Once again, gentle reader, I hold up the other party for ridicule, mockery, abuse, contumely, and obloquy. Why? Because I like it. And I think many of you find RMACO of Republicans equally amusing.
Let's begin with a case that hasn't gotten too much attention here on the Kos. Diaper Dave Vitter had an aide (Brent Furer) who attacked his girlfriend with a knife. Which is generally regarded as a bad thing.
Furer plead guilty in 2008. He was retained on Vitter's staff until this year, when the story finally broke. As Vitter's point man on women's issues.
Mockery continues below the fold.
Talking Points Memo has a nice article.
Brent Furer pled guilty in 2008 to attacking his girlfriend with a knife, but was nonetheless retained in Vitter's DC legislative office in the role of legislative assistant for women's issues until the details of Furer's crime were publicized in late June. He subsequently resigned. In Louisiana today, Vitter categorically denied that Furer worked on women's issues in any way. But numerous records and published accounts prove otherwise.
Now, let's review Vitter's history on women's issues. First, Vitter said that Clinton should be impeached over Lewinsky - and said that the perjury aside, the adultery was sufficient. Then, we discover that Dave likes to call brothels and allegedly be diapered.
In that context - rigid sexual mores when applied to others, no consequences when doing something worse with his own plumbing - we can see a pattern here. Who better to work women's issues - including domestic violence - than a man who uses a knife to help him work out issues with his girlfriend?
Moving on to the fair state of Nevada, we find Sharron Angle. Her threat to sue Harry Reid, for having re-hosted Angle's old candidate website, has been diaried to death here on the Great Orange:
Evil Paula
Front Page by Barbara Morrill
There are more - search. So I won't belabor the facts of the case. I'll just move straight to the RMACO. The whole point of a candidate's website is to persuade people to vote for you. Presumably, this was the point of Angle's old website. In which case Harry Reid, by getting voters to pay attention to Angle's website, would be doing her a favor. Why sue, then?
Obviously, she doesn't want voters in the general to see what she wanted voters in the primary to see. First, this suggests the GOP bosses view the Tea Party the same way the DSCC etc. treat the DFH wing of the Democratic Party. Second, this suggests that even Angle knows that some of her stuff won't fly. Third, it raises the question of how many Republicans in Congress know they are adopting policies which are stupid, but can't help it, because the Limbaugh-ruled base demands it.
A Daily Kos favorite target is Rand Paul. Who pledged, when running in the primary, to accept no money from anyone who voted for the TARP bailout - which is close to original sin in the Tea Party canon. Now that Paul needs money for the general, guess what?
Paul easily knocked off the establishment candidate, Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson, whom McConnell supported, in the May 18 primary.
In his victory speech, Paul warned that "a day of reckoning" had arrived for the Washington establishment.
Thursday Kentucky's senior senator hosts a fundraising reception and dinner in the nation's capitol for Paul.
Co-hosting the functions is Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. According to an invitation obtained by CNN, 10 GOP senators and 9 Republican House members are part of the welcome committee for the events. The invitation suggests donations for a reception at the NRSC headquarters as $1,000 for individuals and $2,000 for political action committees. Donations for a dinner at Bistro Bis, a restaurant a few blocks from the U.S. Capitol building, range from $4,000-$5,000 for PAC's.
The day of reckoning has arrived, and the Washington establishment reckons you'll fit right in, Rand. Once again, we find that the far right cannot function in the real world - instance # 1,234,567,890.
Georgia Gubernatorial candidate Nathan Deal promises to deport illegal immigrants.
In the first TV ad of his campaign for governor of Georgia, former Rep. Nathan Deal (R) is promising to use local cops to deport illegal immigrants -- and daring the federal government to try and stop him.
I don't have a PhD in geography, but so far as I know, Georgia has exactly one border which is also a national border. It's called the Atlantic Ocean. Does Deal propose to have local cops sail 12 miles out to sea and toss the undocumented overboard? That's pretty harsh, even by Republican standards. Or will he just dump them across the border into Alabama, South Carolina, Florida, or Tennessee? That's a good way to become the most popular governor in Dixie.
Moving one state over to Florida, we find the wholesome Jim Greer. Greer, you may recall, lost his job as head of the Florida GOP for allegedly skimming money. He has plead not guilty. However, when the GOP eased him out, they promised him a $120K severance package. Now that the whole sordid mess has come to light, they don't want to pay. So he's suing them.
Greer was pushed out in January, as the party tried to scrub its image in the wake of reports of lavish spending. Party officials negotiated a severance package with Greer. According to Greer, that agreement is a binding contract. But according to the party, the agreement was never finalized and is null and void.
The severance package offered Greer 11 months of consulting fees totaling $123,750, close to his annual salary of $130,000, plus health benefits.
Only in the Republican Party is being a corrupt, stupid, venal, epic failure rewarded with a lucrative consulting contract. We can only hope that the Republican Party continues to view running a political party as a good way to get rich.
And last, but never least, we have the hip-hop diggity wiggity stylings of Michael Steele. Afghanistan is a war of Obama's choosing.
Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele suggested at a Connecticut fundraiser that Afghanistan is "a war of Obama's choosing" despite the fact that it began years before the president took office.
This represents a challenge. What could possibly be said to mock this comment? The war began in 2002. At that time, President Obama was in the Illinois State House. The war was ostensibly in response to the 9-11 attacks. Does Mr. Steele want to suggest that we should not have invaded Afghanistan post 9-11? In which case, should he not be pointing his criticisms at GW Bush?
But I'll do my best. Afghanistan is the war of Obama's choosing just as the deficit is the result of Obama's policies; just as Deepwater Horizon is the result of Obama's policies; just as the recession is the result of the Community Reinvestment Act.
Having said that, I'll let the esteemed Pat Oliphant mock Steele better than I can ever hope to mock.