Words (almost) fail me.
From www.dcexaminer.com
The Happy Party
By Byron York
Chief Political Correspondent 2/8/09
You see it all over Capitol Hill, in the hallways, the hearing rooms, the gathering spots. Republicans, coming off a devastating, across-the-board electoral defeat, are ... happy. Being in opposition, after eight years of a Republican presidency and 12 years of GOP rule in Congress, suits many of them just fine.
It’s not that they were glad to lose. There are a lot of indignities involved in being the minority, and a pretty small minority at that. But talk to Republican lawmakers and insiders these days, and they speak as if an enormous weight has been lifted from their shoulders. Some of that weight was named George W. Bush, but in a larger sense, Republicans are relieved to be free of the burden of running things.
Taking a page from the last scene of "Gone with the Wind" (with Lindsey Graham as Scarlett), the Republicans have decided to put on a happy face and spread sunshine all over the place. In what has to be one of the most incredible pieces of partisan journalistic bullshit ever written, Byron York tells the world what a blessing and a joy it is for the Republicans to be as useless as tits on a bull.
They lost in 2006? Smile! They lost in 2008? Smile! They've got zero prospects for regaining the White House? Smile. They're going to loose more House and Senate seats in 2012? Smile! Sarah Palin will be their nominee in 2012? Smile! Seriously, boys and girls, whom does York think he's kidding. These guys are spitting mad right now. And the only "honest" statement in this piece of crap is when he says the Repubs are glad to be rid of Bush. No shit.
This happy face routine may work with what little is left of their "base" but the rest of the country is not that frigging stupid. The truth is that they are beginning to turn on each other. It's already begun with the shunning of Senators Snowe, Collins, and Spector. And if you google "Republicans in disarray" you'll get 203,000 hits.
But the best part is the schism that is fomenting within the party. Believe it or not, there are still some Republicans who actually are rational, thinking, sensible people. I know, few and far between. But they see what a shambles the far right has made of the party and are fed up. And on the other side we have what I call the "Limpublicans". These are the "true believers" who will drink Rush Limbaugh's Kool-Aid forever. And that's the real problem the Republicans face.
As long as Limbaugh keeps up his daily rants, the reality-based side of the party is doomed to failure. Which is just fine for the Democrats. Some people questioned whether it was wise for President Obama to invoke Limbaugh's name last week and thereby elevate him to a higher level of legitimacy within the Republican party. I think it was f'ing brilliant. Obama knows that it doesn't take much stroking of Limbaugh's ego to get him to go to greater depths of wingnut lunacy.
So if I were a betting man, I'd say put your money on the Limpublicans.
And to Mitch and John and Lindsey...Keep smiling!