Day: 2/19/2009

Michael Steele’s All New Republican Partay

Posted by on February 19, 2009 at 5:47 pm. 1 Comments :

Republican PartayMichael Steele, the newly elected chairman of the Republican National Committee, was interviewed by the Washington Times and is apparently challenging Jon Stewart for the title of funniest satirist.

“Steele plans an ‘off the hook’ public relations offensive to attract younger voters, especially blacks and Hispanics, by applying the party’s principles to ‘urban-suburban hip-hop settings.’

Repizzles in hizzle, my bruthas. Or should I say, my president? (see video below).

The first problem he’s going to encounter is locating any “principles” in the Republican Party. Then he’s going to have to deal with the fact that what passes for principles are overtly hostile to the young and minority voters he wants to target. Then he’s going to discover that the problems his Party have been experiencing are not the result of bad PR in the first place. Their problems stem from bad ideas, disastrous policies, and embarrassing candidates. Undaunted, Steele is charging forward with his plan to revitalize the GOP. He intends to craft messages that will appeal to a broad cross-section of voters – from soccer moms to hockey moms. Seriously, that’s what he said. Steele rejects suggestions that his new campaign will be merely “cutting edge”:

“I don’t do ‘cutting-edge.’ That’s what Democrats are doing. We’re going beyond cutting-edge.”

Sure…you wouldn’t want to emulate the Democrats who have enjoyed massive electoral victories, taking control of both houses of Congress and the White House over the past couple of years. Steele is going beyond cutting-edge, by which he means attacking other Republicans. In the interview he takes the time to note a rift between himself and Karl Rove, who never sent him a card congratulating him on winning the RNC post. (Is this a budding turf war ala Tupac and Biggie?) And when colleagues expressed concern that he might need some help with organizational and fund raising activities he told them to “Stuff it!” Then he proceeded to slam their previous efforts saying…

“Where we have fallen down in delivering a message is in having something to say […] We missed the mark in the past, which is why we are in the crapper now.”

I’d have to agree with him there. Not having something to say can impair one’s ability to deliver a message. But pretending your down with the homies in the hood isn’t going to help him put more Repubs in Da House – or Da Senate either. All I can say is that, with a teaser like this, I can’t wait to see what Steele produces. Although a commenter on the Washington Times web site had an interesting take:

Big Time Patriot: Hey, the GOP already IS hip-hop, more specifically, the GOP are Gangsta Rappers…

They hate judges, don’t think laws apply to them, like to take drugs (Yeah thats YOU, Rush) and disrespect women. All they need are some nice Rim’s and they are all the way there.

Obama Must Reject Bush’s Imperial Bequest

Posted by on February 19, 2009 at 2:08 pm. 3 Comments :

The legacy of George W. Bush lives on in the form of executive powers that he invented in order to pursue his extra-Constitutional agenda. The risk of setting his megalomania into precedent was amongst the best reasons to prosecute and/or impeach him and his accomplices.

In Washington, it has been long understood that no one willingly cedes power. Now President Barack Obama finds himself in command of the regime that was built by Bush, replete with Imperial perks that defy Constitutional law. Obama must now reject them.

Bruce Fein, a conservative lawyer and author who courageously joined those calling for Bush’s impeachment, has written an outstanding article that enumerates the danger of doing nothing about Bush’s excesses. On matters from state secrets to extraordinary rendition to torture, Fein calls for a return to the rule of law, and he cautions that Democrats must not be so enamored of their shiny new president that they permit him to get away with retaining the tyrannical powers established by Bush.

Since most of the violations of the Bush administration were executed from the Oval Office, it is up to Obama to set the ship of state aright. And it is up to the people to make sure that he does so.

Rush Limbaugh’s Ego Is Fatter Than He Is

Posted by on February 19, 2009 at 12:22 am. 5 Comments :

President Barack Obama reiterated today that he is does not support the reinstatement of the Fairness Doctrine. He said so previously, during the campaign, and has been consistent in this regard. That hasn’t stopped the hysterical ranting of rightist fear mongers who seek to use the issue to stir panic amongst the peasants, and to shake them down for contributions.

There are even reports of clandestine meetings between mysterious plotters in Congress and the FCC. The purpose of these cabals is to impose the evil specter of fairness on America. Never mind that the alleged FCC and congressional participants flatly denied that any such meetings took place – and, of course, that the President wouldn’t sanction it anyway.

It is, however, no longer sufficient for one to unequivocally state opposition to the Doctrine. The anti-Fairness fanatics now insist that such proclamations are simply not to be believed. The plotters are purposefully prevaricating to permit them to proceed with their plot. What’s more, they contend, without any evidence, that the threat now extends to cable TV and the Internet, mediums for which the Doctrine never applied. None of these accusations are supported by facts – or reality – they are just regurgitated repeatedly by right-wing conspiracy theorists.

At the top of that heap is Rush Limbaugh. On his radio program today, he rambled through all of the usual delusional blather about the Fairness Doctrine, but strayed into territory even further from sanity. He now says that ACORN is “gearing up to enforce the same type of restrictions on broadcasting that the Fairness Doctrine would require.” He doesn’t bother to explain when ACORN got into the media business. I guess they are just a proxy for anything these braying asses feel like wailing on. After falsely accusing ACORN of voter fraud, and blaming them for the mortgage meltdown, and asserting that they are behind the return of the Fairness Doctrine, I expect the next startling revelation will be their membership in Al Qaeda (A-Qaorn?).

But Limbaugh is not off the crazy train yet. In a grand feat of self-obsessed paranoia, Limbaugh imagines that his thoughts on the Fairness Doctrine are being stolen:

“The Wall Street Journal, two days ago, asked me for an op-ed on this. I submitted the op-ed this morning. It is an open letter to President Obama asking for clarity and definitive answer on — on censorship of the media. Now, I’m wondering. I am just wondering if somebody along the line did not leak my op-ed and the White House heard of it coming and they want to preempt its publication.”

That’s the Wall Street Journal – Rupert Murdoch’s propaganda rag – that Limbaugh is accusing of sabotaging his op-ed.

“And outta nowhere, out of nowhere, on Fox, some spokesman says Obama’s not even considering it? Why now? I mean that didn’t come up at the housing meeting today. It didn’t come up in Denver yesterday. It hasn’t come up on Air Force One. Where did it come up from? I didn’t tell anyone. I mean, I told, you know, a couple friends that I was going to write this thing. It’s fascinating stuff going on there. The intrigue, ladies and gentlemen.”

That’s Fox News – Rupert Murdoch’s propaganda cable net – that Limbaugh is accusing of invading his mind.

The only problem with this exhibition of ego gone wild is that the issue of the Fairness Doctrine has been coming up for weeks. It has been written about in numerous conservative publications and web sites (see Human Events and World Net Daily). Robert Gibbs, the President’s Press Secretary, has taken questions about it in White House briefings – TWICE. It seems to be the most talked about issue in the media other than the Stimulus Bill. Just ask Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, and even Rush Limbaugh. Yet Limbaugh says that it hasn’t come up, and some unseen enemy with access to his dementia is leaking his brain droppings to Fox News and the White House. The dark forces are descending upon him even as he laments that he must refrain from speaking it aloud:

“I’m reluctant to talk about this, because I don’t want to sound like a victim. I don’t want to sound like, ‘They’re coming after me! They’re coming after me! (crying).’ But they’re going after any area there is dissent.”

For a guy who doesn’t want to sound like a victim, he sure seems to be focusing a lot on how the world is conspiring against him.