Thoughts of the Day on the GOP

From Maureen Dowd*:

“Who would ever have thought blacks would get out and support the first black president?  Who would ever have thought women would shy away from the party of transvaginal probes?  Who would ever have thought gays would work against a party that treated them as immoral and subhuman?  Who would have ever thought young people would desert a party that ignored science and hectored on social issues?  Who would ever have thought Latinos would scorn a party that expected them to finish up their chores and self-deport?”

From Ross Douthat**:

“But if DeMint-style retrenchment was necessary for Republicans, it wasn’t anywhere near sufficient.  The conservatism of 2011 and 2012 had a lot to say about the long-term liabilities of the American government but far too little to say about the most immediate anxieties of American citizens, from rising health care costs to stagnating wages to the socioeconomic malaise spreading across the country’s working class.  Neither the Reagan legacy nor the current conservative catechism holds the solutions to these problems; they require Republicans to apply their principles more creatively, and think about policy anew.”

What Douthat says is true, but fails to capture the raw ickiness and insanity of the current GOP.  He argues that the GOP needs to address our concerns, while Dowd argues more dramatically and more convincingly that the GOP needs to stop grossing us out.  Like his own characterization of DeMint, Douthat’s prescription may be necessary, but it sure isn’t sufficient.

* “A Lost Civilization,” NYT

** “The Years of Senator DeMint,” NYT

Lunch with Todd Akin for $2500

Four GOP senators — Tom Coburn, Jim DeMint, James Inhofe, and Lindsey “Butters” Graham are hosting a fundraising lunch in D. C. for Todd “Legitimate Rape” Akin next Wednesday.  For $2500, you can meet Mr. Akin and learn how lady parts magically distinguish rapists’ sperm from consensual sperm.  Every time!

Seems all is forgiven by the GOP.

But not forgotten by the voters of Missouri.

And Here Comes the Money

Following up on his endorsement of Todd “Legitimate Rape” Akin,  SC Senator Jim DeMint is now putting his (or his Tea Party group’s) money where his mouth is.  DeMint’s Senate Conservative Fund just promised Akin $300,000.

Keep your eye on the money as the GOP now turns its back on its turning its back on Akin.  If DeMint’s in, Preibus and Rove won’t be far behind.

After six weeks of suffering the GOP’s “punishment,” Akin will bask in six weeks of their passion to gain control of the Senate.

The extremists in the Middle East chant, “Death to America!”  To me, giving power to idiots like Akin represents a death to the America I love.  We are dying from within.

Curtain Falls on Akin Kabuki Theater

When the GOP tried to distance itself from Missouri Senate candidate Todd “Legitimate Rape” Akin, it was a case of false outrage meeting the false belief that only false rape claims can result in a pregnancy.

Well, as I’m sure Todd Akin himself knew would happen if he hung tough and stayed in the race, the GOP is now embracing Akin instead of pushing him away.

Because the truth is that there’s no daylight between this current crazy incarnation of the GOP and the crazy Akin.  The anomaly was their pretending he wasn’t one of them, a hypocrisy that Mike Huckabee had the honesty to point out about Akin’s August 19 remarks.

But now instead of throwing him under the bus, they’re circling the wagons for Akin.

Newtie campaigned for him on Monday, and today Rick “Frothy” Santorum and South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint, the Tea Party’s favorite senator, endorsed him.

DeMint’s endorsement is huge because he controls the Senate Conservative Fund, which has millions to spend.  Aside from his own fund, DeMint wants the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) to put back the funding it pulled from Missouri.

This obviously isn’t just about Missouri.  Voting for the GOP in any congressional race or for Mitt tells them that their Taliban views on women are okay.  If they get the votes, they won’t change.  Why would they?

The GOP must be decisively told to lose the crazies or lose elections.