Notes"With jaw-dropping, surreal, outrageous, unbelievable hypocrisy probably never before matched in scope and breadth, by the first week of March 2009, just over one month into the Obama presidency, Republicans were blaming Obama for the dire economic news. For eight years under Bush any bad news was Clinton's fault; just one month into Obama's presidency, Bush was innocent of all blame. We do not have a vocabulary that can capture the deep absurdity of this assault on reason."Unfurl
Notes"Your party ā the GOP ā and the conservative end of the American political spectrum has become irresponsible and irrational. Worse, itās tolerating, promoting and celebrating prejudice and hatred. Let me provide some examples ā by no means an exhaustive list ā of where the Right as gotten itself stuck in a swamp of hypocrisy, hyperbole, historical inaccuracy and hatred."Unfurl
Notes"For todayās G.O.P. is, fully and finally, the party of Ronald Reagan ā not Reagan the pragmatic politician, who could and did strike deals with Democrats, but Reagan the antigovernment fanatic, who warned that Medicare would destroy American freedom. Itās a party that sees modest efforts to improve Americansā economic and health security not merely as unwise, but as monstrous. Itās a party in which paranoid fantasies about the other side ā Obama is a socialist, Democrats have totalitarian ambitions ā are mainstream. And, as a result, itās a party that fundamentally doesnāt accept anyone elseās right to govern. "Unfurl
Notes"For decades the G.O.P. has been the party of fear, ignorance and divisiveness. All you have to do is look around to see what it has done to the country. The greatest economic inequality since the Gilded Age was followed by a near-total collapse of the overall economy. As a country, we have a monumental mess on our hands and still the Republicans have nothing to offer in the way of a remedy except more tax cuts for the rich."Unfurl
Notes"The truth is that given the state of American politics, the way the Senate works is no longer consistent with a functioning government. Senators themselves should recognize this fact and push through changes in those rules, including eliminating or at least limiting the filibuster. This is something they could and should do, by majority vote, on the first day of the next Senate session.
Donāt hold your breath. As it is, Democrats donāt even seem able to score political points by highlighting their opponentsā obstructionism.
Well, America is not yet lost. But the Senate is working on it. "Unfurl
Notes"Republican leaders chose not to draft their own comprehensive bill, focusing instead on attacking Democrats' plans as too costly and bureaucratic. Some prominent Republicans now fear they are getting tagged as the "party of no," and they want the GOP to offer more solutions to the nation's health care problems."Unfurl
Notes"Itās the American way that we judge people as individuals, not as groups. And by that standard we can say unequivocally that this particular wise Latina, with the richness of her experiences, would far more often than not reach a better conclusion than the individual white males she faced in that Senate hearing room. Even those viewers who watched the Sotomayor show for only a few minutes could see that her America is our future and theirs is the rapidly receding past. "Unfurl
Notes"House Republicans, as a group, may take great pride in the goose egg they offered President Obama's stimulus package. But now the unanimous opposition is struggling to bring that money home. "Unfurl
Notes"I know a lot of you out there donāt plan to vote for Barack Obama. I can accept that. As much as I think America desperately needs the hope for a better future that he embodies, I can admit that heās deficient in certain areas. And, I can see how his charisma and celebrity status might put some people off. I get all that. And I donāt want to change your mind. What I would like to convince you of, however, is that you shouldnāt reward McCain and Palin, who have, over the course of this campaign, appealed to the basest elements in our nature, with your vote. They have lied, engaged in race baiting, and even gone so far as to infer that their opponent - a United States Senator - is a terrorist, and a threat to our nation. I have to think that a majority of Republicans find that kind of behavior reprehensible. ... It is no longer a party of ideas. It has become the last refuge of anti-intellectuals, and fear mongers. It is the party of Sarah Palin."Unfurl
Notes"This is what the Republican Party has done to us this year: It has placed within reach of the Oval Office a woman who is a religious fanatic and a proud, boastful ignoramus. Those who despise science and learning are not anti-elitist. They are morally and intellectually slothful people who are secretly envious of the educated and the cultured. And those who prate of spiritual warfare and demons are not just "people of faith" but theocratic bullies. On Nov. 4, anyone who cares for the Constitution has a clear duty to repudiate this wickedness and stupidity."Unfurl
NotesYou know what? I really wish the media would just say "these are lies" rather than dance around euphemisms like "stretched truth" or whatnot. "Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and her Republican supporters held back little Wednesday as they issued dismissive attacks on Barack Obama and flattering praise on her credentials to be vice president. In some cases, the reproach and the praise stretched the truth."Unfurl
Notes"Paul is right, of course -- and Blitzer is wrong. Paul is the only candidate of either party with the guts to cut through the nonsense and say what's obviously true. And Blitzer is the one that owes us an apology, for carrying the lies for so long. He'sUnfurl
Notes"When you see her in such a context, you realize that she truly represents the heart and soul of contemporary conservative activism, especially among the young."Unfurl
Notes"But Massachusetts' Senior Senator -- who has seen his efforts to increase the minimum wage shot down in the Senate three times in the last two years -- really unloaded on his Republican colleagues for their utter contempt for working people in this countFeedUnfurl
Notes"Whatever they're saying, Republican votes tonight were votes to prevent the Senate from enacting major lobbying and ethics reforms to deal with corruption scandals in Congress"Unfurl
Notes"Republicans "have taken every one of the techniques that Democrats employed when they were in the majority, and ratcheted them up to another level," said the American Enterprise Institute scholar."Unfurl
Notes"The home of the movement to encourage Governor Mike Rounds (R-SD) to not be a dick. If Senator Johnson passes away or resigns due to his health problems, we advocate he appoint an experienced Democrat to replace him. Dude, seriously, don't be a dick."FeedUnfurl
Notes"Like a retreating army, Republicans are tearing up railroad track and planting legislative land mines to make it harder for Democrats to govern when they take power in Congress next month."Unfurl
Notes"Since O'Reilly boycotts everything he hates, I look forward to his boycott of all Bay Area-origin products. Same with every conservative who bashes San Francisco and the Bay Area."Unfurl
Notes"We're in an age where partisans can be mentally programmed to look approvingly on events, job performances and position changes that they would not normally accept and to look away at some untidy matters that may occur, or openly rationalize them away."Unfurl
Notes"It's been five years since the anthrax attacks shook our country and took the lives of five Americans. We cannot permit another five to pass before we close this chapter and prepare for the next one."Unfurl
Notes"In seeking to malign the parties who sought to expose his conduct, top Republicans reveal that they are far more outraged by the possibility that the scandal might harm their partyās prospects in November than they are by Foley's behavior."Unfurl
Notes"holding on to power has become not just the means but also the end for the onetime reformers who in 1994 unseated a calcified and corrupted Democratic majority."Unfurl
Notes"Taking the "high-road" has a nice sound to it, but Clinton shouldn't fool himself -- and insult the rest of us -- by thinking that the time he's spent traveling that elevated path has made the world a better place."Unfurl
Notes"the leadership's new American Values Agenda, a list of initiatives heavy on ideological themes, seems short-sighted and ill-timed considering that few conservatives are at serious risk in November."Unfurl
Notes"Neo-conservative commentators at the American Enterprise Institute wrote last week what amounted to an obituary of the Bush freedom doctrine."Unfurl
Notes"...why is it that when a far-right Republican wants to make a good impression, they do it by standing in front of, on top of, or in the shadow of dead Americans?"Unfurl
Notes"The right's embrace in the Miers nomination of tactics previously exclusive to the left ... will make it immeasurably harder to denounce and deflect such assaults when the Democrats make them the next time around."Unfurl
Notes"One consequence was that the wealthy parasites known as the American Right, desperate to find a convincing argument against communism, seized on religion. Up to that point, the American Government had been devoutly secular, as specified by the ConstitutiUnfurl
Notes"Both have issued apologies Fox in a one-line statement to the Los Angeles Times and Loftus in an e-mail to the family after being contacted by the newspaper. The Voricks say they have yet to see or hear a correction."Unfurl
Notes"They think that the state has the perfect right to take your embryos away from you and implant them in another mother. And they think that they have the right and obligation to do this, even over your objections."Unfurl
On GOP jobs plan, an epic media fail (Greg Sargent/Washington Post)
Republicans lay groundwork for healthcare repeal (Noam N. Levey/Los Angeles Times)
No GOP Senator Supports Bill to Protect Cloud E-Mail Privacy
GOP Fighting For Money From Stimulus They Opposed
Wolf Blitzer interviews Ron Paul (Scripting News)
BobGeiger.com: Kennedy to Republicans: "What is it about working men and women that you find so offensive?"
Hey! Don't be a Dick, Governor Rounds!
Republicans Want to Turn Over a New Page (Harpers.org)