Time for Dems to slam the GOP hypocrites - Obama's GOP antagonists offer empty rhetoric even they don't believe. But does he have the heart to call them out?
Take Rep. Michelle Bachmann of Minnesota, for example. Campaigning for reelection, the photogenic Tea Party heroine postures boldly against taxes and government spending. A bitter critic of the Obama administration's efforts to improve the economy, she specifically and repeatedly derides "the failed Pelosi trillion-dollar stimulus."Why do Republicans actions always seem contrary to what they actually do. No conservatives seem to care. Republicans seem to run and win on the illusion of standing for something - a return to most of the nation living in poverty with no minimum wage, no child labor laws, no five day work week and dozens of other modern achievements which make better for everyone. Republicans call those achievements, socialism. Maybe they should stop inadvertently giving a discredited economic theory a good name. Things like workman's compensation, overtime and medicare are the hallmarks of America's enlightened liberal legacy. Too bad tea baggers and other conservatives can't "man up" and admit it.
Somewhat less publicly, Bachmann has taken a different position. Researchers for the nonpartisan Center for Public Integrity released a bunch of letters she wrote to various federal agencies seeking stimulus grants for her district. Perhaps the most telling is one she sent to the Transportation Department seeking money for a bridge over the St. Croix River.
Funding the project, Bachmann argued "would directly produce 1,407 new jobs per year while indirectly producing 1,563 a year -- a total of 2,970 jobs each year after the project's completion."
A more basic conflict with Tea Party theology is hardly possible.
Government spending creates jobs? That's heresy.
In Washington parlance, they're called "lettermarks" -- basically identical to the dreaded "earmarks" Republicans rail against, except more devious. Bachmann's far from the only Republican quietly seeking funding she voted against and publicly derides. Frauds and fakers every one.
The ink was barely dry on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act before Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell told CNN in July 2009: "The stimulus was a big mistake. I think we can fairly safely declare it now a failure." Over the next two months, the Kentucky Republican nevertheless sought federal largesse for five projects, including a railroad he said had the potential to "attract industry, create jobs and move goods through areas underserved by national highways."
Name a Tea Party hero, and they're on the Center for Public Integrity's "lettermarks" list: Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn. Also a number of "Blue Dog" Democrats like Rep. Walter Minnick, D-Idaho.
All voted against the stimulus, supposedly on grounds of principle, then sought funding for their constituents on the less abstract grounds that building bridges, tunnels, railroads and stringing broadband cable provide jobs, public and private, stimulating secondary economic activity in the bargain.
Politically speaking, this should be dynamite. Despite the attention it gets, the Tea Party's basically a joke, hearkening back to a mythical Golden Age in American life that never existed. Prior to New Deal and Great Society spending, for example, large parts of McConnell's Kentucky -- like much of the rural South -- enjoyed Third World living standards. Nobody really wants to go backward. But voters are scared and confused.
Alas, somebody's got to light the fuse. Which is where President Obama comes in, or would if he had the heart for it, by no means clear. See, it's not merely the garden-variety hypocrisy he should be mocking -- juxtaposing the demagogic rhetoric of his GOP antagonists with the home truths in their "lettermarks." It's the crass political opportunism.
For reasons of sheer partisan advantage, he should say, the Republicans bet unanimously against the U.S. economy, wagering that short of a miraculous recovery from the 2008 financial meltdown, the White House would be blamed. Put the GOP back in power, that's all you'll get. It's all they've got: empty rhetoric even they don't believe.
As Obama himself (channeling Bill Clinton) repeatedly told New York Times reporter Peter Baker during a recent interview, "They're not serious." Indeed, they're not. The GOP War on Arithmetic that began under Ronald Reagan and reached its apotheosis under George W. Bush proceeds apace.
Then why do we also find Obama telling the Times he thinks he can make nice with the GOP after November? "It may be that regardless of what happens after this election, they feel more responsible," he said, "either because they didn't do as well as they anticipated, and so the strategy of just saying no to everything and sitting on the sidelines and throwing bombs didn't work for them, or they did reasonably well, in which case the American people are going to be looking to them to offer serious proposals and work with me in a serious way."
Dream on, Mr. President. Obama sounds like a battered wife. Elsewhere, Obama speculates that including tax cuts in the stimulus was a mistake. Perhaps had he "let the Republicans insist on the tax cuts" it would have given the appearance as well as the reality of bipartisanship.
Alas, that's too subtle by half. A recent New York Times/CBS News Poll showed that fewer than 10 percent of Americans even know the stimulus lowered their income taxes -- much less who proposed it.
The Right On Juan Williams: Don't Diss The Jews! But Muslims? Eh, No Problem.
Pamela Geller wrote today: "No one is safe, not even liberals, from islamic supremacism and the assault on free speech. I am no fan of Juan Williams, but I will defend to my death his right to speak his mind."The pattern is obvious. As long as you're saying what right-wing zealots think you should say that is protected free speech. vary a little from their inconsistent rules and you're against free speech.
The day Nasr stepped down, she was thrilled: "Today the Nazi lover resigned. In a word, GOOD!"
And on the Sanchez firing, Geller said: "In another Jew-hating gaffe, a well known CNN anchor has been terminated over outrageous, hateful remarks about Jews." She added: "This is systemic. And it should be raising red flags in media corporate offices. You have a problem. And so does Jon Stewart; he shills for these goons and their ideology."
Of course, no controversy would be complete without a Sarah Palin tweet, which she provided today:
NPR defends 1st Amendment Right, but will fire u if u exercise it. Juan Williams: u got taste of Left's hypocrisy,they screwed up firing you
On her Facebook page, Palin elaborated:
I don't expect Juan Williams to support me (he's said some tough things about me in the past) - but I will always support his right and the right of all Americans to speak honestly about the threats this country faces. And for Juan, speaking honestly about these issues isn't just his right, it's his job. Up until yesterday, he was doing that job at NPR. Firing him is their loss.
If NPR is unable to tolerate an honest debate about an issue as important as Islamic terrorism, then it's time for "National Public Radio" to become "National Private Radio." It's time for Congress to defund this organization.
But about the Helen Thomas controversy, she (a touch incomprehensibly) tweeted:
Helen Thomas press pals condone racist rant?Heaven forbid"esteemed"press corps represent society's enlightened elite;Rest of us choose truth
Is Sharron Angle a Christian Reconstructionist? - A unified theory of the Nevada's Senate candidate's stranger musings.
Christian Reconstructionism, on its own, is a fringe movement in the Christian right. Most of the Christian right is comprised of pre-millennial evangelicals who believe Christ will return to Earth to kick-start the 1,000 years of the Kingdom of God. Christian Reconstructionists, on the other hand, believe the world is already the Kingdom of God, and that Jesus will return after they have transformed society and government into one that follows Biblical law. Because of this, Reconstructionists prioritize reforming America into what they consider a godly country and bringing the legal structures of our country in line with Old Testament law, with a specific eye toward pushing the government out of all arenas they consider the sole province of church and family.
Angle's odd-ball beliefs are fine as a personal matter. Should she be elected to high office to then try to shove them down the throat of every American. The Constitution says she shouldn't, bu that apparently has no meaning for Sharron Angle or her supporters - many of whom may not realize how dangerous she is.
