| Kos: "In the last week alone, following passage of the stimulus bill, the favorability ratings of congressional Democrats increased by a whopping 13 net points as formerly disaffected Democrats and leery independents registered strong endorsement of the bold action to fix the economy. A plurality of Americans - 46 percent - now approve of the congressional Democrats, compared to 45 percent who disapprove. Congressional Republicans lag far behind, with a dismal 17-68 favorable/unfavorable rating.
"For all the GOP talk of "unity" and having 'won the stimulus debate,' the fact is, the American people don't like them or their do-nothing obstructionist agenda."
Communist China is more popular than the Republican party.
Jon Stewart vs. Rick Santelli. Stewart makes the case that it was networks like CNBC that told people to go out and buy in the face of the downturn -- which makes Santelli's rant against "irresponsible" homeowners facing mortgages look...hypocritical?
And given that more than 11 percent of all mortgages are "troubled", according to CNN, it's hard to argue that so many foreclosurers are the result of personal irresponsibility.
Even I -- very familiar with John Yoo & the gang's possibly criminal obsequiousness to the Bush administration's views on executive power -- was a little shocked on some of the opinions they penned during their days at the DoJ.
Interesting news from the Bush DoJ: "In a memo written five days before President Barack Obama took office, Steven Bradbury, the then-principal deputy assistant attorney general, warned that a series of opinions issued secretly by the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel 'should not be treated as authoritative for any purpose.'
"Bradbury said he wrote the 11-page document to confirm that 'certain propositions' in memos issued by the Justice Department from 2001 to 2003 "do not reflect the current views of this office."
Hmm, sounds to me like they were busy covering their *sses from what they perceived to be actionable or even criminal opinions written for the Bush administration in the Gonzalez DoJ...
More good policy news from the White House: "President Obama on Wednesday ordered his administration to change how government contracts are awarded to private businesses, saying he intended to reverse some practices of the Bush administration and do away with no-bid contracts that have cost billions and led to corruption investigations."
Kevin Drum: "There are lots of things to hate about our current medical system, and all of us have our own favorite things to hate. This is mine: the fact that the system massively overcharges you if you're uninsured, and they do it just because they can. If you're uninsured, you've got no leverage, no alternatives, no nothing. So you get screwed. It's like the shopkeepers who charge twenty bucks for a pair of flashlight batteries after hurricanes. Maybe it's the free market at work, but if so, that's all the worse for the free market. In the healthcare biz, it just doesn't work."
The census is the new voter fraud.
Look who's going all "family values" on us! Diaper David!
Michael Lewis has a well-written and very interesting Vanity Fair piece on the collapse of Iceland's economy.
Sarah Palin: too sexy! Certainly the media was a little preoccupied with the governor's looks, eh?
A Republican House member from California believes we're entering Ayn Rand's world from "Atlas Shrugged." Of course, in reality, all the mediocre sluggards holding the rest of us down were the high-finance capitalists and their conservative enablers...
The Rush Limbaugh follies.
Act I: Newly elected head of the RNC, Michael Steele, slams Rush Limbaugh, calling him an "entertainer whose comments can be ugly." Act II: Limbaugh slams Steele, and calls for his supporters to deny the RNC donations. Act III: Steele apologizes. "...I have enormous respect for Rush Limbaugh,' said Steele, "I was maybe a little bit inarticulate. ...There was no attempt on my part to diminish his voice or his leadership." (Robert Gibbs: "I was a little surprised at the speed in which Mr. Steele, the head of the RNC, apologized to the head of the Republican Party.") Act IV: Bobby Jindal kicks Steele while he's down, saying Limbaugh "is a leader for many conservatives and says things people are concerned about." Act V: GOP "troops" tell Steele to STFU and raise money.
Tim Egan: "Limbaugh played his role, ever the fool. A brave Republican could have challenged him, could have had a 'have you no shame' moment with him, giving the party some other identity, some spine. Instead, they caved - from Steele, to the leaders in the House, Eric Cantor and Mike Pence, to Gov. Bobby Jindal, who would be ridiculed by Limbaugh for his real first name, Piyush, were he a Democrat.
"You could almost hear their teeth clattering in fear of the all-powerful talk radio wacko, the denier of global warming, the man who said Bill Clinton's economic policies would fail just before an unprecedented run of prosperity.
"But Limbaugh has a fear of his own. If people see him purely as an 'entertainer,' as Steele suggested, he will be exposed for what he is: a clown with a very large audience."
If you're a Republican and said something negative about Rush Limbaugh, the DCCC created a handy tool for you!
On the left, a debate opens around the fractures opening in the GOP. Former Salon and Clinton blogger, Peter Daou, opines that Democrats should not "elevate" Limbaugh as the face of the Republican party: "There was a moment, a brief moment, after Barack Obama was elected president, a moment long gone, where the likes of Limbaugh and Hannity could have become marginalized, bit players rather than media movers and shakers, the detritus of a sorry era. But instead, they have been granted more power -- out of some contrived political calculus."
Daou has two concerns: First, the toxicity of engaging Limbaugh threatens the political work that needs to be done for health care and the economy; second, that Limbaugh will wear Obama and Democrats down.
Sean Quinn begs to differ: "...the Obama brand and Limbaugh brand are in direct opposition. Obama's brand is about intellectual curiosity, empathy, personal respect for his ideological counterparts, and problem-solving. Limbaugh plays 'Barack the Magic Negro' on his show and makes fun of Michael J. Fox' Parkinson's disease."
For Quinn, engaging Limbaugh means cementing the narrative that won Obama the election in the minds of the voters, that the Republican party is of wild-eyed and unresponsive extremists, and Obama the antidote to what ails our political discourse. That is, by identifying the Republican party with its most toxic spokespersons, voters will continue to seek civility and serious policy from Obama and the Democrats.
It's hard to argue with the president's approval ratings, especially given the tenor and toxicity surrounding the debate over the stimulus package. |
