THIS IS A GREAT DAY ...

... for the incredible shrinking party republicans!

rnc chairman michael steele:

and, y'know, the fact that he would say, uh, president obama's spending package, y'know, 780 billion dollars, and the stimulus, and the budget, made him realize he's a democrat ... well, if, if spending the, the hard-earned dollars of the american people and redistributing their wealth, ah, and, and moving towards a collectivist, uh, socialist, uh, approach to government, if that, if that, helps you realize you're a democrat, well, y'know, good riddance.

and the peanut gallery agrees!

this is a great day for the republican party! we have the RINOs running!

yep, the more we can cull away from the party those who are not committed to, understand, or have no liking for those goals, the better off we shall be.

i’ve always suspected that specter was a plant.

if he really switched party affiliation he’d now be a conservative!!!!

ridding ourselves of these RINO’s can only benefit us in rebuilding the party to where it should be.

we will go down this road with fewer but STRONGER people, if they get the message that is.

the actuarial tables are on our side ... at 79 years old he shouldn't be sucking in air too much longer he's a waste of CO2 credits.

... well, most agree.

we need to keep [minnesota senator-elect al] fraken [sic] out as long as possible. hopefully until the 2010 elections so we can get some of the 60 back into gop hands. 60 votes on the dhims means way too much of a loss to conservatives. things could possibly never get repaired.

WE are so close to losing it all....

great. we can have a senate with 70 to 75 democrats (considering what some people have been saying even inhofe is a RINO, so maybe that should be 100 Ds). then zero will pack the supreme court like FDR wanted to with 7 or 9 more justices, the heller case will be struck down, the 22nd amendment will be ruled unconstitutional, and we will live with bambi as pres for life. for all of specters faults, and they were many he helped clarence thomas get through, and voted with the reps at least 70% of the time. if we are goin to go for 100% purity, we will have to live in a permanant minority.

---

RINO = republican in name only; a moderate republican; a nearly extinct species

whom gods destroy

... they first drive mad.

a number of conservative members of the republican national committee are pressing the committee — and by extension, [rnc chairman michael] steele — to officially adopt the position that the democratic party is socialist. over a dozen members of the conservative wing of the RNC have submitted a new resolution, to be eventually voted on by the entire RNC, that would call on the democratic party to rename itself the "democrat socialist party." if the RNC adopts this resolution, the RNC’s official view would become that democrats are socialists. from the resolution: RESOLVED, that we the members of the republican national committee call on the democratic party to be truthful and honest with the american people by acknowledging that they have evolved from a party of tax and spend to a party of tax and nationalize and, therefore, should agree to rename themselves the democrat socialist party.

no one could have predicted ...

... that it could happen to me.

rep. jane harman (d-ca), proving that some of today's civil libertarians are just yesterday's neocons reeling from their own petard:

december 21, 2005:

i have been briefed since 2003 on a highly classified nsa foreign collection program that targeted al qaeda. i believe the program is essential to u.s. national security and that its disclosure has damaged critical intelligence capabilities ... like many americans, i am deeply concerned by reports that this program in fact goes far beyond the measures to target al qaeda about which i was briefed.

today:

i'm just very disappointed that my country — i'm an american citizen just like you are — could have permitted what i think is a gross abuse of power in recent years. i'm one member of congress who may be caught up in it, but i have a bully pulpit and i can fight back. i'm thinking about others who have no bully pulpit and may not be aware, as i was not, that right now somewhere, someone's listening in on their conversations, and they're innocent americans.

the new girl

even if the s.s. gop has opted to sulk in dry dock for the next four years, lord limbaugh can still count on the party to keep his cabin quarters supplied with freshly-spanked talent.

tax day, april 15th — kansas rep. todd tiahrt, when asked "by a kansas city star editorial board member whether limbaugh was now the de facto leader of the GOP."

no, no, he's just an entertainer.

four days later — tiahrt spokesman sam sackett tells the wichita eagle editorial board:

the congressman believes rush is a great leader of the conservative movement in america — not a party leader responsible for election losses ... nothing the congressman said diminished the role rush has played and continues to play in the conservative movement.

considering tiahrt's turnabout took longer than the customary 24 hours, it looks like experienced deck hands michael steele and phil gingrey have a new recruit to break in.

the handshake

what josh said:

they got issues we keep the chat shows running through the day at TPM HQ. and i've been listening to a constant stream — mainly but not only on fox — of talk through the day about whether we should feel weak or ashamed or tarnished or any other number of things because president obama had a friendly handshake with huge [sic] chavez of venezuela. the whole idea seems so deeply silly to me that it's hard to know how exactly to even comment on it. but i'm struck once again by the sort of psychologically arrested mentality and extreme emotional insecurity that seems at work in the minds of many foreign policy conservatives — or more specifically, so as not to paint with too broad a brush, those of the neo-conish flavor. sure, a lot of this is just political posturing — trying to sound the story out for possible political vulnerabilities on obama's part. throw a bunch of mud up against the wall and see what sticks. what's striking to me though is that a lot of it seems like a very genuine, gut-level emotional response. (a related example is what matt yglesias pointed out a few days ago — how many right-wingers seem to have convinced themselves that north korea, a borderline failed state on the possible brink of economic collapse somehow has the us over a barrel.) in the course of our normal lives, few of us have much difficulty identifying habits of defensiveness or a penchant for histrionic or petulant interactions as signs of weakness, not strength. really powerful people don't need stunts and usually signal their power by a certain graciousness and indifference in such interactions. they have nothing to prove. but american power, respect, command of public opinion — however you want to define it — must be in these people's minds an extremely brittle thing. they really do seem like extremely insecure people.

comical nonsense a bit of follow about on right-wing paranoia. i'm just watching andrea mitchell interview michael o'hanlon about whether president obama showed some sort of dangerous weakness in happily shaking hands with hugo chavez. mitchell played a clip of the always cartoonish newt gingrich and then noted that conservatives are drawing the analogy to john kennedy's famous meeting with nikita krushchev in the latter sized kennedy up as a lightweight and — so the argument goes — thus believed he could be pushed around during the cuban missile crisis. now, kruschev? really? i'm not sure i can imagine a better illustration of the sort of parodic paranoia i'm talking about. we do realize that the us has the most powerful military in the world and venezuela has little ability to project military power beyond its own borders. it's a non-entity militarily, even compared to iran and north korea. will he be emboldened into calling obama el diablo?

update:

the shocking truth fresh off our earlier national humiliation, we just received a note from TPM reader SR. and SR points out that in the second image of our obama at the summit of the americas slideshow we see president obama shaking hands with the dog of the president of mexico. he even seems a bit to be bowing to the dog.

tough times for teabaggers

the meme that keeps on giving: pundit david gergen mulls over republican woes, but cnn anchor anderson cooper gets to the nut of their problems ...

gergen:	... this happens to a minority party after it's lost a couple of bad elections. but they're searching for their voice.
cooper:	it's hard to talk when you're teabagging.
gergen:	[after a beat] hrruheh heh! heh! heh! heh! heh! heh ... !

quote of the day

msnbc news anchor david shuster, on last night's countdown, delivers a nuclear wedgie to tomorrow's fox news cross-country "tea party" tax protests — can you count the puns? answers below (no peeking!)

if you are planning simultaneous tea bagging all around the country, you’re gonna need a dick armey.

1) mouthpieces 2) going nuts 3) whipped out 4) toothless 5) full-throated 6) tongue-lashing 7) lick government spending 8) in a nutshell 9) firm support 10) tight-lipped 11) up-close and personal taste 12) dick armey

losing ≠ tyranny

mark levin:	there is a road to tyranny, and i believe we're headed on that road ...
glenn beck:	fascism is coming!
unidentified:	intimidation is yet another part of the slow erosion of our liberties.
mark levin:	they want the population to surrender their liberties to the government ...
yaron brook:	you're in very dangerous water to the freedoms that exist in this country.
glenn beck:	and controlling your life ... !
michelle bachman:	i believe that there is a very strong chance that we will see that young people will be put into mandatory service ... and the real concern is that there are provisions for what i would call re-education camps for young people, where young people have to go and get trained in a philosophy that the government puts forward ...
sean hannity:	keep it up, congresswoman, you're doing a great job, and, uh, i have no doubt that they will keep attacking you 'cause you're so effective. thank you for being with us. we appreciate it.
michelle bachman:	thank you, we're gonna fight for our freedom!
sean hannity:	absolutely — against tyranny!

jon stewart:

yes, tyranny! a.k.a. our democratically elected president. it — y'know what, guys? meet — meet me at camera three very quickly ... ... i think you might be confusing tyranny ... with losing! and i feel for you because, uh ... i've been there. a few times in fact. and one of them was a bit of a nail-biter. but see, when the guy that you disagree with gets elected, he's probably going to do things you disagree with. he could cut taxes on the wealthy, remove government's oversight capability, uhh ... invade a country that you though should not be invaded, but ... that's not tyranny! that's democracy. see, now you're in the minority. it's supposed to taste like a shit taco! and by the way, if i remember correctly, when disagreement was expressed about that president's actions when y'all were in power, i believe the response was: "why do you hate america?!" "watch what you say!" "love it or leave it!" "suck on my truck nuts!"

citizenship for dummies

(non-dummies may want to read the fine print for birthright, nationality and naturalization.)

for bill elder fans

the george w. bush presidential librarium.

the only thing missing is the surprise image made by folding in the center of the page.

what? don't tell me you've forgotten who bill elder is ... ?

certifigate: the docket, updated

the score: 45 cases, 0 wins (i know, whatta surprise!), 34 denials or dismissals, and 6 proposed bills, 2 dead.

BIRTHER LAWSUITS Challenges to Obama's qualifications
Case	Court	S/F	Status	Notes	Next Event
Ankeny v Daniels et McCain	IN	S	Dismissed	Article AG Letter Motion DIS Memo Motion OP Article
Berg v Obama et al	PA Eastern	F	Dismissed	Documents
	3rd Circuit Appeals	F	Filed	Brief FEC Brief O DNC
	SCOTUS	F	Denied
Berg v Obama	DC District	F	Filed	Sealed
Brockhausen v Andrade	TX	S	Dismissed	Complaint Articles
Broe v Reed	WA Supreme	S	Dismissed	Article Order
Church of Jesus Christ Christian Aryan Nations of Missouri et al v Obama et al	MO West	F	Filed	Article
Cohen v Obama	DC District	F	Dismissed	Prisoner Memo
Connerat v Browning	FL	S	Dismissed	Articles
Corbett v Bowen et al	CA	S	Filed	Summary Notes
Donofrio v Wells	NJ	S	Dismissed
	NJ Supreme	S	Denied
	SCOTUS	F	Denied	Application
Essek v Obama	KY Eastern	F	Dismissed	Order
Gleeson v McDonald et al	ND	F	Filed	Official
Greenberg v Brunner	OH	S	Dismissed with Court Costs	Outline Article
Herbert v Obama et al	FL Middle	F	Dismissed	Complaint Report Order
Hollister v Soetoro	DC	F	Dismissed with Reprimand	Article Complaint Amend1 O Motion Order B Motion Op Order SC Order Disch B Response B Rejoin B Pro Hac O Reply Memorandum Order Reprimand
Hunter v Obama	SCOTUS	F	Dismissed	Article and Order
Judy v McCain et RNC	NV District	F	Dismissed
Kerchner et al v Obama et al	NJ	F	Filed	Article Article Amend 1 Amend 2	Apr 12
Keyes v Bowen	CA Superior	S	Dismissed	Petition Quash QuashPA QuashD Article Prelim Ruling
Keyes v Lingle	HI	S	Dismissed	Dismissal Recon Dism Article
Keyes et al v Obama et al	CA Central	F	Filed	Article Complaint	Apr 11
Lightfoot v Bowen	SCOTUS	F	Denied	Articles
Morrow v Obama	FL District	F	Filed	Prisoner Complaint
Marquis v Reed	WA	S	Dismissed	Press Release Notes
Martin v Lingle	HI	S	Dismissed	Articles
Neal v Brunner	OH	S	Dismissed	Notes Article
Neely v Obama	MI Eastern	F	Dismissed	Complaint
Roy v Obama	HI	F	Dismissed	Complaint Order
Schneller v Cortes	PA Supreme	S	Denied	Summary
Stamper v US	OH District	F	Dismissed	Complaint Article, Order and Memo
Strunk 29641-08	NY Supreme	S	Filed	Notes
Strunk 29642-08	NY Supreme	S	Filed	Notes
Strunk 08-cv-4289	NY Eastern	F	Dismissed with Prejudice	Notes
	NY 2nd Circuit Appeals	F	Denied	Notes
Strunk v US Dept of State	DC	F	Filed	FOIA Response Motion Op	Mar 31 Apr 9
Sullivan v Marshall	NC	S	Dismissed	Articles
Terry v Handel	GA	S	Dismissed with Prejudice	Order Appeal Article
Thomas et al v Hosemann	MS Southern	F	Dismissed with Prejudice	Article Order
Welch v Mukasey et al	NY	F	Dismissed
Wrotnowski v Bysiewicz	CT	S	Dismissed	Order
	SCOTUS	F	Denied	Article
"s/f" = state/federal. "article" = published non-judicial comment. "official" = plaintiff is suing the president in his official capacity. "prisoner" = plaintiff is in prison suing the president in his official capacity. see also the right side of life eligibility lawsuits page. see also free republic list of cases. compiled from dr. conspiracy's obama conspiracy theories docket project.

BIRTHER BILLS Requiring presidential candidates submit proof of qualification
Bill	Legislature	Sponsor(s)	Status	Notes
HR 1503	Congress	Bill Posey, Rep, R-FL	Refer'd to Hse	Bill Article Article
SB 474	MT	Aubyn Curtiss, Sen, R	Tabled	Bill Article
HB 1329	OK	Mike Ritze, Rep, R	Passed Comm	Amend1 Amend2 Article Article
SB 1158	AZ	Russell Pearce, Sen, R Judy Burges, Rep, R Pamela Gorman, Sen, R Ron Gould, Sen, R Chuck Gray, Sen, R Jack Harper, Sen, R Thayer Verschoor, Sen, R Carl Seel, Rep, R	Read	Bill Article
HJR 34	MO	Robert Cooper, Rep, R Bob Nance, Rep, R Brian Nieves, Rep, R Cynthia Davis, Rep, R Dan Brown, Rep, R Don Wells, Rep, R Doug Ervin, Rep, R Doug Funderburk, Rep, R Dwight Scharnhorst, Rep, R Jason Brown, Rep, R Mike Lair, Rep, R Mike McGhee, Rep, R Rick Stream, Rep, R Shane Schoeller, Rep, R Walt Bivins, Rep, R	Withdrawn	Bill Article
HB 835	TX	Sid Miller, Rep, R	Refer'd to Comm	Bill Article