John Boehner and the Implosion of the Republican Party

If you have followed this blog at all, you already know I have worked hard to expose how awful former Speaker of the House, John Boehner is, which makes it just that more delicious when even Boehner compares Ted Cruz to Satan. To be fair, I suspect Satan looks at Cruz and says: “Gosh, you are kinda mean.”  Boehner’s exact words in describing Cruz were: ““Lucifer in the flesh… I have Democrat friends and Republican friends. I get along with almost everyone, but I have never worked with a more miserable son of a bitch in my life.”

My own bias is that yes, Cruz is an awful human being. He is explicitly anti-woman, anti-gay, anti-choice, anti-immigration, in fact, I’m not certain there are actually any people he likes, save for white Christian men–OY! Of course, given the wide berth his colleagues give him, the feeling seems to be mutual. I wonder if we need to ban Cruz from using public bathrooms.

This most recent trouble with Cruz is indicative of something greater at work–the implosion of the Republican party. The wave of Tea Party (right wing extremists) have pulled the GOP into a direction that makes a train wreck look like a lovely afternoon outing. I submit all of the GOP presidential debates as evidence. Cruz’ bizarre attempt at courting Indiana primary voters by trotting out Carly Fiorina as his running mate seems desperate but also exceedingly ignorant, as it holds no weight. If this becomes a contested convention, then the delegates pick the VP candidate. The implosion of this party manifests itself by working to hurt most United States citizens.  The rise of this hateful state has also emboldened the Chief Obstructionist and Racist, Mitch McConnell.

While it becomes more apparent everyday that Cruz needs to be sent to Guantanamo Bay, sadly, that would make him the only person currently that should be there. Let us not forget how equally awful John Kasich is, despite that “Golly Gosh” grin of his.

GOP leaders seem shocked that decades of discrimination and obstruction have left them with these yahoos as their candidates. Many congresscritters running in tight races have even said they won’t show up at the convention. Sorry, folks, but you built this — walking away won’t change a single fact, for you all have created a dirt that just won’t wash clean.

Hero of the Week Award: January 4, Pat Brady, Illinois Republican Party Chair

Hero of the Week

It’s always nice to recognize the best behavior in unexpected places. The Illinois General Assembly is considering a bill that would make the Land of Lincoln the tenth state to legalize marriage equality. Governor Pat Quinn (D) is pressing lawmakers to complete pending legislation before the new Assembly is sworn in on January 9, requiring a fresh start on the process.

Things look fairly promising for the bill, but there are enough recalcitrant Republican state senators that it could be derailed. Enter Pat Brady, Chair of the state’s Republican Party since 2009. Bucking his party’s national platform and its codified homophobia, Brady is encouraging his party members to support equality for all citizens of their state. He’s not just issuing a press release, either; he’s making individual calls to each Republican Senator.

What’s Brady’s message? It’s pretty simple.

It’s time for people to support this. […] Giving gay and lesbian couples the freedom to get married honors the best conservative principles. It strengthens families and reinforces a key Republican value – that the law should treat all citizens equally.

Bravo!! How wonderful to see the word “conservative” used in a meaningful way rather than a destructive one! Some people still use the Tea Party dictionary, however. NOM, a recognized HATE group by the SPLC, not content with the money they wasted in the November elections, has pledged $250,000 to defeat any Republican who votes for equality and has called for Brady’s resignation. That’s just one more sign he’s doing the right thing.  Thank you, Chair Brady, and well done.

Death Knell For the Republican Party

That tea bag sure doesn’t cover much…

As the GOP Convention grows ever nearer and the Republican Platform is now in place, I have to reflect and mourn for what was the Republican Party. While I actually probably identify as a socialist, I am, nevertheless, forlorn at the demise of what was the Republican Party, or more specifically in despair at what has replaced the GOP. For those paying attention and not watching Fox (Faux) News, it is painfully clear that ignorant white “christian” racist, homophobic, women hating heterosexuals known as the Tea Party have taken the GOP hostage and have bullied their way into controlling a discourse that affects an entire nation.

I simply cannot understand how any Gay, Black, Latino, Poor, Woman and the myriad other marginalized people would vote for the lying bigots that are Romney and Ryan.  For those who discarded Michele Bachmann, I have to ask, “have you not noticed that she and Ryan are basically twins?”  They have identical voting records: both consistently vote against women, against the LGBT community, against the middle class, and both are millionaires.

Unfortunately, I had to listen to the lying bigot Romeny address an uber conservative population in Ohio and his exact words were: “It is time to get a Republican back in the White House.”  Ick, Ick, Ick!  This is not the sentiment of what is best for Americans, but rather Romney has demonstrated complete partisanship as well as his own pathological narcissism as his driving force.

How embarrassing is it that we have a political party that stands on the principles of hate?  What message does this send to the rest of the world?  Do Romney, Ryan et al have any idea of what the word Fascism means?  Two white (allegedly heterosexual) men making decisions about women’s health and agreeing with Todd (Mr. Misogyny) Akins as well as saying they want to repeal all civil rights gained by the LGBT community, while protecting the 5% of the wealthiest Americans.  Someone please jump in here and help me understand why anyone would vote for these people?  Never mind the loss of the party of Lincoln; this is not the party of Gerald Ford, of Eisenhower, and it most certainly is not even the party of their much heralded Ronald Reagan.  This political party is the party of white right wing religious extremists.  I only hope America is paying attention and not buying into the insurmountable lies from these rancid tea bags.

Wednesday Word of the Week: March 2

More Similar Than We Imagined

This week’s word is RHINOCEROS.

a large animal with very thick gray skin and one or two horns on its nose. It lives mainly in southern Asia and Africa – Macmillan Dictionary online

I have always been fascinated by rhinos. They are so large and yet so peaceful. I enjoyed pretending to be a rhinoceros when I was a child and have many toy rhinos as a result. My favorites are the two-horned varieties, the enormous black rhino and the relatively small Sumatran rhino (which is also fairly furry for a rhinoceros).

As you might imagine, I did a real double-take the first time I heard the acronym RINO: Republican In Name Only . Associating the Republican Party with my favorite animal leaves a bad taste in my mouth to start with; the disparaging tone of the label also seemed disrespectful. After the last election cycle, however, I’ve been thinking a great deal about the RINOs and their fate.

The concept of the RINO is a politician who does not adhere strictly enough to the national party platform. In general, as the Republican party has become more conservative, fundamentalist, and compromise-averse, this has meant that so-called moderate Republicans have been considered RINOs. Standard examples are Maine’s two Senators (Collins and Snowe), Florida’s former Governor Charlie Crist, and Delaware’s former Congressman Michael Castle. The stands these politicians take on abortion, the Iraq war, gay rights, the Federal stimulus, and other issues make the far Right look at them askance.

As the Tea Party has ascended in Republican circles, those politicians deemed insufficiently conservative have seen much more aggressive electoral challenges than ever before. Whereas once the Republican party would tolerate the seniority of someone like former Senator Arlen Specter (Flip-Flop, PA), many of these politicians faced stiff opposition in primaries.

Although statistically the number of incumbents who lost their seats in 2010 was not far from the average, the nature of those unseated is remarkable. Former Utah Senator Bob Bennett, generally considered a moderate, lost his primary. Specter switched parties to avoid a similar fate (to no avail, since the Democrats wanted a candidate of conviction, not of convenience.) In Delaware, Castle could have easily won the Senate seat, but his primary defeat by the colossally underqualified and incompetent Christine O’Donnell let the Democrats keep the seat. Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski also lost her Senate primary, although she kept the seat by going Independent.

In all of these cases, the moderate, experience politician was pushed aside by a strident, narrow-minded opponent bent on opposing everything the President does and adhering to a very strict conservative code. As a result, the chances of a collaborative Congress went down as the nation’s need for bipartisanship went up. All of this got me thinking, again, about my friend the rhinoceros. The two R(h)INOs have more in common than I thought at first.

• They are generally peaceful (often opposing the Iraq war, for example)
• They are slow moving (not quick to rush to judgment or escape a vicious target)
• They may survive in a refuge (just ask Sen. Murkowski)
• As far as I can tell, neither species is fond of tea

Most tellingly of all, however, if the Tea Party has their way, both seem to be headed toward extinction.

Wednesday’s Word of the Week

I take great pleasure introducing Lex Kahn as a regular contributor to The Solipsistic Me.  Lex will now be doing his regular Wednesday’s Word of the Week.  I’m certain you will enjoy it as much as I.

WebWordWarrior’s Wednesday Word of the Week:

This week’s word is BIPARTISAN. It seems like such a friendly word, doesn’t it? We use it to imply that there is some sort of cooperation happening. But what does it really mean?

of, relating to, or involving members of two parties (Merriam Webster Online)

Well, that doesn’t mean much at all! Our Congress certainly has two parties, so their actions are, by definition, always bipartisan. A few members of Congress, like the recently retired Arlen Specter, are even bipartisan all by themselves.

Fortunately, we have a colloquial definition that implies some level of cooperation is involved. That’s why we hear “bipartisan” used so often, especially by the Republicans in Congress. Unfortunately, there is a vast divide between the use of the word and the practice of the speakers.

One need only look at the behavior of the Republicans in the Senate to understand that when Mitch McConnell says he wants a bipartisan solution, he really wants the Democratic majority to give in to the wishes of the Republicans. Sure, two parties are involved, but there is no real negotiation or compromise. Instead, needed legislation is watered down to meet the demands of a party that isn’t interested in that legislation in the first place.

Sadly, we now have a truly bipartisan Congress, with each chamber controlled by opposing parties. That should lead to real dialogue, shouldn’t it? The Republican-controlled House must carefully consider the legislation it passes on to the Senate and vice versa. Sadly, no. House Republicans have made their agenda quite clear: to spend two years blocking progress and making President Obama unelectable in 2012.

An election putting the Republicans back in full power would take the “bi” out of bipartisan. What does that leave us with?

Partisan: a firm adherent to a party, faction, cause, or person; especially one exhibiting blind, prejudiced, and unreasoning allegiance

Now that sounds a lot like the Republican method of governance.

Mitch: You will do as I say! Harry: Teamwork makes decisions easy.

New GOP Chairman: Oregon Bucks the Trend Again

Reasonable Repbulican

This week the Oregon Republican Party selected Allen Alley as their new Chair. After the frightening choices made recently to lead the New Hampshire GOP and the Republican National Committee, it was heartening to see our home state select a voice of reason to lead a major political party. Alley, co-founder of semiconductor company Pixelworks, is a well-spoken, experienced businessman. He has nearly a decade of experince in public service as well, having served in econonmic capacities for Oregon’s last two governors. It is definitely worth noting that both Governors were Democrats; this speaks highly of Alley’s ability to work across partisan divides and focus on what’s good for the state.

Alley is a fiscal conservative who has run for public office twice, losing the race for Treasurer in 2008 and losing the GOP primary for Governor last year. His campaigns have focused heavily on ecomonic growth and fiscal stability. A look at his campaign website from last year’s gubernatorial run shows that he is moderate on hot-button GOP issues, being vocally pro-choice and supporting Oregon’s domestic partnerships for LGBT couples.

As you may remember, Oregon was one of the few states largely untouched by the Republican wave during last November’s midterm elections, re-electing all four Democratic Congressmen, a Democratic Senator, and a returning Democratic Governor. It’s nice to see the Oregon GOP respond by picking someone bright, talented, and reasonable rather than brewing up a cup of bitter tea.

Priebus: Machiavelli? McCarthy? Maggie’s Main Man.

When Reince Priebus broke the Seventh Seal – oops! I mean won the chairmanship of the RNC on the seventh vote – yesterday, most people had probably not heard of him. As this blog noted months ago, he’s a particularly nasty piece of work. He’s a regular practitioner of the Obama/Osama comparisons who actually called for the President’s execution. (He was named Keith Olbermann’s Worst Person as a result.) As outgoing Chairman Michael Steele’s former right-hand man, Priebus’s tactics for winning the vote have earned him comparisons with Machiavelli. As chair of the Wisconsin GOP, his sadly successful effort to unseat Russ Feingold have led people to ask if he wants to return the state to the age of McCarthy.

So what does Reince Priebus want to accomplish as national head of the GOP?

• He believes that all Republican candidates must pass a conservative litmus test to be supported by the RNC.
• He is rabidly anti-choice.
• He is a typical Republican stimulus hypocrite, claiming that the legislation was a costly failure even though he served on a team at his law firm that helped clients compete for stimulus funds.

Gays getting married! Isn't that horrifying?

They must be stopped! God told me so.

Priebus is also extremely anti-gay. When NOM’s Maggie Gallagher interviewed candidates for the RNC post in December, Priebus did a six-minute diatribe promising he will do everything he can to oppose marriage equality.

The selection of Reince Priebus is another clear move in the GOP’s lurch to the intolerant, oppressive right. I shudder to think what kinds of candidates he’ll use post-Citizens United funding to promote.