the gop finally settle on an impeachment strategy

the heartbreak of conservatism

not the civil war they dreamt of

hostage-taking 101: time is not on your side! — especially when your confederates chase different goals, expect different ransoms, serve different masters and respond differently to stress. should the theatrics play out too long, hands at each others' throats may be your only reward ...

salon: appearing on MSNBC on friday, congressman peter king continued his epic verbal assault on ted cruz — and, to a lesser extent, rand paul — by describing the texas senator as a "RINO" (republican in name only) and a "fraud."

speaking with MSNBC's andrea mitchell, king called the ongoing government shutdown "the strategy of ted cruz" and wondered aloud "why more republicans around the country didn't join me in denouncing ted cruz" before the shutdown began. "we cannot allow our party to be taken over by the likes of ted cruz and rand paul," king continued, describing cruz and paul as "isolationists" and "RINOs" who "don't represent traditional republican principles."

"ted cruz, what he did here, was lead the party into a dead end with no strategy, somehow convincing a number of house republicans that we just sent this to through senate as far as defunding and closing down the government, he would manage to get harry reid and president obama to back down," said king. "he never had a plan. it was fraudulent from the start. and we have to cut this guy off now."

TPM: mccain's appearance on fox came shortly after sen. ted cruz (R-TX), the leader of the movement to defund the health care law, spoke at the values voter summit. maccallum asked mccain how he felt about cruz "representing" republicans at a meeting scheduled for friday at the white house.

"first of all, martha, please, he's not representing us there" ...

daily kos: [tex rep louis gohmert:] "when it comes to the shutdown that's going on, i heard just before i came some senator from arizona, uh, a guy that liked qaddafi before he wanted to bomb him, a guy that liked mubarak before he wanted him out, a guy that's been to syria and supported al qaeda and rebels, but he was saying today the shutdown has been a fool's errand. and i agree with him. the president and harry reid should not have shut this government down!"

TPM: tensions are flaring between house and senate republicans over how to defuse the crisis ahead of an oct. 17 debt ceiling deadline. house GOP members expressed concerns during a private saturday meeting that the senate GOP would undercut and jam them by striking a deal with president barack obama that conservatives dislike.

... "they're trying to cut the house out, and trying to jam us with the senate," a fired-up [WI rep. paul] ryan told reporters after the GOP meeting. "we're not going to roll over and take that."

breitbart: on his radio show on friday, fox news host sean hannity said house speaker john boehner (R-OH), along with the rest of the republican leadership in the house, had to be replaced.

"i do think leadership in the house needs to change," hannity said. "i don't think john boehner is equipped for the job. i don't think he has the stomach to negotiate. i don't think he has the ability to communicate the positive, solution-oriented vision for the country."

... he said the GOP has a "communications problem" that has been reflected in the party's bad poll numbers.

hannity also ripped republican leaders in washington for "alienating" the tea party. hannity named senators like john mccain (R-AZ) and bob corker (R-TN) for being the top offenders and said their "unwillingness to stand strong" and constant bashing of the tea party is "irritating every conservative i know."

AP: "we're not saying obama is right. we're saying what republicans are doing is wrong," said matt cox, a former executive director of ohio's cuyahoga county GOP.

TPM: erick erickson, prominent conservative blogger, said on his blog friday that he will be donating to the primary opponents of house speaker john boehner (R-OH) and senate minority leader mitch mcconnell (R-KY) because of the way both leaders are approaching negotiations on the continuing resolution and debt ceiling.

"republican leaders in washington, DC are signaling they will cave on the fight against obamacare," erickson wrote. "GOP leaders, by caving, are signaling they want us to primary them."

erickson blamed the GOP's sinking approval ratings on boehner and other republican leaders.

"[n]ow that john boehner and the orange man group of capitol hill are the faces of the GOP, obamacare's popularity is going back up and the GOP's popularity is going back down," erickson wrote.

redState: but john boehner, eric cantor, mitch mcconnell, and john cornyn will ensure that obamacare is fully funded and give the american public no delay like businesses have.

in doing so, they will sow the seeds of a real third party movement that will fully divide the republican party.

washington post: conservative groups that advocated for a standoff spoke openly about their motives. at a breakfast with reporters wednesday, michael needham, chief executive of the conservative group heritage action, freely admitted that he was "pretty optimistic" that we will soon see a crackup of the old republican order.

thinkProgress: as the government shutdown enters its eleventh day and the nation races towards a possible default, a growing number of republican lawmakers, leaders, and voters are publicly blaming congressional republicans for the budget impasse. ...

"it's time for someone to act like a grown-up in this process," former new hampshire gov. john sununu (R) told the associated press. michigan gov. rick snyder (R) agreed, remarking on monday that "this is not how we should operate. it shouldn't be about people fighting and yelling.' "the bottom line is we need that money in our economy to save rural hospitals and jobs in the rural areas," arizona gov. jan brewer (R) told the arizona daily star on thursday, criticizing the GOP'e effort to defund the affordable care act.

the criticism comes as an associated press-GfK poll released wednesday showed that "three-quarters of republicans nationally said their party in congress deserves a moderate degree or most of the blame for the shutdown" ...

in yet another sign of trouble for the GOP, business interests are also showing signs of discontent, signaling a possible rift with republicans ahead of the 2014 mid-term elections.

iowa republicans "are recruiting a pro-business republican to challenge six-term conservative rep. steve king (R), a leader in the push to defund the health care law," the associated press reports and party establishment leaders in michigan are threatening to recruit and fund challengers to rep. justin amash (R) and other tea party aligned candidates.

TNR: "the business community has got to stand up and say we are not going to back the most self-described conservative candidate. we are going to back the candidates that are the most rational," says john feehery, a former aide to delay and hastert who is now president of quinn gillespie & associates, a washington lobbying firm.

what washington business lobbyists say on-the-record about the house republicans and about tea party activists pales before what they are willing to say if their names aren't used. one former republican staffer says of the anti-establishment groups, "they want to go in and fuck shit up. these non-corporate non-establishmentarian guys — that is exactly what they are doing. and the problem with that is obvious. what next? what happens after you fuck shit up?"

conservatives went looking for fresh plunder from the administration in a raid that was supposed to pit republican vs. democrat — not GOP vs. GOP and certainly not along every conceivable fissure:

house vs. senate.

extreme vs. moderate.

upstart vs. established.

ideology vs. money.

anarchy vs. order.

none of them came prepared for a suddenly resolute president or a unified party behind him. no one expected to run into a veritable stone wall — against which the GOP, to its own horror, seem incapable of thwarting the urge to batter itself delirious, in what historians might one day call the "republican war into irrelevance".

what a difference a week makes

freeperville, oct 4:

lol. the plan is obama caves.

what don’t you understand?

we are on the verge of an historic CONSERVATIVE victory.

what’s not to like?

(by st_thomas_aquinas)

oct 11:

[texas congressman louis] gomert [sic] on beck’s show today, just before noon EST, saying that boehner is now in a meeting with obama, and is “giving up on 98-99% of obamacare, so they [RINOs] can say that they got something from obama.”

so yeah, the cave is in progress.

i guess the NBC/WSJ rush is talking about spooked them.

as beck says, it's time to defund the GOP. tea party candidates only. no collaborators need apply.

(by st_thomas_aquinas)

RINOs = "republicans in name only"

acme wingnuts

u.s. v. g.o.p.

atul gawande @ the new yorker:

this kind of obstructionism has been seen before. after the supreme court’s ruling in brown v. board of education, in 1954, virginia shut down schools in charlottesville, norfolk, and warren county rather than accept black children in white schools. when the courts forced the schools to open, the governor followed a number of other southern states in instituting hurdles such as “pupil placement” reviews, “freedom of choice” plans that provided nothing of the sort, and incessant legal delays. while in some states meaningful progress occurred rapidly, in others it took many years. we face a similar situation with health-care reform.

the akin defense

senate hopeful and gynecological expert todd akin (r-mo) certainly sounds like a another tea party twit today, but tomorrow, who knows?

because akin sounds like he's been reading the jane's defense weekly for female sexual self-defense — "aeon flux: the herodotus file" (1995):

(story by mark mars and eric singer, art by eric canete and peter chung)

a debt ceiling carol

now that all the shouting's over — for a few hours at least — i believe it's time in the program for our musical number ...

quote of the week

rare candor from 91-year-old nazi-sympathizer and freshman martin harty (r-of course):

i'm a new hampshire republican representative. got slid in during the republican landslide last fall. so far i really don't know what i'm doing. the whole process is so alien to anything else. a new rep really needs a coach along with him at first but there is no room for anyone to sit with him, and no way they could holler at him in a committee meeting.

am learning the hard way. little by little. i think that a few of the other first time reps must be in the same boat with me. we're all sort of bluffing it out. the few votes i've made so far i really didn't know what i was voting for or against. just looked at the people around me and went along with them.

there is so much pomp and circumstance connected with the legislature. you have to separate the real doings from all the fluff. people who obviously are making very generous salaries come and go as witnesses before the various committees with tidbits of usually self-serving information. you wonder where the money is coming from to pay these people.

yes, slowly if i keep my health, i'll master this trade and hopefully be of some use to the state. i like to write about things and applied for this job mostly to have the opportunity to write about politics from the inside. they say the pen is mightier than the sword but you've still got to get your scribbling read by the people.

life imitating art

art:

life:

actually, allow me to set the record straight: birthers aren't imitating cartoons — birthers are cartoons ...

it isn't a costume

rich iott, ohio teabagger, republican congressional candidate and goose-schtepping playboy, inspires yet another winning untergang redub:

video of the day

i know it's still early folks, but ...

.

the hammer

when you have a hammer, people will bring you nails:

what’s the point of you saving this superb military for, colin, if we can't use it? — former un ambassador madeleine albright

the art of the backdown

house minority leader john boehner (R-OH) forecasting the 2010 midterm elections (apr 30):

inskeep:	i understand you're saying it's difficult to model this election. but when you look across the 435 seats in the house of representatives, how many seats are in play right now?
boehner:	well, typically, you are correct. there would be some limited number of seats in play. let me remind you that scott brown won the ted kennedy senate seat in massachusetts. if scott brown can win in massachusetts, there isn't a seat in america the republicans can't win. and what we're seeing every day is the playing field widen, widen beyond anything we've seen around here during my 20 years.
inskeep:	how wide is the playing field now, as far as you're concerned?
boehner:	at least 100 seats.
inskeep:	you think there are 100 seats in the united states that could change hands one way or the other.
boehner:	i do.

RNC political director gentry collins (may 11):

our scoring as of today has us looking at about 130 house seats as potentially competitive. ... just to be clear, i'm making no claim that we are going to pick up 130 house seats.

boehner (may 25):

whether we can get to a majority or not, is a steep climb. ... i do think that we have a reasonable chance.

house GOP deputy whip and NRCC recruiter kevin mccarthy (may 27):

mccarthy said that top GOPers have told him they hope to win in the neighborhood of 37 seats rather than 40 so they're in a stronger position to have good back-to-back cycles and win the WH in '12.

velkomm to der ussa

well, i guess we finally found out, didn't we?

time for some whine and cheese from the usual suspects:

march 21 10:45 pm eastern time: RIP USA.

USSA

the shift from personal liberty to federal tyranny is a done deal.

c-span would not take callers!! we have been silenced!!!

i feel sick. the fact that c-span was not taking callers was telling.

WOLVERINES!

but if obama and his liberal cronies get their way america will be changed forever

what planet r u living on.

they just got their way! no if’s about it.

&*@$, @#&%, %$#@*&^ **** **** ****!!!@!!

nazi piglosi and her comrades heading off to celebrate.

from now on i work as little as possible, and skirt all taxes possible, lets bring this f*cker down.

yes, i now will do only what is "according to my ability" and absolutely no more. welcome to the USSA

we the people are reaping what we have sown in our uninvolvement in this republic. these fascist federal oligarchs (read democrap party) could not rise to such power if we the people had been paying the requisite attention to our sovereign responsibilities.

there were 34 democrats who stood with the republicans in standing up for freedom in america. we should know who they are. because all republicans and democrats who voted for our freedom, should be recognized as patriots.

none of those democrats voted against the bill, they were allowed to vote no to cover their arses. they are ALL scum! eff them all!

i want to say this before my daily prayers. we are totally fu%%ked. it is time for patriots to take charge. pay no insurance premiums (ITS FREE!!!). pay no taxes (40% don’t —why do you??? idiot!!) (file an honest return because you can’t go to jail if you just file a return. check it out!!) .
we need civil disobedience like gandhi and certainly michael king (alias martin luther— what a joke)never dreamed. go to bed . pray and then let’s raise HELL!

i fully advocate the use of civil violence at this point.

that won’t happen, but I do have a baseball bat, various metallic projectile launchers, a feather pillow and a jar of honey.

damn them all to hell!

and damn to hell every freaking idiot who put these tyrants in power!!!

i would assume that that would include every conservative that sat on the couch election day to ‘teach’ the republicans a lesson! i guess you did that all right....and took the country down with your attitude. thanks, thanks so much. my question to all of you...HAVE YOU LEARNED YOUR LESSON??????? election have consequences!

the dems must be frog hopped out of their offices and put on trial for TREASON. no excuses, anyone who voted for this must be tossed out and denied any pensions and put in prison.

in ictu oculi, sic transit gloria mundi...

but don't worry if you've heard this sturm und drang all before — this time they really mean it!

pea-shooter 1, blimp 0

the best line from friday's much anticipated and overly hyped capitol hill sudden-death cage match bipartisan health care reform summit was president obama's response to house minority whip eric cantor, with a gratuitous assist by the daily show's jon stewart:

obama: we could set up a system where food was probably cheaper than it is right now, if we just eliminated ... meat inspectors.

absolutely effortless. like taking down a blimp with a pea-shooter.

gop retreat

... 90 MINUTES LATER ...

one of the little things that amused me about the obama deathtrap fail the GOP sprung on themselves last week was the sight — on nationwide tv — of the president's staunchest foes crowding him for autographs and handshakes at the end of their own richly deserved drubbing.

sure, a certain protocol allowed it, and the signature of america's popular first black president is probably already worth a lot, but, for the sake of their rabid constituencies, whom they've fed — as obama painfully spelled out — a nonstop diet of conservative populist hate since obama's election, their representatives could have waited for the cameras to go dark before bowing to their alien overlord.

but anyone familiar with the authoritarian mindset shouldn't be surprised. bullies respect only power and despise weakness. as far as the bully is concerned, it's your own damn fault if you can't keep him from stealing your lunch money. by stealing the GOP's lunch money and eating their lunch in front of them and a national audience, obama became an object of worship, something every bully can respect ... at least until frank luntz can come up with a new set of talking points.

when people start thinking you have no plan

... it's usually because you have no plan:

the white house had no contingency plan for health care reform if democrat martha coakley lost the special election in massachusetts, and officials did not discuss the possibility a democratic loss would dramatically imperil their legislative efforts, a top adviser said today. president obama's senior advisor david axelrod said there "wasn't much discussion" about an alternative path to passing health care with just 59 democrats in the senate because there was "widespread assumption was that that seat was safe." "the truth is the flares went up about 10 days before that election," axelrod said during a briefing today with reporters and opinion-makers. "there wasn't much discussion about the implications if the thing went the other way," he said.

this time, it royally sucks being right, but jesus aytch christ, just what other conclusion was possible? not only did no one in the entire party appear to know what was going on, but they all were yelling at each other and scaring the kids.

the ghost of condoleeza rice should frighten everyone.

it's bad policy to speculate on what you'll do if a plan fails when you're trying to make a plan work.

of mice and democrats

the obama legislative agenda was built around an "advancing tide" theory. democrats would start with bills that targeted relatively narrow problems, such as expanding health care for low-income children, reforming pentagon contracting practices and curbing abuses by credit-card companies. republicans would see the victories stack up and would want to take credit alongside a popular president. as momentum built, larger bipartisan coalitions would form to tackle more ambitious initiatives.

here's another theory:

any strategy that depends on your enemy doing what you want is doomed to fail.

so what's plan b?

convince the rest of us that just because you control three branches of government by overwhelming majorities doesn't mean you're not completely helpless:

it is mathematically impossible for democrats to pass legislation on our own. senate republicans [need] to come to the table with ideas for improving our nation and not obstructionist tactics.

this plan, of course, is based on the theory that the enemy will be shamed into helping you win when they realize they've kicked your butt ...

o captain

captain picard and dr. crusher, on the run on a hostile planet and victims of a mutual telepathic link courtesy of their captors:

crusher:	[stops in her tracks]
picard:	what is it?
crusher:	i'm not sure whether we should go over this hill or that one. the topography on this map is a little vague.
picard:	let me see. [scans map, then points] this way. [begins walking]
crusher:	you don't really know, do you?
picard:	what?
crusher:	i mean, you're acting like you know exactly which way to go, but you're only guessing. do you do this all the time?
picard:	no ... but there are times when it is ... necessary for a captain to give the appearance of confidence.
crusher:	[shakes head in amused epiphany]

this is what every leader pretends no one knows: never let anyone, not your enemies — but most importantly not your own crew — see you sweat. if you do, they won't be your crew much longer.

knowing that every leader knows this rule, what are we to make of the democratic leadership's reaction to the cloakley loss in massachusetts?

well, after months of analyzing senate procedural kabuki while being assured of the intricate tri-dimensional chess being played, we can now say with confidence that the democrats aren't sweating. no, the lieberman ratfuck was sweating. we are well past that.

even taking account of the ready-made obituaries rolled out with the morning headlines, after a race that had spiraled noisily out of control for weeks, it's excruciatingly clear the democrats never prepared for the loss. evoking the worst of the previous administration, there was no plan b. even before the votes were in, fingers were wagging and there was plenty of blame to go around, but no coordinated spin, no coherent message and absolutely no composure whatsoever.

ladies and gentlemen, this is open panic.

yesterday i asked, rhetorically: does the democratic caucus now limp along like a supermajority minus one or charge ahead like a majority plus eight? after all, there's always a chance democrats might not live up to their much-maligned image. i didn't have long to wait for my answer:

massachusetts election means that senate republicans have more responsibility to govern, not obstruct we welcome scott brown to the senate. while senator-elect brown's victory changes the political math in the senate, it does not change the challenges are country faces or the need to address them. we remain committed to strengthening our economy, creating good paying jobs and ensuring all americans can access affordable health care. senate republicans have an obligation to the american people to join us in governing our nation through these difficult times and to help clean up the mess they left behind. it is mathematically impossible for democrats to pass legislation on our own. senate republicans [need] to come to the table with ideas for improving our nation and not obstructionist tactics. saying "no" might be a good political strategy but it does nothing to create jobs or help improve the lives of struggling americans. we understand that there is great anger, anxiety and frustration among voters as the economy continues its recovery. that is why senate democrats will continue to do everything that we can to strengthen our economy, put americans back to work, reform wall street and address the health care crisis. republican hypocrisy on debt limit puts our economy, seniors and veterans at risk failing to raise the debt limit would undermine our nation's credit worthiness, badly weaken our economy and put social security and veterans benefits at risk. in 2001, america enjoyed a $236 billion budget surplus with a projected 10-year surplus of $5.6 trillion. republicans squandered those surpluses by spending wildly on massive tax breaks for the wealthy and special interests, leaving president obama with a $1.3 trillion deficit on the day he took office last year. now, as the time comes to take responsibility for those mistakes, senate republicans want to pass the buck. senate democrats didn't create this problem — we are simply cleaning up the fiscal mess that we inherited from the last administration in order to avoid the economic catastrophe that would be created if the united states defaulted on our debt. when they were in control, senate republicans voted seven times to raise the debt limit and refused to pay for the costs of major initiatives. their claims of fiscal purity do not square with their record of wasteful spending and excess. increasing the debt limit does not authorize a single penny of new spending — it allows the government to pay bills already incurred. standing against this measure would demonstrate yet again that senate republicans have no real plan to solve our nation's economic challenges they helped create. republicans, now more than ever, have a responsibility to work with us to move our nation forward with economic policies that continue us on the path to recovery.

charitable supporters will give them credit for attacking the party of "no!" but no crew wants to follow a captain that cries "uncle!" and begs his abusers for help.

sigh. looks like it's supermajority minus one full speed ahead, folks.

engage.