Here’s a local news teaser you’ll never see:
Dog bites man! Film at 11!
I suppose a compilation of Republican mendacity and hypocrisy might warrant an equivalent shrug of the shoulders. Of all of the diaries in this series, this was the easiest to fill; in fact, the hardest part was deciding what to leave out – and that was plenty. (But please feel free to post in the comments any Hall of Shame favorites of your own!)
Regardless of the commonplace nature of Republican lies and hypocrisy, we must continue to expose them – we must continue to make sure the choice in this election is crystal clear. And that’s what this diary series is all about.
COOLEST UPDATE EVER: From Tchrldy in the comments:
I am sending your series to the more moderate Republicans I know. People who are generally conservative and pro-business but who oppose the crazy and the violent turn of the Repugs toward the Tea Party. Your installment yesterday convinced someone I sent it to in California to vote a straight Dem ticket for the first time ever. He thinks the crazies must be repudiated.
This is the third in a series of four diaries -
The Republicans, in their own words (Part 1): bats#!t crazy
The Republicans, in their own words (Part 2): bigotry, hate and violence
The Republicans, in their own words (Part 3): Big Fat Liars (and hypocrites)
The Republicans, in their own words (Part 4): 'Let 'em eat applesauce'
- in which, via the miracles of the video camera and the Internet, we remind ourselves just exactly what horrors await this nation in the unthinkable event that the people quoted here should take charge of the legislative branch of our government this January. In this series we aim, to paraphrase Stephen Colbert,
smear the Republicans with their own words.
Most of the quotes in these diaries are not from random Republicans; rather, they were uttered on the record by Republicans who have been elected to or nominated for office, or who are otherwise opinion leaders among the right wing.
Please bear in mind that while well-intentioned and diligently researched, these diaries by no means will comprise exhaustive lists of their respective genres. We still have nearly a week before the elections, and since every time the Republicans open their mouths a new bit of craziness or mendacity or hypocrisy or hatred or ignorance or bigotry or contempt for working Americans comes out, I fully expect that these lists could be added to, and soon. (Also, if the Republican running in your district doesn’t show up here it might be because (a) he/she is relatively sane, or (b) he/she is below the national radar, and there just hasn't been enough media scrutiny of his/her words.)
A bit of good news for those who are (as I am while at work) video-challenged: the "money quote" in each instance is highlighted, transcript-style, so there is no requirement to view the video. In fact, you can put to good use the time you save by not watching the video by sending a donation or GOTV instead!
Let's dive in . . .
"We do have to hold employers accountable for hiring only documented workers, and we do have to enforce that law."
-- California Republican gubernatorial nominee
Meg Whitman, Sept. 28, 2010
"D'oh!" (okay, so I'm paraphrasing a little)
-- California Republican gubernatorial nominee
Meg Whitman, Sept. 29, 2010
"We've drawn a line in the sand. You can ask me about background, you can ask me about personal issues. I'm not going to answer."
-- Alaska Republican senatorial nominee
Joe Miller, vowing to remain silent
about his personal history for the remainder
of his campaign when pressed about his job history
Huh- why would you say that, Joe? Oh, that's right: because YOU LIED.
"I might also note that the middle school itself required us by a contract for a campaign, required us to have a security team."
"There was a -- a private security team that was required. We had to hire them because the school required that as a term in their lease."
-- Alaska Republican senatorial nominee
Joe Miller, regarding an incident at a townhall
meeting his campaign hosted
Joe Miller is a liar.
"The unemployment compensation benefits have gotten -- first of all, it's not constitutionally authorized."
-- Alaska Republican senatorial candidate
Joe Miller
Maybe you're not lying, Attorney Joe - maybe you're just a moron.
"What we have in this country is an entitlement mentality. Entitlement, not just as individual but even at the state level."
-- Alaska Republican senatorial candidate
Joe Miller
HYPOCRITE. Joe Miller's wife took unemployment benefits after working for him.
"We’re not the Tea Party candidate, so avoid that language . . . "
-- Alaska Republican Senatorial nominee
Joe Miller's campaign manager
O RLY, JOE?
"The growth of stimulus programs, the growth of basically government bailouts to industries that are failing, it's not the American way, it's not the free market way. And it's killing the competitive edge."
-- Alaska Republican senatorial nominee
Joe Miller
Riiiiiight. That must be why you took over $20,000 in farm subsidies, right, Joe? 'Cause you're un-American, right?
"Attack big government spending, by holding up to public scrutiny those federal government projects which are merely political favors and pork barrel projects . . . "
-- West Virginia Republican senatorial nominee
John Raese
Uh, John - your hypocrisy is showing.
"[I do] not believe the federal government is capable of picking ‘winners and losers’ and should not remove capital from the private sector to create more government programs and jobs, which are unsustainable . . . Government doesn’t create jobs – the private sector creates jobs."
-- Wisconsin Republican senatorial nominee
Ron Johnson
D'oh! Ron - whaddaya mean, "Government doesn't create jobs"? It created yours -
"I think everyone agrees that we should extend unemployment benefits, but one party is using this as a political tool while the other party wants to extend the benefits and pay for them."
-- North Carolina Republican Sen.
Richard Burr
Burr is full of it:
"My generation . . . went to integrated schools. I went to integrated college -- never thought twice about it."
-- Mississippi Republican Gov.
Haley Barbour
Haley Barbour is full of it.
"I wasn't there. I didn't structure that deal."
-- Republican House minority leader
John Boehner, referring to the Bush tax cuts
Boehner flat-out lied.
"Do you know, where does this phrase separation of Church and State come from? Does anybody know? . . . Actually, that's exactly, it was not in Jefferson's letter to the Danbury Baptists . . . The exact phrase 'separation of Church and State' came out of Adolf Hitler's mouth, that's where it comes from. Next time your liberal friends talk about the separation of Church and State ask them why they're Nazis."
-- Delaware Republican congressional nominee
Glen Urquhart
(Urquhat LIED. Actually, that language is in Jefferson's letter to the Danbury Baptists.)
"The Iran Sanctions Bill, it was originally Kirk-Andrews, but if you were going to move it, that means you need to adjust to the power of the House. This legislation eventually became Howard Berman's legislation, who is the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. He had my full approval in moving that forward under his badge."
-- Illinois Republican Rep.
Mark Kirk
Hey, Mark - your nose is growing.
"I'm not going to do any more national media because this is my focus: Delaware's my focus, and the local media's my focus, and it's frustrating because I've let the local media know they're my priority but our phones are ringing off the hook that they can't get to me. It's actually become an interference with the campaign."
-- Delaware Republican senatorial nominee
Christine O'Donnell
No more national media - except Fox.
"Today, just two years after Barack Obama was elected president, government share of GDP in America is 44 percent. Government in America is today spending well over 14.5 trillion dollars a year."
-- Arizona Republican congressional nominee
Ben Quayle
Uhhhh - no. Sorry, Ben; you're either a liar or an idiot. Possibly both, given your lineage.
"Look, we never talked about privatization of Social Security . . . I don't know anybody who wants to privatize it. I don't know a single person. Maybe somebody up here does. I don't know who that person is."
-- California Republican Rep.
Dan Lungren
O. M. G. He said that with a straight face?
"I have not spent lobbying dollars in Washington."
-- Connecticut Republican senatorial
candidate Linda McMahon
That's a lie.
"Mr. Blumenthal knows very well that when I was talking about 'taking a look at' and 'considering.' it was relative to an increase in the minimum wage, and that's a mischaracterization. I just won't stand for mischaracterization of that . . . I would never advocate lowering or reducing the minimum wage."
-- Connecticut Republican senatorial nominee
Linda McMahon
AND THE TRUTH GETS BODY SLAMMED!! OOOOHHH!!
"I don't discriminate in my practice, and though I'd prefer to have less government intervention in ... medicine, I put my patients first in this matter."
-- Kentucky Republican senatorial nominee
Rand Paul, explaining why Medicare accounts for
half of his income
Rand Paul: Cut Spending But Not Medicare Doctor Payments
'Nuff said.
"When Planned Parenthood challenged New Hampshire’s parental notification law, Kelly fought them all the way to the Supreme Court and won."
-- New Hampshire Republican senatorial nominee
Kelly Ayotte, from her website
I guess Republican attorneys general are accustomed to LYING.
"Barack Obama raised the most significant questions himself. He said, after he came to the U.S., that he traveled to Pakistan. Now at the point that he traveled to Pakistan it was not legal to go there with a U.S. passport . . . it's my understanding the Supreme Court is actually looking at this question [of whether Obama was born in the United States}."
-- New Mexico Republican congressional candidate
Steve Pearce
Pearce's assertions are BOTH LIES.
"[A] lot of liberal groups -- National Resources Defense Council, League of Conservation Voters, Center for American Progress, AARP, MoveOn.org -- do not report their donors."
-- Republican strategist
Karl Rove
Lemme ask you, Karl - just why is it, do you think, that when I look up the word, "LIAR" in the dictionary, that I see your picture next to it?
"The hate crimes bill that's called the Matthew Shepard bill is named after a very unfortunate incident that happened where a young man was killed, but we know that that young man was killed in the commitment of a robbery. It wasn't because he was gay. This -- the bill was named for him, hate crimes bill was named for him, but it's really a hoax that that continues to be used as an excuse for passing these bills."
-- North Carolina Republican Rep.
Virginia Foxx
"People were so desperate for someone pure that had character and integrity. They saw a guy they really trusted and believed every word I said. They turned me into something surreal to them."
-- Colorado Republican gubernatorial nominee
Dan Maes
"I was about laughed out of town for bringing to light what I called 'death panels' because there's going to be faceless bureaucrats who will based on cost analysis and some subjective ideas on somebody's level of productivity in life — somebody is going to call the shots as to whether your loved one will be able to receive healthcare or not: to me, death panels. I call it like I saw it, and people didn't like it."
-- Former Alaska Republican half-term governor
Sarah Palin
"They want to transfer authority for your health care to a government bureaucrat so a bureaucrat will decide if you get in to see a doctor, when you get in, and what level of care you will get. We as individuals for the first time in America will lose control over our healthcare decision making."
-- Minnesota Republican Rep.
Michele Bachmann
"I’ve never been to a tea-party event. No one representing the tea party has ever even approached me."
-- David Koch
David Koch, Godfather of the "Tea Party" "movement," is a lying sack of shit.
"We must stop pandering to the pornographers and the perverts, who seek to target our children and destroy their lives . . . I don't want [children] to be brainwashed into thinking that homosexuality is an equally valid or successful option. It isn't."
-- New York Republican gubernatorial nominee
Carl Paladino
Carl Paladino accusing homosexuals of being "pornographers and perverts?" That's rich. WARNING: NOT SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN OR WORK
"I don’t ever recall talking with the [Dept. of Energy] secretary about the biomass industry."
-- New Hampshire Republican
Charlie Bass
Charlie Bass is a lying sack of crap.
"Discera does not have an operation in China. They're based in San Jose, Calif., and they're based in Ann Arbor, Mich."
-- Michigan Republican gubernatorial nominee
Rick Snyder, referring to a company he heads
D'oh! -
Discera Establishes State-of-the-Art China Applications Center in Shenzhen
"[The Democratic stimulus bill is] a trillion dollar spending spree that offers very little hope of job creation or economic growth . . . this bill is more about stimulating the government and rewarding political allies than growing the economy and creating jobs."
-- Texas Republican Rep.
Pete Sessions, Feb. 2009
Pete Sessions, September 2009:
"It has come to our attention that the City of Carrollton, Texas, has applied for [stimulus-bill funding] . . . Carrollton’s project will create jobs, stimulate the economy, improve regional mobility and reduce pollution . . . In order to expedite this ‘shovel-ready’ project, the City of Carrollton is requesting $81 million in [stimulus] funding . . . I respectfully request full and fair consideration of this application . . . "
"Christine O'Donnell was absolutely correct. The First Amendment says nothing about the separation of church and state . . . And the left has taken this to say that religious people cannot be in government."
-- Rush Limbaugh
Sorry, Rush, but you are the very definition of a Big Fat Liar.
"The Republicans have lost their standard, they’ve lost their principles."
-- Nevada Republican senatorial candidate
Sharron Angle
Okay - I'll give you that one.
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