindenburg. The Titanic. Michele Bachmann. Eighteen months ago, the Minnesota House member was considered an unlikely but undeniable Republican rising star, winning the Iowa straw poll that unofficially begins the primary season. Today, she is embroiled in a litany of legal proceedings related to her rolling disaster of a presidential campaign—including a Office of Congressional Ethics investigation into campaign … Read More
What Happens When Tea Baggers Boycott Fox News
First of all, some irate Tea Party activists have decided to boycott Fox News because, well, because grumble grumble grnarf gnarf. No, actually, it is because Fox News hasn't been covering the Benghazi scandal, largely because there is no scandal to cover, as even Fox News has found out. So, irate teabaggers are boycotting Fox News for going "soft". The … Read More
Report From The Conservative Front
From TPM political reporter Benjy Sarlin: OK, CPAC event on racial tolerance has gone nuts, there are neo-Confederates asking why whites are being systematically disenfranchised — Benjy Sarlin (@BenjySarlin) March 15, 2013 To be fair, they are getting some pushback look like they came here to make a scene, but damn — Benjy Sarlin (@BenjySarlin) March 15, 2013 This is … Read More
Palin Still Self-Unaware
From her recent Facebook post: Put a fork in us. We’re finished. We’re going to default eventually and that’s why the feds are stockpiling bullets in case of civil unrest. Same post – the very next sentence: If we ARE serious about putting our fiscal house in order, then let’s stop the hysterics… *Facepalm*
Guns Needed To Protect Us From Sharia Law
Tea Party Congressman Louie Gohmert (R-TX) told a conservative radio show on Thursday that the GOP must oppose gun regulations to protect the country from the threat of “Sharia Law.” Appearing on The Voice of Freedom, Gohmert said he “hoped and prayed” that Congress rejects gun safety legislation, arguing that Americans may need to use the rights guaranteed by the Second … Read More
Stay Classy, FreedomWorks!
FreedomWorks is the political action commitee supporting tea party candidates. Right now, there's an internal investigation by its members, who seem to be displeased with some past behavior from its former president, Matt Kibbe. David Corn of Mother Jones brings us the latest in FreedomWorks creepiness (my emphasis): FreedomWorks staffers worried last year about a promotional video created ahead of FreePAC, a FreedomWorks … Read More
Violence Against Women Act Is Unfair To Men, Say Conservatives
Of all the astonishingly bad reasons conservatives oppose reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act, concern for men is probably the worst. Make that definitely the worst. Via Sahil Kapur at TPM: Claiming that the reauthorization would expand the definition of domestic violence to include “emotional distress,” Heritage [Action] declared that the “expansive and vague language will increase fraud and false allegations, for … Read More
Michele Bachmann Won’t Pay Staff, So Staff Rats Her Out To The Feds
Oh, Michele. I was worried that, after your embarassing but hilarity-filled run for president, you would fade away into oblivion and no longer light my days with your unique brand of stupidity. I guess I was worried for nothing. First, we learned that Bachmann is refusing to pay five staffers unless they sign a nondisclosure agreement that prohibits them them from talking … Read More
What We Have To Deal With
Or, more precisely, what Obama has to deal with: the "hell no" caucus. Meet freshman Rep. Tom Cotton (R-AR), one of the newest member of House Speaker John Boehner's caucus, who was singled out and bankrolled by the Club for Growth in his competitive primary, allowing him an easy general election victory in this deeply Republican district. In an interview … Read More
The Dick Armey Coup At Teabag Central
WTF? The day after Labor Day, just as campaign season was entering its final frenzy, FreedomWorks, the Washington-based tea party organization, went into free fall. Richard K. Armey, the group’s chairman and a former House majority leader, walked into the group’s Capitol Hill offices with his wife, Susan, and an aide holstering a handgun at his waist. The aim was … Read More
The Tea Party Is Racist? Nooooooo……
They only produce ads like this….
More Racism At The RNC
They’re not just chucking peanuts at black people at the RNC: An unscripted moment happened late this afternoon that caused the assembled mainstream media to turn away in the hope that it would disappear. As I was standing in line for a sandwich next to an Italian and a Puerto Rican correspondent, a controversy was unfolding on the floor. The RonPaulites, whose … Read More
Tennessee Tea Party Wants To Whitewash History
At a press conference, two dozen Tea Party activists presented their proposals — I’m sorry, their “demands” — for the new state legislative session. Among them are sweeping changes to school materials. Like this: The material calls for lawmakers to amend state laws governing school curriculums, and for textbook selection criteria to say that “No portrayal of minority experience in the … Read More
Short Takes
* Britney Spears – who used to be famous – is engaged. Uh, to be married. Uh, again. She's 16 years old still. * Naughty Republicans — the mayor of Grandaven, Mississippi for 14 years — a guy named Greg Davis — re-ran for mayor in 2008 on a family values platform. You know where this is going, right? He's in … Read More
OWS vs Tea Party
Fun infographic (click to enlarge). I think it oversimplifies both movements, and adds to the notion that they are competing movements (in my view, the two movements overlap in many important respects), but it's still interesting: