About The Cantor Thing

Eric Cantor lost his primary against a nobody yesterday - and I imagine you've prob'ly heard all about it already, so I don't need to rehash it.

But there's not a lot of celebrating going on at VA-GOP HQ today, cuz here's the thing most Teabaggers just don't get:

Because of Eric Cantor's position as House Majority Leader, Virginia's 7th District has been the 2nd most powerful Congressional District in all of USAmerica Inc.  Out of 435 voting districts, only John Boehner's (OH-08) has more clout and influence than VA-07.

Guess what happens now?  Almost 600,000 Virginia voters are about to get shuffled to the bottom of the deck.

I think that's not necessarily a bad thing - if power doesn't change hands once in a while, we get some pretty shitty results (kinda like what we've been seeing for the last 20 years or so).  Just keep in mind that in politics, even when you get what you want, you don't always get what you want.

hat tip = Balloon Juice

Today's Douchebaggery

Via HuffPo:

Rep. Michael Grimm (R-N.Y.) got in a reporter's face and threatened him after President Barack Obama's State of the Union address Tuesday night.

During an interview with NY1 after Obama's speech, Grimm refused to answer questions about allegations concerning his campaign finances. Grimm can be seen in the video walking away from the reporter, but returning and getting in the reporter's face after he went off air.

From CNN:



Quick Aside to the CNN Anchor Blonde:  "...don't let it happen on camera, if you're gonna let it happen at all".  Really?  That's your take-away?  You guys say shit like that and then you wonder why your numbers are spreading into the leach field?

Quick Aside for the NY1 reporter guy, Michael Scotto:  Yo, Mike - ya gotta stay on camera even when you're afraid you're about to take a whuppin'.  I know it goes against your survival instincts, but if we get to see you cowering a little - or even better, gettin' yer ass kicked by some Congress Goon - it makes for great television.  Cuz never forget: if it bleeds, it leads.  Could make ya a star.  But really, ya done awrite, bubba.

Anyway, this is Grimm's "statement" to HuffPo afterwards:

I was extremely annoyed because I was doing NY1 a favor by rushing to do their interview first in lieu of several other requests. The reporter knew that I was in a hurry and was only there to comment on the State of the Union, but insisted on taking a disrespectful and cheap shot at the end of the interview, because I did not have time to speak off-topic. I verbally took the reporter to task and told him off, because I expect a certain level of professionalism and respect, especially when I go out of my way to do that reporter a favor. I doubt that I am the first Member of Congress to tell off a reporter, and I am sure I won’t be the last.

So ya see, he was doing NY1 a favor by graciously deigning to cast a few pearls before the swine.  But then that bad ol' reporter just had to go and ruin a beautiful moment by trying to ask a buncha uppity questions about how maybe the guy's a fuckin' crook.

For future reference, Mr Grimm - you just lost all your Bitchin' Privileges when it comes to the GOP's standard Blabber Point of "America's sense of entitlement".

One last thing - Grimm didn't "tell off a reporter" - he threatened that reporter with grievous bodily harm because the reporter tried to do what we desperately need reporters to do.  Scotto was pretty gracious about it - saying he didn't take it seriously - but let's not be silly enough to think a tin-plated martinet like Michael Grimm wouldn't love to do exactly what he threatened to do.

Watch your 6, guys.

Today's Quote

(via Charlie Pierce)

War is in fact the true nurse of executive aggrandizement.

In war, a physical force is to be created; and it is the executive will, which is to direct it.

In war, the public treasures are to be unlocked; and it is the executive hand which is to dispense them.

In war, the honours and emoluments of office are to be multiplied; and it is the executive patronage under which they are to be enjoyed.

It is in war, finally, that laurels are to be gathered, and it is the executive brow they are to encircle.  --James Madison, 1793.

The Amazing Charlie Pierce

Copied in it's entirety from Esquire - picture and all:

Jesus god, Ed fking Meese?

Shortly after President Obama started his second term, a loose-knit coalition of conservative activists led by former Attorney General Edwin Meese III gathered in the capital to plot strategy. Their push to repeal Mr. Obama's health care law was going nowhere, and they desperately needed a new plan.

I didn't know that there was an Old Timer's Game for Authoritarian Yahoos.

Will the sad detritus of the Saint Ronnie administration ever stop fouling American public life? We have Our Lady Of The Magic Dolphins on the teevee almost every weekend. We had a whole clutch of the foreign-policy fantasts rehabilitated during the late reign of C-Plus Augustus. And now, this guy, who once advocated concentration camps for student demonstrators, who personally oversaw the most embarrassing "investigation" into the porn industry ever conducted, and who functioned as lookout and getaway driver for the Iran-Contra crooks, up to and including the increasingly dim president himself, comes back to help screw up the nation again. Nobody listens to Gary Hart, but Edwin Meese III still has a place in public life. Wingnut welfare is forever.

At least part of the blame has to be shared by those nominal Democrats who, either through their silence on the crimes of that era, or in their admiration for Reagan's "style" and toothy obliviousness. (The latest of these, alas, is Chris Matthews, who has written a book about how Tip O'Neill and Ronnie made politics "work," and who, between 1980 and 1982, probably sold out truly progressive politics for at least two decades.) A number of truly horrible things were set in motion in our political life in the 1980's. The people responsible never have really been called to account for it. Now, one of the worst of them is back, doing further damage. I am, frankly, stunned.

The Enormity Of It All

e·nor·mous  adj. 1. Very great in size, extent, number, or degree. 2. Archaic Very wicked; heinous.

This guy on Chris Hayes last nite used that word a buncha times, and I'm wondering if his usage was just supposed to indicate 'big', or if he meant to include the 'heinous' implication as well.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Ed Note:
I realize I've been a little heavy on the MSNBC material lately, but y'know - when I test this stuff for fact-worthiness and reasonableness, and I filter out the partisanship, I notice that even while a lot of the 'lefties' are twisting sideways trying to defend Obama's administration, Rachel and Chris et al are reporting the shitty things that happen right beside the stuff that's OK and/or Pretty Decent and/or Wow-Ain't-That-Fuckin'-Awesome (there's really not a lot that falls into that last category - but still).

Anyway, I haven't gotten to many solid conclusions yet on what's been going on with National Security the last 20 years or so.  I can say there's something about anything called "The Department of Homeland Security" that feels creepy and sinister - it just goes against every impulse I think every American is practically born with - or at least should learn and understand as we grow up.

I don't know how much of The National Security Machinery needs to be dismantled and  discarded, but I think we have to understand that putting that kind of power in too few hands always gets us trouble, so we'd better figure it out.  Too Big To Fail is a major problem when it comes to business; when we're talking about Government, you're always in danger of creating something that becomes Too Big To Fuck With.

Is It Really Real? - updated

So, right on schedule, The Curse of the Second Term comes home to Obamaland.

The IRS thing is a bit lame when I stop to think that every Prez (at least since Kennedy) has used the threat of an IRS audit to fuck with their political enemies.

And scooping up the AP phone records has a good solid stink to it too, even tho' it's pretty easy to remember how lotsa people tho't that was just peachy under FISA and USA PATRIOT Act.  Yeah, it sucks, but c'mon.

I'm not saying we shouldn't slap some people around if they've pulled some shit - but I will say a coupla things that I think oughta get said.

First, this is a game of power.  If you give anybody the power to fuck with people, you'll need to try a little harder not to act surprised when they start fucking with people. Power will be abused.

Second, stop giving them that kinda power.  The laws they're hiding behind can be changed.  We can do that here in God's America.  Maybe we could try evoking a little of that Star-Spangled American Exceptionalism we hear so much about (that nobody seems to understand very well).

ie: These little games are played everywhere, all the time - we're supposed to be THE EXCEPTION.  See how that works?

Scalia's Hat

No, seriously - I think there may somethin' wrong with this guy.

That Tax Cut Thing

Don't like the message?  Make it disappear and then slam the messenger.

Addicting Info:

On September 14th, the Congressional Research Service published their long anticipated study on the correlation between the tax rates and economic growth from 1945 to today. If you go to their website today, however, the report is mysteriously missing.

Before it vanished, the New York Times downloaded a copy, which they now offer on their website. When you read the report, the reason for the pull might be as simple as what the report discovered.

Uh-Oh

I've seen a lot of posts in the last several months - on Lefty/Progressive websites mostly - that put up quotes or video clips from some "conservative" or another saying something that seems to be outside the norm for what passes for conservatives these days; asking what's happening to the Right Wing?  Why do these guys sound kinda reasonable all of a sudden?

Judge Napolitano on DumFux News:


Some are saying it's because the freaks that have been created by Rush and Rupert over the years are now out of the lab and threatening the villagers, so the propagandizers are trying to walk it all back a little.  Or maybe it's because Roger Ailes knows how to read, and he sees the polling numbers are softening to the point of meltdown.

Why does a media conglomerate that has no qualms about identifying itself as a proponent of an ideology suddenly veer away from that ideology?  I dunno, but I really do hope it's something mundane like Ad Revenues or Voter Disgust instead of my own little paranoid visions.

It pays to remember that the bad guys don't show up looking like the bad guys.  That's how they get in.  Tyranny and subjugation always arrive draped in a flag, clutching the scared text.

US Senate tries again on SOPA and PIPA.

Michigan's Public Act 4

Olbermann On Joe Pa

It's one of the saddest things ever. Joe Paterno has been a hero for a lot of us for a very long time. And while I think this is something that happened as much in spite of his management rather than because of it, I also think this is a good example of what can happen when somebody stays in a position of great power for way too long.

Word is that Paterno will resign at the end of the season. I have to agree with Keith on this one (fire his ass today), but I'd go one more step and say that Paterno should be in front of a judge right now, trying to make a case for why he should not be in jail.

Same Shit, New Day

In a very real sense, everything the Watergate Burglars did in 1972 - hijinks that got them sent to jail, and which then led directly to Nixon's resignation (one step in front of Impeachment, Conviction and Removal) - can now be considered reasonably within the law.

NYT Editorial:

Instead of tightening the relaxed rules for F.B.I. investigations — not just of terrorism suspects but of pretty much anyone — that were put in place in the Bush years, President Obama’s Justice Department is getting ready to push the proper bounds of privacy even further.

This is not what I voted for in 2008.