Specterschadenfreude
On the plus side, Senate staffers inform me that Republicans in the Senate are visibly in agony right now. So at least we have that!
At this point, the GOP might want to re-introduce the Schiavo legislation, just replacing the name “Terri Schiavo” with Republican.
It is also worth noting that however much fun this is, and believe me, it is a good bit of fun, that Specter is kind of an asshole. We even have a category for him here- Spectering, for all of his waffling. Having said that, anyone who brings the fringe lunatics that remain in the GOP pain is alright by me, and I’m petty and shallow enough to admit it.
Palin/Joe the Plumber 2012- do it wingnuts, I double dog dare you.
[poll id = 9]
Wingnut logic:
DeMint continued: “I would rather have 30 Republicans in the Senate who really believe in principles of limited government, free markets, free people, than to have 60 that don’t have a set of beliefs.”
You know what? Considering you now have only 40 Republicans in the Senate, I, too, would like only 30 Republicans in the Senate, and the way you fools are going, we should get there by 2016 or sooner.
At some point these clowns are going to reform themselves. They clearly aren’t ready yet.
NonyNony
If I had any faith at all that Specter would take his schtick and do the exact same thing he’s been doing for the last decade but replace the Republican party with the Democratic party, I’d actually be fairly happy. Specter’s waffling usually amounts to making a lot of noise about standing up against the party leadership for some kind of principle and then voting right along with the party after some “deep reflection and thought” or some such blather.
If he was going to do THAT with the Democrats, I could live with it. But now he’s in a party that seems to care a bit less about orthodoxy, so he can actually get away with sticking by the positions he takes. Plus he has to prove to the moderates in PA that he’s still a “moderate” and not a Dirty Fucking Hippie, so I imagine he’ll take some stupid positions on basic issues just to keep his “moderate” cred. Especially if the rumors are true and the Dems have guaranteed him that they won’t support a primary opponent against him.
Colette
What’s the opposite of schadenfreude (ie, feeling pain at someone else’s joy)? ‘Cause Olympia Snowe’s got it:
(edit: just pretend all of this is blockquoted.)
“I’ve always been deeply concerned about the views of the Republican Party nationally in terms of their exclusionary policies and views towards moderate Republicans,” said Snowe, who has been approached, she said, by Democrats in the past about switching parties.
Specter’s switch to the Democratic Party “underscores the blunt reality” that the GOP is not a welcome place for moderates, she said.
So far, she said, she’s staying put. “I believe in the traditional tenets of the Republican Party: strong national defense, fiscal responsibility, individual opportunity. I haven’t abandoned those principles that have been the essence of the Republican Party. I think the Republican Party has abandoned those principles.
She added that being a Republican is simply part of who she is. “It’s my ethnic heritage, Spartan side, that continues to fight,” she said.
SGEW
Oh man, how could I have forgotten about “Spectering?”
But I’ll take it all back if he really does do the right thing, at the end, at long, long last.
Have you read his New York Review of Books article yet? Link. If he actually pushes those agendas in congress . . . awesome sauce!
Hey! He’s talking about that article right now at his presser!
[edit: d’oh! rip. no actual questions about the article.]
JH
While my first kiss was awesome after a fashion, I wouldn’t by any means call it “sweet.” Had no clue what I was doing back then, and neither did she.
El Cid
Permanent Republican Majority, libtards. They have the Math.
JL
Specter said that President Obama promised to support him when he spoke to him this morning. Senator Reid also promised to support him. He also said that the democratic leadership planned on meeting to discuss the issue. Hopefully they listen to Specter’s press conference and say hell no.
Balconesfault
@Colette:
Let’s see that fight come out the next time the clownsuits focus their guns on you, Olympia. You aren’t going to win this one in the caucus room.
Poopyman
SGEW:
Think Lucy, football.
Don’t be Charlie Brown. I ain’t holdin’ my breath.
Cat Lady
More Obama Fu (see: Lieberman, Joe)
Republicans – it’s what’s for dinner!
omen
On the plus side, Senate staffers inform me that Republicans in the Senate are visibly in agony right now. So at least we have that!
i want video evidence of that that i can replay over and over again.
Chuck Butcher
Since I quit drinking, etc, 21 years ago “all of the above” was a tough choice. Make the®s cry is a good thing, more Spector is less so. I’m curious to see how much pressure the (D)s can bring to bear on him. An off-year Primary is a base election and that can be real rough for a Spector as a (D) as well as the® he just dodged.
Zifnab
He’s continuing to balk on EFCA. I’ll be happy to see him Specter away on that. But I’ll be gushing if the unions primary him out of existence on the liberal end and we go on to crush Toomney in the general with a better progressive.
Either way, I think Specter’s days are numbered. The ground underneath him is cracking up and he’s trying to hop between the rubble. It’ll be fun to watch, if nothing else.
JL
Arlen Specter just had a news conference in which he said that President Obama this morning said that he would campaign for him in the fall. There is no decision from the democratic leadership though, and hopefully they listen to Specter’s news conference in which he regrets not pushing through more of Bush’s judicial nominess.
Wendell
I made a point of listening to Rush. The first caller was breaking out the port. The wingnut reaction is that of Malkin: “don’t let the door hit you on the way out.”
The old business wing, or the party-building types, may be rending garments, but the wingnuts are H-A-P-P-Y. And their little club will get even smaller, even purer and even less capable of winning elections.
R-Jud
“If you can’t beat ‘em, join the other side.”
I like that I am seeing his statement about the rightward shift of the GOP over and over again on the news sites. Also this:
The GOP has lost this news cycle. That’s got to hurt: news cycles were the only place they were still competitive.
Comrade Mary, Would-Be Minion Of Bad Horse
Why does Chuck hate registered trademarks?
I voted for beer, not all of the above, but I’m Canadian and stopped reading after that point.
SGEW
@Poopyman:
Charlie Brown was a good man, with a noble heart. I would be honored to have even half of Charlie Brown’s hopeful idealism and deep belief in the redeemable soul of every person.
srsly. kinda.
sigh
JenJen
I’m reminded of that truly classic SNL skit from weeks ago, with Dan Ackroyd playing John “Beggin’ Strip” Boehner.
“Did you see that first press conference, where President Obama was asked about the economy and gave a seven-minute answer, providing specific figures about credit-default swaps and unemployment? I’m like, ‘What?!’”
“Swing and a miss!”
“He really laid an egg with that one.”
Andy Samberg as Eric Cantor: “AIRBALL!”
“It’s like we don’t even exist! I can’t believe he’s playing into our hands like this!”
“We’re politically irrelevant!” (High Fives)
Hey, I don’t have to like Arlen Specter any more than I like Evan Bayh, but this is just great, and I can’t stop laughing, I really can’t.
And I’ll reiterate, from even before the Specter Switch: In 2012, the GOP Presidential Nominee will be the Mayor of Crazytown. It’s practically guaranteed at this point.
Mr. Stuck
Well, I guess the Gooper Senate Caucus are going to have to get themselves a new chief faux bi-partisan sandbagger. Joe Lieberman is on a short leash, and I’m sure Senator Snowe has better sense. That leaves wishy-wash dingbat Collins to smoothe out the rough edges that have become festering shards of wingnut crazy on the body politic. Kind of like Gomer Pyle as spokesperson for the Clan.
Kevin K.
Screw that. Joe’s kind of boring and only occasionally brings the really batshit crazy stuff. This is what I want to see in ‘12.
Matt
This is like a cold beer on a hot Christmas morning.
jenniebee
Wow, Karl Rove really was a political genius, wasn’t he!
Library Grape
OT: John, any chance you guys are gonna fix the blockquote tag for comments? it currently only allows you to blockquote the first paragraph—the rest of the quote just appears as normal text
Gregory Markle
Liberals had best hope that the winds don’t start blowing in the opposite direction any time soon, or they’ll be awfully confused by the “D” next to Spector’s name. He’s middle-of-the-road…which side of the middle depends on what he feels is going to do him the most good as far as staying in his position. It’s the whole reason for his switch, it was VERY unlikely he would have survived his next primary. He BARELY beat Toomey last time around with massive support from the RNC, I’ll admit a bit of schadenfreude seeing them get that choice jammed up their collective asses!
TenguPhule
A Democratic guarantee to Specter should be worth as much as a Spectering.
Davis X. Machina
They need her far, far more than she needs them. She has the safest seat in the Senate, the state party apparatus, and the last GOP governor of Maine for a husband. I would love to see McConnell and Co. even try to roll her.
Victory
Getting domes with a slurpie in a hummer at BJs.
SGEW
@Library Grape: re: blockquoting
What I don’t understand is why the [p] tag works sometimes but not all the time . . . .
Does not compute.
omen
@JL:
Arlen Specter just had a news conference in which he said that President Obama this morning said that he would campaign for him in the fall.
specter had positive things to say about obama during the primary. i remember being surprised by it.
Beauzeaux
I’m waiting for the inevitable claims from Republicans that in order to reclaim their proper dominant place in American politics, they obviously need to move even further to the right.
Krista
Olympia might want to be a Republican, but talk like that will not result in her receiving a very warm welcome amongst the wingnuts. She may soon find herself ostracized for the unforgivable crime of being sensible.
And I voted for all of the above only because I didn’t have the option to only vote for the beer, the puppy breath and the pillow. My first kiss was gag-reflex-triggeringly awful.
NonyNony
@TenguPhule:
Yeah, but it won’t be because Ed Rendell is a very good friend of Arlen’s and has apparently been pestering him to switch parties for years. Since he’s got the governor in his pocket, it’ll be up to the rank and file to find a candidate to run against him. If he continues to piss on the unions, that might be possible. But if he “Specters” on card check and supports it, he’s probably guaranteed a free pass into his Senate seat in the next election.
binzinerator
Mom’s homemade chocolate-chip cookies.
That glass of lemonade your kid ‘sells’ to you from her first sidewalk lemonade stand.
And, a perennial favorite that cannot go unmentioned… as sweet as crushing your enemies and seeing them driven before you and to hear the lamentations of their women.
Laura W Darling
Well, the title was good for a nice chuckle, and then seeing how few of us ranked our first kiss above all else was good for another. I
probablysurely puked from nerves.I don’t drink beer, and hate the feel and smell of any animal breath upon me. As there was no “Red wine on a snow day”, I had to take the cold pillow. Because my head sweats a lot.
Mr. Stuck
I think, at least till the election, Spector will be a loyal vote on dems bills. And just as importantly, or more so, he will be on procedural votes, like Cloture votes. He will need to prove he is a loyal dem like he told Obama today, and support his agenda/
And by 2010, if the economy continues to be less bad, even mildly so, dems will get their 60 plus seats because the seats up for election already favor dems.
If things get worse economically, or something else goes south, it won’t matter much, Dems will loses seats in the House and Senate. So this move could be crucial for the big ticket items like Health Care and Energy legislation coming up soon.
Cat Lady
@Kevin K.:
Bachmann/Joe Barton. I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but I think even Palin is smart enough to stay away longer.
BDeevDad
And on Twitter/Digg, wingnuts are calling for him to take Collins and Snowe with him. These people really do not get it.
JL
Demint of SC said that the GOP is the party for freedom and Rick Sanchez said “what the hell does that mean?” Demint then said yada, yada yada and Toomey is the most mainstream candidate ever. Plus he said the south is conservative cause the northerners are moving south…lol
MikeJ
Reid should call for cloture votes on every single nominee at 9am tomorrow.
Dennis-SGMM
Funny enough for an OT:
tbogg has a post titled “I’ll do anything for love, but I won’t Douthat”
omen
@Library Grape:
just highlight paragraphs separately to blockquote.
J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford
@binzinerator:
Wow! For a second there Binzinerator sounded just like Conan.
SenyorDave
@Kevin K.:
Bachmann/Joe Barton. I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but I think even Palin is smart enough to stay away longer.
Palin and smart in the same sentence? I think the latest edition of “Elements of Style” specifically addresses that as a grammatical error. Kind of like how using Limbaugh and consummation in the same sentence/paragraph/page would be incorrect.
JL
@MikeJ: Yeah and let us see how many dems remain standing for Arlen.
Poopyman
...And that’s why you always end up flat on your back. And not in that good way you immediately thought of, you pervert.
Mnemosyne
@Mr. Stuck:
Frankly, I think that’s the whole point of the switch. I don’t care if Specter votes against every Democratic bill as long as he breaks the filibuster threat and gets things moving through the Senate. If all the Democrats need is a simple majority, Specter can get us that and keep voting the way he is.
Though if unions are as important to getting elected in Pennsylvania as people here keep saying, I’m fully expecting yet another flip-flop on EFCA. Give it a couple of weeks.
magisterludi
I just heard this on Air America. Been outside hoeing corn rows.
All I can say right now is “O frabjous day! Callou, callay! she chortled in her joy!”.
I know there’ll be hitches in this getalong, but I’m still gonna savor this moment.
Tom65
Specter obviously made a back-door deal with Rendell, but Rendell is going to have a hell of a time keeping serious challengers out of the primary. Specter’s continued opposition to EFCA isn’t going to go down well with PA Dems.
omen
i want to hear ululations. they are the taliban republicans after all.
SGEW
@Poopyman: Hey, it’s my lifestyle choice.
Media Browski
No need to dare them. The Teaparty morons and the PUMAs will turn out for the GOP primary and give Palin just enough lift to land her the nomination.
And then we become an essentially one-party nation until the hippies abandon Obama for not giving them ponies.
Ok, maybe not that last part.
smiley
@Library Grape: @omen:
The easiest fix is to just remove spaces between paragraphs.
amorphous
@SGEW: What about [br]? Test, test:
Oh html fail. Try with [p]
Gah. I got nothin.
Scruffy McSnufflepuss
@Victory:
Is this an oral sex reference of some kind?
LD50
Plus he had that cool shirt.
EconWatcher
Things are looking good for Dems, and the other side is looking crazier by the minute. But never forget that the American electorate reelected George Bush in 2004, with an astonishing record of failure already staring them in the face. If this economic collapse continues, I fear that the Republicans may again get a shot at power, sooner than might seem imaginable right now. The winds can change awfully quickly, particularly if people can’t provide for their kids. All of the triumphalism now makes me nervous. In the end, it’s not a good thing that the other side is nuts.
JK
@Kevin K.: The mother of all crazy tickets has got to be
Palin/Bachmann 2012
Dumb and Dumber
Media Browski
@BDeevDad: Oh, that’s precious!
“Please decimate us further, the marginalization and politcal ostracism doesn’t seem to have sunk into our thick, mouth-breathing skulls yet.”
slag
Agreed on the Specterschadenfreude. And I’m also pleased that being forced to primary as a Dem will likely push Specter leftward. Still concerned that we’re not giving up the option of getting a real Democrat in that seat, though.
Below The Beltway » Blog Archive » Quote Of The Day
[...] —- John Cole [...]
robertdsc
It’s a brief respite from torture and pandemic talk. I’ll take it the schadenfreude for now.
Dennis-SGMM
@Media Browski:
Once the GOP has finished purifying its precious bodily fluids it will catapult itself into permanent dominance of at least five states.
“Oh I wish I was in the land of cotton,
Old times there are not forgotten…”
Llelldorin
I’m hoping for some full-on Spectering on EFCA: latching onto an irrelevant change and using it as an excuse to change sides.
“Oh, the cards have to be signed in blue or black ink? Well, that changes everything!”
JL
@JK: Since there has already been a Dumb and Dumber and a Dumb and Dumberer wouldn’t they be the Dumb and Dumberest?
Zifnab
@Media Browski:
He’s a huge step in the left direction. I don’t see anyone complaining just yet. Ok, that’s not true. But I don’t see anyone running off to nominate Dennis Kucinich in his stead.
There’s a lot of space left between wanting a pony and dumping support for Obama. If he gets health care through, that’s a big enough pony for everyone to ride on for a while.
Just Some Fuckhead
From Specter’s own statement:
“Unlike Senator Jeffords’ switch which changed party control, I will not be an automatic 60th vote for cloture.”
Why we Democrats would want a Republican in a Senate seat that could very easily go to a progressive Democrat in a blue state is beyond me. Hopefully we primary this interloper.
blahblahblah
I would have preferred it had been Senator Olympia Snowe.
JK
More reaction h/t Politico’s Arena
Gebe Martinez, Journalist:
“It is probable that Democrats will have no better luck than Republicans in trying to win Specter’s loyalty.
Specter’s quirky independence was highlighted during the 1999 Senate impeachment trial of President Clinton, when Specter invoked Scottish law to register a “not proven” vote, rather than deciding guilt or innocence.”
Cesar Conda, Republican strategist, former Romney and Cheney advisor:
“My Senate contacts inform me that Sen. Hatch is term-limited as the Judiciary Committee’s top Republican, and that Sen. Jeff Sessions is in line to be the new Ranking Member. Even better for conservatives.”
Bradley A. Blakeman, Republican strategist, consultant, entrepreneur:
“Good riddance. Arlen Spector is a selfish not a selfless politician, who like Sen. Byrd has over stayed his welcome. Spector knew that if he remained a Republican he was likely to get knocked off in a bloody primary fight, so, opportunistically he knew that the chances for him to be re-elected is best as a Democrat. He did not switch parties over ideology he switched for his own self interest. Service should be an opportunity not a career and whether you are a Republican or a Democrat there comes a time when its time to move on. The Republican Senate Caucus should kick Spector out today. He made his bed and now he must lie with the Democrats. Good riddance.”
Gary L. Bauer, President of American Values:
“On hearing the news of Sen. Specter’s decision, I was most sorry for the countless voters who remained loyal to the Republican Party over these many years despite the fact that the senator was not always supportive of their views and opinions. The Republican Party is made up of many people holding many views, key among them respect for life, small government and a strong national defense. I wish the GOP in Pennsylvania the best as they work to nominate a candidate who is more reliable on these key princples.”
gizmo
Specter’s departure is the best thing that ever happened to the wingnuts. It further justifies their natural tendencies to wallow in self-pity. They aren’t interested in participating in the art of governance anyway—they are happier when they feeling angry and marginalized.
I don’t see the GOP coming back for a long, long time. The emergence of a strong third party is looking more likely now.
JenJen
@Krista:
Off-topic, but really?
Phoenix Woman
JSF: He also said he wasn’t going to switch parties. Specter is highly malleable.
Llelldorin
@Just Some Fuckhead:
At a guess, they’re playing the odds. In a 2-way match, Toomey would get trounced, but if Specter played the “Pennsylvanians for Specter” card we might actually get a Senator Toomey. (Remember, a similar move by Javitz gave us D’Amato back in 1980.)
gopher2b
You know what – so would I. But by my count, there are less than 10 so you lose.
BTW, does the forgotten 10 Senators in his number mean he anticipates 5 states leaving the union. Oh please, please, please make one of the Kentucky. Please.
Cat Lady
@JK:
Shorter Republicans: Clap Louder!
jibeaux
I’m not from PA and don’t know it well, but I would be cautious about assuming that the seat of a loooooongtime moderate Republican could “very easily go to a progressive Democrat”. I know they went Obama and props for that, but voting for Obama when your other choice was John McCain and you’ve just come off the heels of Bush does not exactly translate to now any Democrat can beat any Republican.
JK
@JL: Yeah, that might work. Or maybe Dazed and Confused.
Whichever slogan you prefer, I can’t think of any 2 Republicans who bring as much as stupid and crazy to a Presidential ticket as Palin and Bachmann.
Kneestander
Gawd those stupid Republicans. Bush sent one of his jumbo jets and a hideous warplane to buzz lower Manhattan yesterday for a souvenir photo op for mindless acolytes, and did it without warning, scaring tens of thousands who experienced the man-caused disaster in 2001. What arrogant cluelessness! Didn’t those dimwits in the White House ever hear of photoshop, which is much greener too? But isn’t this the same peabrained leader who expended 9000 gallons of jet fuel for a trip out to Iowa on Earth Day earlier this month? Can’t wait for change, lordy!
Lola
Specter already has a Democratic primary challenger according to Ben Smith. I will be sending some of my hard earned cash his way.
binzinerator
They don’t get it because they don’t get democratic government. Seriously. Deep down, they don’t believe in it, don’t respect it, don’t like it and don’t want it, especially if what the majority wants isn’t what they want.
They do not get it because they do not really understand what ‘majority rule’ means in a democracy. They thought ‘majority’ always meant them, no matter what the rest of the nation thought.
Gordon, The Big Express Engine
@Scruffy McSnufflepuss: four kinds
Faux News
Hmm. Methinks the naked oil wrestling was for male Spartans only. I’ll have to go to the Jesus General blog to investigater further.
Media Browski
@JenJen: Yes, I’ve been meaning to apologize to Krista about that.
@Zifnab: I’m not sure about that. I’ve had hippies actually respond to my comments supporting some rather straightforward Obama policies with “You obviously didn’t support John Edwards.”
I’m not sure what that meant, but I don’t think it was a sign of deep far-left support for President Reasonable.
JenJen
@Kneestander: It would appear we have a live one! Nobody could have predicted that a card-carryin’ member of Not Your Father’s GOP would want to kick some sand around in the face of today’s news.
@Media Browski: I dunno. You were a tad selfish in bed, but I’d still give you an A-.
Jay C.
@Kneestander:
What JenJen said….
BTW, should we remind Kneestander of his obvious typo? Or let it stand as a sort of Freudian Slip….?
BDeevDad
@binzinerator: It’s also the hate that gets me. People think it’s all about stem cells and that Specter is a baby killer who wants to live forever. They don’t understand our government, science and whatever else that is not in their “Good Book”
Scruffy McSnufflepuss
@Gordon, The Big Express Engine:
Thanks. Never heard it called “domes” before.
passerby
Kneestander’s lunatic political jab aside, that whole incident did seem to be an unnecessary and boneheaded feat.
Krista
@JenJen: let’s just say that the fellow in question got full marks for effort, but all of those points were deducted when it turned out that his effort was geared towards a lingual examination of my lower esophagus. Needless to say, kissing should not involve the esophageal region.
Now, Eddie George, in Grade 11, on the other hand….that boy could have taught seminars on kissing.
omen
Considering you now have only 40 Republicans in the Senate, I, too, would like only 30 Republicans in the Senate
maybe he thinks there are 10 more thinking of jumping.
MikeJ
Think of the term “chromedome”, meaning bald. By extension, one’s head is a “dome”, and once you’re at head=dome, new slang is just around the corner.
JK
Mitch McConnell puts it all in perspective
“This is not a national story. It is a Pennsylvania story,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters in a news conference following Tuesday’s GOP policy luncheon.
Congressman Joe Sestak was just on MSNBC. He didn’t immediately jump on the bandwagon. He’s taking a “wait and see” approach. Good! (If there’s one Pennsylvania Democrat who will march to his own beat, it’s Joe Sestak.) State Representative Josh Shapiro, however, is stepping back:
Democratic State Rep. Josh Shapiro told PoliticsPA he would not run for Senate “under the circumstances.”
“Senator Specter is now the incumbent Democratic Senator,” Shapiro said. He was considered a likely candidate for the US Senate.
h/t http://www.senateguru.com
omen
@smiley:
but i need my space.
JenJen
@Krista: Not Tennessee Titans Eddie George, or…? Either way, kudos to Eleventh-Grade Eddie for knowing how a girl should be kissed! :-)
omen
@Llelldorin:
rofl
depends on what scottish law had to say about it.
MH
Some people’s first kisses weren’t that awesome, puppy breath is actually not sweet at all, and “a cold beer” too often means a Coors Lite. But the pillow NEVER disappoints.
schrodinger's cat
That’s an oxymoron.
scav
Re: buzzing the Statue. Mmmmm, dunno, maybe we could chalk it up to hair of the dog? Wouldn’t want to go cold-turkey sane after the last eight years? Trying to deal with the stupidity surplus problem? aaahhh. I’m really beginning to believe in Mr. Alfredo Traficcone, leader of the opposition Prevailing Wind Party.
Laura W Darling
@MH: EX-ACTLY!
Especially if you are a hot head.
Media Browski
@JenJen: Well, I do kegel exercises and watch lots of pr0n.
@Kneestander: That was one of the most pathetic attempts at trolling I’ve ever read. Keep trying, maybe you’ll come up with something mildly irritating. We’re all here to support you.
Xanthippas
You know, I understand that reaction. If you don’t think a politician reflects your positions, why would you want him in your party? Progressives might have the same reaction (though without the self-destructive component, because I just don’t think we’re that stupid.)
But where they really wet themselves and fall down on their faces, is in their determined believe that if they just continue pruning the GOP brand now to the nuttiest of wingnuts who reflect “real” conservative ideology (you know, not the “fake” conservative ideology that they’ve supported for the last eight years), this will somehow prompt the GOP to rise like a phoenix from the ashes of it’s own failure. There is no number of polls that will convince them that for now anyway, the general public is more generally in tune with the goals of progressives and liberals. Until somebody on their side grasps that and can bring the wingnuts under enough control so that they can’t turn primaries into chances to eliminate moderates, they’re not going to be able to turn their ship around. The longer that goes on of course, the happier we should be.
JK
A Big Wet Kiss from Joltin Joe Lieberman
“I enthusiastically welcome my good friend Arlen Specter into the Democratic caucus. It will be very good to have the company of yet another independent minded Democrat in the caucus!”
h/t New Republic’s Plank
LV-426
Too many comments to read so I don’t know if this has been covered yet but puppy breath is not sweet it’s one of the worst things in the world. Just sayin’.
jayackroyd
Will these people never realize that they’ve proven that this talk of free markets and limited government is complete bullshit? You can pull that off in opposition, but when you get into power, implementing unlimited government, while looting the treasury with no bid contracts to your cronies, and tilting the regulatory playing field away from markets and toward oligopoly, you can’t keep saying these things.
Scruffy McSnufflepuss
@MikeJ:
Thanks. It was a little bit too obscure for me.
Now all the Teabag Dome scandal references of a couple weeks ago have obtained their full implications for me.
Laura W Darling
@LV-426: Er, the man who created that quiz has been known to spoon in bed with his sister’s dog.
Just sayin’.
harlana pepper
Sweet as my Mother herself. You can’t top that. Happy Early Mother’s Day, Mom.
harlana pepper
omen
as sweet as crushing your enemies and seeing them driven before you and to hear the lamentations of their women.
i want to hear ululations. they are the taliban republicans after all.
lmao
joe from Lowell
Hey, me too!
Let’s make that happen.
HitlerWorshippingPuppyKicker
Works for me. This is surely the first and probably the last time I will ever agree with DeMint on anything important.
Notice how the turd constructed his blast. If you don’t believe in limited government and free markets then you “don’t have a set of beliefs.”
Heh. Purity is good. Right up until the day the third party forms.
harlana pepper
oh, and also, kitten brefs
oh, Bob Casey: the party of “Hell no” oh, my
Poopyman
Shorter Greenwald:
“What Poopyman said”
dbrown
@Kneestander: Hey AO - remember your ass-kisser bushwhack the puppet who let two jets kill a few thousand New Yokers and another kill a few hundred people in Washington? Go jerk-off on a wingnut site.
noncarborundum
?
A Mendez
Media Blowski:
I think you are irritated.
Pfudge
DBrown:
I thought this was a wingnut site. Are you finished with your self-abuse?
Mike G
I would rather have 49 Republicans in the Senate who truly believed in those principles, rather than the zero who do now.
Tsulagi
As good as that would be, and though he’s shown great stamina, really, how long can Joe/Sam the Plumber/Wingnut Ho keep humping that Gooper leg and keep getting scraps?
Nope, to be true to The Base, to pass their purity tests, it’s got to be Palin/Bachmann 2012. Accept no other. The Quadruple X ticket to success.
dricey
So, if it only takes 60% to break a filibuster, that means that 99 senators x 60% = 59.4 senators, which rounds down to 59 votes, which means Norm Coleman can save his cash and they can seat Al Franken.
Jon H
@Wendell: “I made a point of listening to Rush. The first caller was breaking out the port. The wingnut reaction is that of Malkin: “don’t let the door hit you on the way out.””
In other words, the Republican base feels as happy as David Caruso on his way out of NYPD Blue.
Comrade Dread
No true conservative would accept anything other than Palin/”Mr. Teabag” Beck ‘12.
Cliff Potts
Media Blowski:
You seem irritated.
Svensker
Yeah, me, too, rather than all the assholes who think that torture and warrantless spying are part of a limited government.
Corner Stone
@Scruffy McSnufflepuss:
For a second there I thought Pauly Shore was commenting here but I then realized he may be the only thing more irrelevant than today’s GOP.
The Populist
From a former republican to the right:
F-you. Enjoy your marginal, limited “party”.
If you think America cares anymore, they don’t.
Don’t let the door hit you on the way to irrelevance.
kay
It really is fun.
Some Republican House member just said “Pat Toomey is one of the most mainstream Americans I know.”
Republicans have to assert that they’re “mainstream”!
And, better, “Americans”!
I’m not mean, so I’m going to just give them “American”. Not that they did that for me, but what the hell.
The Populist
These buffoons are truly idiotic. If Jim DeMint believes that being a likeminded group of people who won’t debate, discuss find common ground then they are truly the biggest bunch of clueless idiots the world has ever seen.
Hey righties, enjoy your Taliban party. I guess stupidity is something that only the stupid can tolerate. I don’t understand how anybody thinks compromise and intelligent debate is a bad thing?
The Populist
Pat Toomey is far from mainstream. He talks a good game on camera and comes off as pleasant but behind the scenes he’s another one of these jerks who thinks compromise is a dead possum in the middle of the road.
I love it. These buffoons really think that dittoism is legit. The remaining 20% or whatever really need to wake up. The powers that be in the GOP could give two shits about most of them.
The Populist
Not only her but Lindsay “I love John McCain’s butt” Graham is out there cajoling the GOP leadership for letting moderates leave.
kay
@The Populist:
I learned my lesson. We had a House member die in office. Republicans ran a supposed “moderate”. His father had been a liberal Republican, a million years ago.
I had people here tell me with all sincerity that he was moderate, and not to worry, and urged me to vote for him.
I didn’t, he won anyway, and he’s insane. I get his constituent outreach robocalls. He’s a wingnut.
Blue Raven
Not puppy breath. The scent of a newborn baby’s skin.
And my first kiss, from Bobby Bernard when I was 14 and he was 16, was damn hot. But he was a boyslut, so he’d had practice.
Michael
An open letter…..
Dear Jim:
As a shill for the sort of neoconfederates who still own that shithole excuse of a statehouse in Columbia, your act has worn thin. Thanks to the enlightened “leadership” of the sort of drunken, stupid, angry, whore chasing, Bible toting white privileged punks that run around and scream about “them goldurned niggers” (when they’re not sticking their shriveled roots in ‘em, like your boy Strom), your state is an educational and economic disaster across just about every metric. Yes, you and your friends reside on the top rung of a tall ladder, but there are no middle rungs – a characteristic of the banana republics that you’ve so diligently sought to emulate.
Here’s a suggestion – until you can begin to address South Carolina’s huge issues, shut the fuck up – you have nothing constructive to offer in the way of ideas or solutions.
Signed,
A Former Republican from the South
Dreggas
@Kneestander:
most excellent name for someone who’s sucking El Rushbo’s lil Rush….
b-psycho
Show me ONE…
All they have is bible-thumpers, war-mongers, and bible-thumping war-mongers, who the fuck is he kidding?
Why Bother With Blogs, Anyway?
Dregass:
Re your chide at “Kneestander,” I think that name is a comment on the present-day double-legged genuflections of your kind. By the way, what is your precise experience with El Rushbo’s equipment? You seem knowledgeable enough about it, even commenting as to size. However, those who’ve only seen the fellow with his clothes on surmise that fellating given such obesity would be impossible. What do you use to make it work?
Fulcanelli
Tonight we dine in hell, bitchez
Limited government? Free markets? FTW!
I’d give a year’s pay to empty my colon on the head of a moran such as DeMint after such a breathtakingly ignorant statement. It’s a wonder our atmospheric pressure doesn’t collapse his skull.
This caliber of stupidity coupled with their complete lack of any self-awareness and sense of accountability after the mess BushCo left for
XerxesObama and the country to clean up really is their most effective weapon. Ye gods… The dumb doesn’t burn, it sears…jim
“At some point these clowns are going to reform themselves.”
*
Given the level of groupthink at work, the authoritarian mindset, & the tendency to groom younger pols to become even more extremist versions of their elders that prevails in the GOP, I wouldn’t hold my breath.
*
A new party with new people that embraces conservative issues – but without the GOP’s massive baggage of corruption & failure – could wipe them off the political map – not in 2012, but 2016? Who knows … they’re putting on a brave face right now, but I think a lot of folks want out, more so with each new screw-up, & if they get angry enough & get together the Republican Party will become a memory in short order.
KRK
@Colette:
That would be…freudenschade.
Scott
Whose running the Lieberman pool? Betcha he gets a lot of offers and may consider a jump. But then he’d lose his Chairmanship.
binzinerator
@Fulcanelli:
I am so ripping this off. Most excellent.
HyperIon
@NonyNony:
I think the Dems should tell him that they will decide whether they will support him in the primary AFTER they see how he conducts himself over the next year. In other words, show the Dems some love NOW, Arlen, and you MAY get to keep your job.
Gus
Exactly. I was psyched about this, but only because I love watching the Republicans fall further. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that PA was an opportunity to pick up a state for someone a little more liberal. If Toomey won the primary, the Senate seat was ripe for the picking. If the Dems agreed to support Specter in the primary they better have gotten something substantial.
John
“At some point these clowns are going to reform themselves. They clearly aren’t ready yet.”
I offer a true life allegory, if you will:
A year ago my teenage girl had a boyfriend who was a relentless fuck-up. Tattooed, drug-addled dipshit who couldn’t hold down a job delivering pizzas.
How did he improve his situation?
Wrecked his car, lost his job, lost a second job and ended up homeless. Then lost his girlfriend.
Some people are just persistent fuck-ups who are beyond reform.
Mike G
If the Dems agreed to support Specter in the primary they better have gotten something substantial.
We’re talking about the people who let the execrable ‘Independent’ (R-Likud) Lieberwhore keep his committee chairmanships after he vigorously campaigned for McCain and smeared and shat on Obama for months, in exchange for…apparently nothing.