(John Deering via GoComics.com)
__
Paul Constant at Seattle’s Stranger:
Republican Platform: No Abortion, No Gay Marriage, Trayvon Martin Had It Coming
The Tampa Bay Times has obtained a draft of the Republican platform, and it leans way, way to the right… If this document makes it—there’s much more, including statements against affirmative action, stem cell research, and tax increases (except in cases of war), and a statement for posting the Ten Commandments on government property—it will mean the Republican Party doesn’t care about moderates. They must believe they can win the presidency and Congress solely on people who support George Zimmerman, Todd Akin, and Focus on the Family….
By this point, whatever remnants of the Permanent Governing Party have survived in the RNC may be praying to their God (of the Invisible Hand) that newborn “longshot” Hurricane Isaac gives them an excuse to drastically downsize the competing violent bursts of hot damp air at the Tampa Bay Times Forum…
***********
Apart from sweet, sweet Schadenfreude, what’s on the agenda for the evening?
Biscuits
Let the freak show begin! Awesome. I can’t wait.
Ruckus
Ahhh, the crazies have
leftbroken out of the asylum and are on their way to Tampa. Took what 40 years for them to all get the directions at the same time but modern communications being what they are…Randy P
I don’t believe 45% of the country thinks like Tea Partiers. Why does 45% of the country vote like Tea Partiers? Is it because of family tradition?
Just Some Fuckhead
If nothing else, we’re learning why William F. Buckley Jr. worked so hard to keep the John Birch Wing of the Republican party under wraps.
Thomas DeVito
Read my reflections on travel, please! Just a couple hundred more clicks and I get bumped up to the (oh so coveted!) featured articles section.
Thomas DeVito
Oh, and I also can’t for the RNC. It’s going to be gloriously dysfunctional.
Ben Franklin
Todd Aiken;
“In your heart, you know I’m right”
That’s a paraphrase, of course. But, it is honest, and credible for the RNC platform.
Like when the SOB said ‘Makaka’.
There is just not enough honesty is politics, these days.
Sorry. I just can’t resist.
jeffreyw
Thread needs moar kitteh.
lamh35
I’m sure no one here watching Real Housewives of Atlanta I dont’ really watch it myself, but I did see a clip from one ep, and it’s exactly what I thought of when I heard Akin decided to stay in and said of Romney “”Why couldn’t he run
his race and I run mine?”
In my hood, Romney basically told Akin, “check yo self before you wreck yo self” and Akin basically said to Romney “Who Gon’ Check Me Boo”
Davis X. Machina
@Randy P: It’s a mosaic….
Race.
Tradition.
Region.
Religion, both in the sense of ‘which religion?’, and ‘any religion?’ and ‘how often do you go to church?
Gender.
Schooling, in the sense of ‘how much?’, or ‘where did you acquire it? State school, private college, top tier, cow college?’.
Neighbors, even within a region.
All kinds of stuff. Which is why any one torpedo — like this reproductive-rights-as-in-no-right nonsense they’re embracing — never sinks the GOP.
I doubt whether straight ideological attachment accounts for more than 15% of the whole.
Same thing with the Democrats.
In Europe, you fight the election, then build the coalition. Here we build the coalition, then fight the election.
Spaghetti Lee
Has there ever been a hurricane at a convention city before? Maybe that’s why so many of them are in Chicago or New York.
Josie
@jeffreyw: But where is teh kitteh? :(
JWL
Schadenfreude is a German word, of course. Quite in keeping with the Weimar mentality around here that can’t quite bring itself to contemplate ceding real power to a lunatic fringe.
Anya
The only thing missing is a Pat Buchanan type spewing it out in a keynote address.
quannlace
Uhhhhh, so previous Republican’s platforms have been more liberal? What was it in 2008? Pretty much a carbon copy, I betcha.
Violet
Remember those air conditioned covered walkways for the convention-goes, so they could stay cool? Storms they had Monday night damaged one of them.
If your typical summer thunderstorm can wreck the tent, imagine what a hurricane can do.
I think it’s hilarious that the RNC could be in the direct path of a hurricane. Not wishing it on anyone, but after their “Hurricane Katrina is payback for New Orleans’ wanton lifestyle” crap, it’s kind of amusing.
scav
I guess I’ll spare a thought for my poor dear mother who piously thought that at least the choice of Ryan as VP would allow everyone to have a calm, serious, measured conversation about actual issues. (This may be the year I finally see her go full berserker.)
Spaghetti Lee
Possible Convention events, in order of how happy they would make me.
-Ron Paul supporters storm the floor and demand concessions.
-Crowd lustily cheers whenever Todd Akin’s name is called.
-A convention speaker praising Ayn Rand accidentally mentions how much she hated Christians.
-Either Romney or Ryan is caught at a strip club.
-Someone in the crowd audibly screams “nigger!” when Obama is mentioned.
On the last one, in case I’m misinterpreted, I don’t think Obama deserves to be called that, but we all know the GOP has more than a few racists hanging around, and they deserve nothing less than to see them front and center.
Corner Stone
I’ve been terrorizing a board where people believe right wing propaganda but can’t take opposing info or views.
I simply can not describe how awesome it’s been to watch their eyes roll back in their head and pass out onto multiple fainting couches.
PurpleGirl
I just had a phone call from the Obama Campaign (in Queens). The canvasser asked if I was planning to vote for the President this year. I said “Yes.” He thanked me. And invited me to several campaign activities. I said they should call me back as to what free time I had.
shortstop
@Corner Stone: Get video and post it.
notoriousJRT
Anyone shocked by this?
amk
@Spaghetti Lee: You left out show us your burt surtificayte obama.
Thoughtcrime
If the GOP is smart, they’ll limit their speeches in Tampa to two minutes.
Corner Stone
@Spaghetti Lee:
Any one who does that will be a liberal plant.
/wings
joes527
Scott fucking Brown is ahead of Elizabeth fucking Warren by 5 points in fucking Massachusetts.*
The asteroid can’t come fast enough.
* Yes, I know … early polling … a single poll … whatever. Any country where someone like Scott Brown gets > 27% against someone like Elizabeth Warren is asteroid bait.
arguingwithsignposts
@amk: I’ve seen enough of the gop’s butt hurtificates, which is how i read that first.
cathyx
This republican freak show is only entertaining as long as they don’t get the majority in November.
Corner Stone
@joes527: A couple weeks from now Akin will have a similar lead again/still over Claire.
“God wills it!!”
eric
I liked to agree with Romney: The GOP they did it themselves without our help.
jimmiraybob
What about witches? When are we going to start doing something about the witches? Why is the GOP weak on witches?
Anya
Since this is an open thread, I want to talk about the MA’s senate race. There’s a poll that shows Scott Brown holding a five-point lead over Elizabeth Warren. Frankly this is baffling to me. Are the people in the state of my birth idiots? Why would they choose that empty suite Brown over the fabulous Elizabeth Warren? I don’t care what any poll says, but it’s hard for me to believe that Massachusetts democrats will overwhelmingly vote for President Obama against his republican opponent (a former governor of the state) and then vote for a republican in the senate race. That does not make any sense at all.
Felinious Wench
Going to get through the last gasps of hedonism before my sons go back to school. Their survival has been touch and go this summer.
Thoughtcrime
@Anya:
This time Pat Buchanan will deliver his speech in the original German.
NonyNony
@Randy P:
45% of the country does not vote like Tea Partiers.
If you look at the the statistics for 2008, you’ll see that only roughly 62% of the voting eligible population turned out to vote.
And roughly 45% of that 62% voted for John McCain in 2008.
So let’s see:
38% of people who can vote don’t.
Since 55% of those who voted didn’t vote for Republicans, that means that 34% of people who can vote didn’t vote Republican. So add those together we get 72% of the country not voting Republican.
Pretty damn good. That means that only 27% of the country voted … for … Repub…
GODDAMN YOU JOHN ROGERS AND YOUR COMPLETELY ACCURATE ASSESSMENT OF HOW GODDAMN CERTIFIABLE MY COUNTRY ACTUALLY IS!!!!! WHY DOES THAT FUCKING NUMBER KEEP APPEARING ALMOST EXACTLY ON TARGET!! WHY???? WHY???
Ahem. So yes – 27% of the country votes like Tea Partiers consistently. Go Team USA. Sigh.
jwb
@Anya: Basically it seems to come down to the fact that MA voters don’t dislike Scott Brown, though they hate the GOP. That and the fact that men like Brown a lot more than women like Warren. But basically, Warren has to turn this into a race about the GOP rather than about Scott Brown.
raven
@Josie: Here’s one for you. We lost Raven 5 years ago when Bodhi was three. He never howls except when I play a video of Raven doing it, then he lets go.
burnspbesq
@joes527:
This is not even a tiny bit hard to understand.
Massachusetts politics is tribal to an extent that is nearly impossible to overstate. Scott Brown is of the tribe. Elizabeth Warren is not.
mai naem
There was a blurb on the google that the GOP rejected a plank to protect the mortgage interest deduction. Yeah, you read that right – rejected not accepted. I mean, they aren’t even trying to pretend to help the middle class anymore.
burnspbesq
@jeffreyw:
Laettner is all the kitteh any thread will ever need. She can out-run, out-jump, and out-mouse the mighty Tunch. And she’s cute, too.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/burnspbesq/lazylaettner04jun10.jpg
Roger Moore
@Thoughtcrime:
I think the GOP can outdo Airstrip One and do more than two minutes of hate at a time.
Josie
@raven: That is so precious. He is remembering in a good way. I don’t see how people can say that dogs don’t have emotions.
MikeJ
@Davis X. Machina: Perhaps even the Republicans were smart enough to not to call it kinder, küche, kirche. KKK will play to the base but it doesn’t poll well with moderates.
Roger Moore
@mai naem:
Have they talked to Grover Norquist about this? I’m pretty sure that eliminating a major tax deduction would count as a tax increase by his standards. Or does it not count because it’s unimportant to zillionaires?
srv
Bush appointees rule that breathing is not a right:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/federal-appeals-court-strikes-down-obama-air-rule/2012/08/21/50af1caa-eb9c-11e1-b811-09036bcb182b_story.html
Anya
@jwb: I am assuming MA women are more liberal than the rest of the country. If that’s the case they should be petrified of what the GOP has in store for women. They better pay attention.
@burnspbesq: So, what makes Brown part of the tribe more than E. Warren? Is it because she was not born in MA? If so, then explain Duval Patrick.
arguingwithsignposts
@burnspbesq:
Wow, you’re setting a pretty low bar there.
MomSense
I wonder which of the 10 Commandments they want to see posted on Government property. Because Moses smashed the first set, these are the 10 that were ratified (so to speak).
Exodus 34:12-27
1. Take heed to thyself, lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land whither thou goest, lest it be for a snare in the midst of thee: But ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves:
2. For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:
3. Thou shalt make thee no molten gods.
4. The feast of unleavened bread shalt thou keep. Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, as I commanded thee, in the time of the month Abib.
5. All that openeth the matrix is mine; and every firstling among thy cattle, whether ox or sheep, that is male.
6. But the firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb: and if thou redeem him not, then shalt thou break his neck.
7. Six days thou shalt work, but on the seventh day thou shalt rest.
8. And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest.
9. Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leaven; neither shall the sacrifice of the feast of the passover be left unto the morning.
10. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother’s milk.
mai naem
@Anya: Sorry, I am not surprised. To me she’s going to be the Tammy Duckworth/Darcy Burner of 2012. She’s smart and the seat should be hers but she comes across as I don’t quite know the word – overeager?,overly earnest? I have no idea. I happen to have picked females but I’ve seen the same thing happen in Arizona with male candidates. On paper and on the boob tube they are the better candidate but it doesn’t translate into an electoral victory. I would be completely thrilled to be wrong about Warren. I think Vicky Kennedy or the other guy who was a loser in the last primary(Michael something) would have won it handily. I hope Deval Patrick’s got some massive turnout machine going to help Warren.
JoyfulA
@burnspbesq: Lovely kitteh!
Corner Stone
Jeff Greenfield wrote this. Yes, political correspondent Jeff Greenfield.
Shazam!!
raven
@Josie: It’s strange to me, I can’t think it’s what we call memory. He did not mope around when Raven (Boo Boo) died, in fact he is still jealous of Lil Bit after 4 years. There is something about the tone I guess. Or, on the other hand, I’m totally wrong and he misses the little dude.
burnspbesq
One of the funnier snippets of puppeh video you will ever see is embedded in the comments at collegecrosse.com. A forward 1-1/2 in the layout position. Shame he/she couldn’t stick the landing.
http://www.collegecrosse.com/2012/8/20/3255295/boston-college-gene-defilippo-retire-athletic-director-lacrosse-varsity-eagles#comments
raven
@burnspbesq: Cuter than Lil Bit protecting us from a plastic bag?
burnspbesq
@Anya:
It’s more than that. He’s been on all the local talk radio shows. He’s kissed all the right rings. He’s very public about being a Sawx and Broons fan. His daughter not only went to BC, she played basketball for BC.
There was a good piece about the dynamics of this race at TNR a couple of weeks ago, but alas, I can’t find the link.
mai naem
@srv: I hope both those Judges have kids and grandkids with asthma and they themselves develop respiratory ailments when they’re older. Kinda like how Reagan developed Alzheimers which may have been helped by research that he put a hold on when he was president. Also too, see Sandra Day OConnor and her grandkid having type 1 diabetes.
jeffreyw
@Josie: Oops!
jrg
@Randy P:
Because Mencken was right. A lot of people are way too fucking stupid to vote.
Case in point… Yesterday, my cousin posted something on FB about now “no one should ever go broke” because they couldn’t pay for medical care. Today, he posted an “I’m voting for Romney” image. I guaranfuckingtee you he’s anti-Obamacare. Not because of what’s in it, mind you, but because it contains the word “Obama”. Too. Stupid. To. Vote.
Update: before I get flamed, I know it’s the “Affordable Care Act”. It gets called “Obamacare” so that hicks know not to support it.
Josie
@jeffreyw: Awwww – definitely worth waiting for. Thanks.
burnspbesq
@jeffreyw:
Kittehs playing UFC?
SiubhanDuinne
@jeffreyw:
I agreez. Plz to provide moar kitteh as promist.
lamh35
All this talk of polls and no one mentions the NBC/WSJ Poll.
Well I’ll do it it then courtesy of twitter:
burnspbesq
@jrg:
I suppose it would be pointless to try and explain Ryan-nocareforyou to him.
lamh35
More from that poll:
NBC/WSJ Poll: 36% of registered voters say what they have seen, heard and read about Romney’s tax returns gives them a more negative view.
NBC/WSJ Poll: 54% of registered voters say Pres. Obama’s position on issues is in the mainstream.
NBC/WSJ Poll: 51% of registered voters say Romney’s approach to issues is “out of step” with the American people.
NBC/WSJ Poll: Pres. Obama leads Romney 52%-30% among registered voters who say he cares more about average and not wealthy people.
Turgidson
@burnspbesq:
Does anyone happen to know if there will be debates in the MA-Sen race? It’s no slam dunk, but it’s at least imaginable that Scott “I’ve met kings and queens” Brown could be reduced to a stammering yutz in a debate that asks actual questions. Warren would have to avoid potholes of her own in a debate, but I don’t see her totally blowing it.
edit: I remember there being a dispute about whether one of the Kennedys could be involved, or who could moderate, or something. But forget whether any debates were actually agreed to.
lamh35
Not enough, here’s some more:
NBC/WSJ Poll: Romney’s unfavorables are at a net negative. Something no other modern republican presidential nominee has ever had.
NBC/WSJ Poll: Pres. Obama leads Romney 58%-23% in terms of likability among registered voters. #ObamaAdvantageIs35Points
NBC/WSJ Poll: Romney’s unfavorables are at a net negative. Neve seen for any other modern Presidential candidates
NBC/WSJ Poll: Mitt Romney’s unfavorables climb to 44% and his favorables fall to 38% among registered voters.
NBC/WSJ Poll: Romney’s pick of Paul Ryan as VP adds no positive for him. I.e. NO BOUNCE. To compare I think McCain got at least 6% from Palin pick. So Romney pre-ejaculation of naming his VP pick so early before convention is a wash.
Bnad
“Obama is worse than Bush, he sold us out”-style posts are starting to appear in the timelines of some of my liberal Facebook friends. One was a year-old story about Obama appointing a Monsanto exec as an advisor to the FDA. The ratfucking beginneth.
jrg
@burnspbesq: Yeah. His mom has cancer, and AFAIK, very little money. It boggles the mind. These people really have no idea what they’re voting for.
Whoever explained it as a Dancing With the Stars dial-in voting process to see who wins the culture wars was spot on. It blows my mind that some people’s mother’s lives are at stake, but they can’t even be bothered with taking their heads out of their asses for one hour – one fucking hour to find out whats in the ACA.
lamh35
And still more:
Obama holding his coalition.
NBC/WSJ Poll: Pres. Obama leads Romney 51%-41% among registered women voters.
NBC/WSJ Poll: Pres. Obama leads Romney 52%-41% among voters under 35 years of age.
NBC/WSJ Poll: Pres. Obama has a 2-to-1 advantage over Romney among Latino voters. African Americans: 94% Romney 0
NBC/WSJ Poll: Pres. Obama leads Romney 49%-46% in battleground states of CO, FL, IA, MI, NV, NH, NM, NC, OH, PA, VA, WI.
The numbers are so good for Obama that Dick Halperin is currently reporting only one thing:
Bobby Thomson
@Randy P: I don’t believe 45% of the country thinks.
Spaghetti Lee
A few thoughts about Massachusetts, from the perspective of someone who’s not a local, I’ll admit:
Hillary Clinton won it in the primary almost 60-40. So it’s never really been “Obama territory”.
Obama won it 62-36 over McCain, which is good, but not significantly better than any other Democratic presidential candidates over the last 5 elections.
At a rough estimate, Obama and Brown both winning Massachusetts would require about 400,000 voting for Obama and then for Brown, assuming similar turnout to 2008. Doesn’t seem impossible at all.
While I do like Elizabeth Warren and I do realize hindsight is 20/20, I wonder if Obama couldn’t have found a spot for her in his admin. instead. Seems like she could do better work there, given that the Senate is in permanent deadlock mode for the foreseeable future. Massachusetts has a full complement of ten Democratic congressmen, a Democratic governor, and surely even more in the state lege-why did none of them want to take on Brown?
AliceBlue
@joes527:
Wasn’t she 2-3 points ahead? What the hell happened?
Roger Moore
@AliceBlue:
People flipped out over an outlier poll?
Turgidson
@lamh35:
This lead in particular should be bigger.
Hopefully Akinapalooza and the fact that Ryan believes the same shit and has legislated as such, but hasn’t said it out loud will help bump that margin up to the 20% range where it belongs. Team O better be readying some ads while the issue is hot.
ZenHousecat
@Corner Stone: You’ve got a much stronger stomach than I do.
PurpleGirl
@jeffreyw: Awwwww! Squee!
TheMightyTrowel
@Roger Moore: we have a winner. Without posting crosstabs and polling history a single poll means nothing. Stop freaking out. If you are still freaking out, donate money and/or time to the cause.
slightly_peeved
@jrg:
As NonyNony showed, if everyone voted the tea party wouldn’t do near as well. While it’d be great if some of the stupid people didn’t vote, the bigger problem is all the reasonably intelligent people who don’t.
joes527
@Roger Moore: as I said in my original post. This is one poll. But the very idea of Scott Brown polling better than 27% against Elizabeth Warren baffles me.
Maybe this is sooper sekrit Massachusetts tribal politics.
Or maybe it is just a state full of morons.
I’m going with Occam’s razor on this one.
TheMightyTrowel
@Roger Moore: we have a winner. Without posting crosstabs and polling history a single poll means nothing. Stop freaking out. If you are still freaking out, donate money and/or time to the cause.
Mnemosyne
@Anya:
If you think like a chauvinistic asshole for a minute, you’ll figure out what Brown and Patrick both have that Warren doesn’t.
At least, that’s what some Massachusetts commenters have said here.
Mike in NC
@Mnemosyne: I lived the first half of my life in MA and seem to recall that female candidates generally fared poorly in statewide elections. Go figure.
Rapsutin's Evil Twin
@quannlace: Could someone compare the GOP’s 2012 platform to their 1912 platform? And for real fun, line the current one up against that of the Bull Moose crowd of 1912. Teddy Roosevelt was more progressive, but then, he believed in progress.
Can we vote for TR as a write-in candidate in safe blue states?
“Teddy Roosevelt: Too Progressive for the GOP in 1912- WAY too Progressive and Bad-ass for Them in 2012” Makes a nice bumper sticker.