Not Just a River in Egypt
By John Cole September 23rd, 2011
Many of you caught this from the earlier link:
Back in Orlando, TPM asked Gary Johnson — who scored his first slot on a debate stage in quite a while Thursday — if the crowds at the GOP debates were meaner than he’s seen before. Past audiences have given raucous applause to the concept of 234 executions and praised the idea of letting the uninsured die.Johnson, who is not a social conservative, opposes the death penalty and supports the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, said that the angrier members of the audiences at the debates are not the whole of the GOP.
“In my opinion, when you have booing this is not indicative of Republicans,” he said. “This is not the Republican Party that I belong to.”
Just keep telling yourself that.
Posted in Clown Shoes, Republican Stupidity
Denial.
It’s what allows old-time Republicans like my next door neighbor to keep pretending that the Modern Republican Party is the same party she supported back in the sixties and seventies.
September 23rd, 2011 at 7:02 pm
Gary, if there is another GOP that you belong to that we don’t know about please tell it to come out of hiding.
September 23rd, 2011 at 7:02 pm
The trouble is, as anyone who’s been to a social gathering that includes Fox viewers knows, this is the new face of the GOP. The mask has been uncovered in such a way that it will be hard for the MSM to ignore.
But ignore they will.
September 23rd, 2011 at 7:06 pm
God almighty, this is ridiculous.
The worst kind of denial from so-called “moderates” who would really rather be pushed off a cliff by their own party than have to admit that maybe, just maybe, the DFHs were right about their colleagues all along.
September 23rd, 2011 at 7:09 pm
David Cross pointed out this absurdity several years ago in a routine:
“I’m not saying that all Republicans are racist, sexist homophobes…just the people they choose to elect into office.”
September 23rd, 2011 at 7:10 pm
Is Johnson’s Republican Party stuck in the Gamma Quadrant or something?
September 23rd, 2011 at 7:10 pm
The Republican party Gary Johnson belongs to consists of himself, Andrew Sullivan and a well-packed bong.
September 23rd, 2011 at 7:14 pm
huh. I call bullshit. Democrats love these quasi-libertarians republicans, especially when they present some level of liberal views. I don’t ignore the company this guy chooses to keep. No, thanks, Johnson. I won’t be riding your jock like Jon Stewart and Hayes. Republican in 2011 is still a republican.
September 23rd, 2011 at 7:16 pm
Can we come up with a different spelling for the mythical reasonable Republican party? Something like the alternate spellings of Woman that people toyed with in the early 90’s (wimmin, wymin etc.)
I’m thinking Republycan.
September 23rd, 2011 at 7:18 pm
So Gary’s GOP is IN THE CLOSET? I’m shocked, shocked I tell you!
September 23rd, 2011 at 7:21 pm
When and where is the next GOP debate? About five minutes into it Rick Perry should just whip out one of his six-shooters, fire it at the ceiling, and shout, “I promise to nuke those ragheads!”. The screaming crowd will leap to their feet for a standing ovation.
September 23rd, 2011 at 7:22 pm
@beltane:
precisely
September 23rd, 2011 at 7:22 pm
The more moderate conservatives back off and say “Heyyy… this ain’t the party I signed up for”, the better.
September 23rd, 2011 at 7:23 pm
Even the liberal Red State is running out of answers.
September 23rd, 2011 at 7:23 pm
That attitude reminds me of an Army recruiting:: An Army of One.
So, he thinks he’s a Republican Party of One.
September 23rd, 2011 at 7:27 pm
Ah, No True Republican…
September 23rd, 2011 at 7:28 pm
Republicans have been pretty much like they are now since, at the latest, the early 90s. The main difference today is that they are more brazen, less subject to public criticism, and far, far more in control of the corporate press/media.
Also too, there are really no Democrats who will take them on in public. By that I mean to go straight at their twisted world-view.
September 23rd, 2011 at 7:30 pm
I keep thinking there should be a joke with Gary’s got a boner, but even if there isn’t it’s a great tune.
September 23rd, 2011 at 7:30 pm
I didn’t watch the debate, but the pundits say that Perry lost badly? Well, we’ll see how it goes. He had the chance to knock out Romney, but I guess he was sick and drugged, probably also too occupied with his redistricting mess and wildfires and all that.
Romney is collecting more endorsements but that was to be expected. Perry’s campaign is a bit of an insurrection. And the loss of the debates won’t hurt him that much. Not many people are watching, and the base really really wants someone loud, obnoxious and violent. Romney will never be able to seal the deal with them. If Perry’s chances were 3:1 before the debate, I’d put them at 2:1 now. The republican establishment will have to drain Perry’s fundraising and slay him with bad press, and even that might not be enough.
September 23rd, 2011 at 7:32 pm
That’s because the Republican Party he’s used to would have just shaken their heads in disgust rather than boo out loud. With all due respect, that is.
September 23rd, 2011 at 7:34 pm
This is not the Republican Party that I belong to.
Nope. It isn’t. But, I might be willing to belong to the Republican party Johnson belongs to … if he can figure out where in the hell that Party went.
September 23rd, 2011 at 7:36 pm
Well, he’s at 1% in the polls, right? So there you go. The screaming for death and booing of soldiers only represents 99% of the GOP.
September 23rd, 2011 at 7:39 pm
@Alex S.:
Erick Erickson is a professional pulse-taker.
I’d think twice before disagreeing with him.
September 23rd, 2011 at 7:44 pm
Can’t remember where I read it, but someone said that moderate Republicans are the ones who oppose slavery.
September 23rd, 2011 at 7:45 pm
The REAL Republican Party that was founded in Ripon Wisconsin and fought the Civil War was gone by the corruption cesspool that was the Grant Administration. The small-business Republicans of Alf Landon were gone by, well, Alf in 1936. The Republicans of Eisenhower and the Dulles brothers were swept away by the Raygun and his Trotskyite / neocon advisers.
Yet somewhere, some of the vestiges of the older practices of the Republican Party can still be found. I am pretty sure we won’t see another Republican like Kellogg of the Kellogg-Briand pact anytime soon, but there are still Eisenhower Republicans to be found—Cole is one although he calls himself a Democrat.
Anyway, I think we give Gary Johnson points for being historically correct mostly.
September 23rd, 2011 at 7:46 pm
@James E. Powell:
Give ‘em enough rope…
September 23rd, 2011 at 7:46 pm
He sounds like the current crop of democrats in office.
September 23rd, 2011 at 7:49 pm
@opal:
Bill Kristol wants to go the Chris Christie route.
I give it about a 30% chance that by December, someone will seriously propose exhuming and reanimating Ronald Reagan.
September 23rd, 2011 at 7:50 pm
@opal:
I read him, he’s still on the Perry train, with some caveats though. Much of these debates is inside baseball. Perry is somewhat inoculated against the opinions of the pundits. Romney depends on them much more. And before the debates Perry was the frontrunner. It was Romney who had to do well to survive, not Perry. Perry needs to find some incisive and incendiary argument against Obama now.
September 23rd, 2011 at 7:51 pm
In other news. Rick Perry is blocking reporters from his Twitter page.
September 23rd, 2011 at 7:51 pm
Keep fucking that chicken Gary.
September 23rd, 2011 at 7:57 pm
@GaJo
Like contemporary american christians, they are the only republicans you have got.
September 23rd, 2011 at 7:58 pm
@PeakVT 6: Nope, not here.
September 23rd, 2011 at 8:01 pm
@Alex S.: I don’t think pundit evaluation of the debates matter worth a damn for Perry. GOP voters LIKE most of the stuff pundits think disqualifies Perry. Pundits REALLY want a Romney candidacy—most of them are not-quite-crazy-Republicans at heart—and they’ll be fluffing him till he keels over. But I don’t think it’s going to work. I think the GOP id has escaped.
September 23rd, 2011 at 8:02 pm
wallah, Cole.
your nasty little pet embryo Douthat still has not figgered out what he is.
All of which is to say that I think I am most certainly not a neoliberal, though I do favor generally free markets whenever possible.
September 23rd, 2011 at 8:05 pm
You know how some people who meditate choose a word or phrase to meditate on? For center-right denialists like Johnson, I bet that phrase is “But the Democrats”.
September 23rd, 2011 at 8:05 pm
I’m glad that these audiences are showing their true colors. That said, how despicable of these candidates to stand there mute. These boobs boo a soldier in Iraq and the idiots running for President can’t get it together (i.e., don’t have the balls) to stand up to the mob. Appalling.
I didn’t watch the spin room coverage but I wonder if any crusading, original journalist asked that, “If you don’t agree, why didn’t you object?” Probly not. Goes for all the GOP —if you don’t agree, why don’t you speak up?
September 23rd, 2011 at 8:08 pm
@bystander:
They became Democrats, silly.
September 23rd, 2011 at 8:10 pm
“This is not the Republican Party that I belong to.” says the man drawing one per cent or less support in national polling from members of the Republican Party.
September 23rd, 2011 at 8:12 pm
@Southern Beale:
And, that is how the problem with Democrats evolved, isn’t it?
September 23rd, 2011 at 8:12 pm
Johnson reminds me of my former boss, who still considers himself a Republican (and votes that way!) even though he disagrees with almost all of their agenda. We’ve discussed it, and my impression is that all of his political views were hardened into granite when he was in college by exposure to Whittaker Chambers and, to a lesser extent, P.J. O’Roarke. That is to say, he clings to a delusional belief that the 21st Century Democratic Party is at best a bloated, Big Government monstrosity enslaved by special interests and at worst a cover for the Reds. That the GOP is now a bloated, Big Government (of a different sort) monstrosity enslaved by different special interest and is demonstrably fascist does nothing to shake his allegiance.
September 23rd, 2011 at 8:13 pm
Don’t attempt to drag mere reality into the equation. They assured us they had the math in earlier cycles — by now they’ve not doubt ramped up to having total control of non-numeric systems [a], if not the vastness of space and time and all apprehensions thereunto. And they’ve trademarked it so no-one else can touch the controls or the remote. Patriotism, Christianity, the definition of socialism, what constitutes support for the military or is, in fact, licit or illicit sexual activity, the distinction between “real” ‘mercans and native-born traitors, the value of pi, all bend and submit themselves ther needs and desires.
Either that, or they think the myriad of voices in their heads all have valid voter ID.
[a] La Palinista being one of the leading agents of the assault on the meaning of mere words.
September 23rd, 2011 at 8:15 pm
@Citizen Alan: P.J O’Rourke really was rather funny once upon a time. Sad.
September 23rd, 2011 at 8:15 pm
For the cheering of the executions, and the hoots of approval for someone dying without health insurance, and now the booing of a soldier serving in Iraq, each of the candidates, in post debate interviews, shake their heads sadly and say they are “taken aback”, “sorry that happened”, regard it as “unfortunate”. Now Johnson and his “that’s not the Republican party I know”.
Until you actually say something in the debate, when the outrageous behavior is taking place, these after the fact ass-coverings are worthless. I would never have voted for Bob Dole, but I must give him credit: I’m sure he would never have stood by in the face of crap like that.
September 23rd, 2011 at 8:16 pm
Also, did any smartie think to ask them why they were talking about unemployment like it was a “handout” last night? Gingrich compared it to “welfare.” WTF?
September 23rd, 2011 at 8:17 pm
Damn c1al1s to hell, my rant is off pretending to be moderated.
September 23rd, 2011 at 8:17 pm
@bystander:
yes. Very bizarre. We have Democrats proposing Republican ideas which Republicans can’t support because they come from a Democrat.
There is something deeply psychotic about American politics right now.
September 23rd, 2011 at 8:18 pm
I know a fair number of people who’ve come to that very same conclusion, but, unlike Johnson, they had the intellectual honesty to change their voter registrations.
I just found out that my good friend’s husband is a total Paultard. Oh God above.
September 23rd, 2011 at 8:19 pm
@Omnes Omnibus:
When he was still at National Lampoon.
September 23rd, 2011 at 8:20 pm
@Samara Morgan:
Does that mean you forgive E.D. Kain?
You probably should anyway.
September 23rd, 2011 at 8:21 pm
@sstarr: Sounds like Republycanthrope? Oh wait—that’s the other guys!
(& thanks for the laugh)
September 23rd, 2011 at 8:22 pm
@Linnaeus: Pretty much. The Bachelor Home Companion is pretty funny, but it is from the same general era.
September 23rd, 2011 at 8:22 pm
@scav: Today I was working on a greasemonkey script that alerts you before a submit if you’ve got trigger words. Works great here against my server, doesn’t work on b-j. Grrr. If anybody wants to debug it, just yell.
September 23rd, 2011 at 8:24 pm
It’s this kind of stuff that I like to post on Facebook for my Republican friends to have to deal with me.
“Yes, Chris, this is YOUR party. YOU may not be like this personally, but your party is these people. YOU need to think about that and decide if these people are the people with whom you wish to continue to be associated.”
September 23rd, 2011 at 8:26 pm
@MikeJ: So it will tell me if I talk about soshulist sh0e pr0n at a parlor for games of chance??
September 23rd, 2011 at 8:26 pm
@sstarr:
OGOP (Original Grand Old Party). Or the Rockafellas.
September 23rd, 2011 at 8:27 pm
Gary Johnson could have used his two minutes of national spotlight to make a splash about the fucked-up-edness of the Republicans and claim the glibertarian mantle, but now he’s still just another no name fail Republican.
The debate rodeo has unleashed the gooper id to the point where it’s now rampaging through the Village and threatening the denizens. They want Romney, but how do they get the teaparty to get in step behind him? I don’t think they can. It’s up to Fox now, and Roger Ailes hates Romney. It’s going to be a long fucked up winter until Iowa.
September 23rd, 2011 at 8:28 pm
@Omnes Omnibus: @Omnes Omnibus: Yeah! I found my stupid bug. Hang on, I’ll put it somewhere you can grab it.
September 23rd, 2011 at 8:28 pm
@MikeJ: That would indeed be a blessing: I never noticed (or had to notice) how hammer and sickle carrying I become while ranting. Sorta like the Hulk, buttons bursting in all directions, only very very Red.
Doubt I’m up to debugging quality though, alas and mea culpa.
September 23rd, 2011 at 8:31 pm
DOJ has ruled that Perry’s redistricting map intentionally discriminated against minorities ...
Cue the RW outrage about how a white person can’t get a fair shake in Obama’s America…
September 23rd, 2011 at 8:31 pm
@Southern Beale:
“I am shocked to learn that there is gambling going on in this establishment.”
“Your winnings, Captain Renaud.”
September 23rd, 2011 at 8:34 pm
Fuck him. He could repudiate the GOP but refuses to do so while being an afterthought in the GOP primary process.
He might as well be a Paultard.
September 23rd, 2011 at 8:37 pm
@Ben Cisco (mobile): Thanks.
PS: Wasn’t really happy with the end of your series.
September 23rd, 2011 at 8:40 pm
@Southern Beale:
I believe S&P noted something along those lines in re: our downgrade.
September 23rd, 2011 at 8:47 pm
What did he expect? This is a party that insists that they get their way in all or nothing fashion. They won’t compromise and work in a bipartisan fashion. The more the Democrats move to meet them in the middle the further right the Republicans go. This is evolution at work, and like a typical member of that party, he denies this evolution.
September 23rd, 2011 at 8:51 pm
@Ben Cisco (mobile):
Maybe Gary Johnson hails from the mirror universe; nahh, he didn’t have a beard.
“In my opinion, when you have booing this is not indicative of Republicans,” he said. “This is not the Republican Party that I belong to.”
Oh, so the Republican Party you belong to just hisses, right Gary?
Whatta maroon.
He didn’t say anything because he knew they’d blackball his stupid ass; i.e, no more debate for you!
@PeakVT:
I gotta ask, what didn’t you like about the end of the series?
September 23rd, 2011 at 8:54 pm
@PeakVT 62: You’re welcome, and that makes two of us.
September 23rd, 2011 at 9:00 pm
@opal: Reading the comments of that just makes me laugh. Fucking assholes!
September 23rd, 2011 at 9:36 pm
@Admiral_Komack: It was just a little over the top. Most of the original inter-character tensions had been played out a couple of seasons earlier, so it was time for it to end, but Sisko becoming an inter-temporal Bajoran god? Hrm. Still, it was a conclusion that was built towards. With Voyager, the ending felt more like the series was stopped, not finished.
September 23rd, 2011 at 9:55 pm
“This is not the Republican Party that I belong to.”
As you know, you run for president with the Republican Party you have, not the Republican Party you might want or wish to have at a later time.
September 23rd, 2011 at 10:05 pm
@PeakVT:
Thank you.
I thought it was a bit rushed, but it was good.
September 23rd, 2011 at 10:24 pm
@opal: forgive him? for what?
he never scammed me.
you guys got rolled, you can forgive him if you like.
:)
September 23rd, 2011 at 11:11 pm
@PeakVT:
It was stopped. They had been informed there would not be a season 8. So they had to wrap things up.
September 23rd, 2011 at 11:14 pm
@Southern Beale:
“Unclear on the Concept” award with clusters.
September 23rd, 2011 at 11:15 pm
@gnomedad:
Seriously. Running a campaign, ur doing it rong
September 23rd, 2011 at 11:26 pm
@Yutsano: It wasn’t unexpected, though, was it? The two prior series were ended after 7 seasons.
September 23rd, 2011 at 11:30 pm
@beltane:
I want to soak your comment in hot oil and have unprotected sex with it.
September 24th, 2011 at 12:14 am
@Spaghetti Lee:
In most of the civilized world, Johnson would be considered a right wing nut and not center-right but I get your point. Were through the looking glass people.
September 24th, 2011 at 12:37 am
@James E. Powell:
While I hear your point, I think that the impact is happening without the Democrats getting into a corresponding shouting match. I think people see it frankly. Many folks on the fence need some space to think what to DO about it. It is VERY difficult because every bone in our being screams to match their words and intensity right down the line. Als you do that way is have screaming and their side is made stronger by the negative energy. Truly.
Yes, we have the harder task but the pay off will be worth it. A shout down just reinforces their frames and perspectives. You can be strong without screaming back at them. Rememember that. Strength is not about hostile and aggessive energy. We claim our space through positive, affirmative actions to DO things and help people. Not to get into screaming wars with stupid fuck goat ropers—trying to match their bull with more bull.
Stay strong. Know confidence is not bragging and showboating.
September 24th, 2011 at 12:49 am
@opal:
This is hilarious. A Republican “comprehensive economic plan?” Since when did that consist of anything more involved than cutting taxes and eliminating regulations?
Any Republican true believer can come out with a comprehensive Republican economic plan in about fifteen seconds. Economic advisers aren’t necessary—after all, no serious economist buys into GOP orthodoxy, which is what keeps the Heritage Foundation, American Enterprise Institute, etc. busy hiring.
Republican “economics” is 0.000001% economics (a few words) and 99.999999% railing about the evils of “big gubmint.”
A comprehensive economic plan. That’s rich.
September 24th, 2011 at 4:02 am
mr. johnson belongs to the evil twin republican party, the “skippy” republican party. either that, or he’s been living in a cave these past few years.
September 24th, 2011 at 7:52 am
@Chris: “God almighty, this is ridiculous.
The worst kind of denial from so-called “moderates” who would really rather be pushed off a cliff by their own party than have to admit that maybe, just maybe, the DFHs were right about their colleagues all along.”
Movement ‘libertarianism’ is first and foremost a movement to enable the rich to get richer, and ideally f*ck the rest of us. They might not like the rest of the GOP, but they’ll support it, so long as they get what they want – and real freedom is not something they give a rat’s *ss about.
September 24th, 2011 at 9:31 am
@beltane: to be fair, that republican party would kick butt
September 24th, 2011 at 7:44 pm