Adolescent Temper Tantrums

Well, it looks like the GOP is in a complete state of disaster. Kevin McCarthy has withdrawn his bid for House Speaker. John Boehner will stay on until a replacement is found. The Tea Party and far right conservatives have thrown their tantrum, tearing down the house (literally:)) that gives them a home...just like the teenager rebelling against mom and dad who thinks that their adolescent dreams of anarchy are preferable to the status quo.

Does the conservative base, who has nothing but hate and bile for their leadership, understand exactly what they are doing?

Bill channels Markadelphia

On any normal day, I'm the one that usually channels my inner Maher and riffs off of it. A couple of weeks back, though, I think it was the reverse.

During his final New Rule on November 5, 2010, Maher lamented the Stewart-Colbert rally and, at several points during the commentary, he sounded just like me.

You see, Republicans keep staking out position that is further and further right and then demand that the Democrats meet them in the middle. Which is now not the middle anymore.

Sound familiar? It should because I've been saying it for years now. In a non Bizzaro world, I am center left. In a world that has been consumed by the right wing blogsphere and the likes of pathological ideologues like Thomas Sowell, I am condemned as a communist.

Of course, it's not entirely their fault.

And the biggest mistake of modern media has been this notion of balance for balance's sake; that the left is just as cruel and violent as the right; that reverse racism is just as damaging as racism.

Until more people stand up and call the Right for what it is now, we will continue to have this distorted view of reality. Unfortunately, this is going to either require large quantities of cash or for people not care about cash and actually think. The latter is going to be a tough row to hoe.

The simple fact is that these people have convinced millions of American citizens that donating money to rich people is a good thing. And protecting the wealth of rich people against the Big Bad Wolf (government) is the very definition of freedom. Talk about useful idiots....

Here's the full clip:

Martin Luther King spoke on that mall in the capital, and he didn't say, "Remember, folks, those sheriffs with with the fire hoses and the German Shepherds, they had a point too!" No. He said, "I have a dream. They have a nightmare."

Indeed. Make no mistake about it. It IS a nightmare. Like Bill, I'm through pretending.

In A Nutshell

If an alien were to land on our planet and wonder what the difference between a Democrat and a Republican was in how they governed, Andy at electoral-vote.com summed it up perfectly the other day.

The Democratic Party wants government to help the sick, the weak, the poor, and the middle class in their perpetual struggle for a better life against powerful forces that want to exploit them. The Republicans oppose this and believe it is "every man for himself." They want a smaller government that intrudes less in people's lives (except when it comes to anything touching sex, like abortion and homosexuality, in which case the government should dictate acceptable behavior).

I suppose I get why people are against abortion because they see it as murder. That's fine. But why all the anti-contraception stuff then? More importantly, why do they care so much about gay marriage? It makes no sense to me whatsoever coming from the same crowd who is pathologically against government intrusion into people's lives.

In our state we are currently going through yet another recount. Should the battle drag on past January, Tim Pawlenty has vowed to stay on as governor with the Republicans having won back both houses in the state legislature. Their first priority?

A state constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.

Second Chances

The Republicans have been given a second chance with an overwhelming victory in the House by somewhere between 60 and 70 seats becoming red. What does all this mean?

Well, it means that Last in Line was closer than me, by far, on the prediction and that's all that matters.

Seriously, though, I have many thoughts on the election last night which will trickle out over the next few days but here is what I am thinking now.

First up is obvious frustration. How is it that the American people just voted a massive group of individuals into office most of whom were the chief cause of our massive economic problems? Our federal government failed to regulate the private sector and we just elected people who ran on a platform of less regulation. I don't get it. In my opinion, it's going to make things worse. Much worse.

Moreover, I don't get how a party which has now clearly moved to the right is saying they are going to "help" the American people when that help is from the government. Yet they are about less government. So they are....not going to help us? How is that going to work? Their platform makes no sense. It will be interesting to see how this plays out with the Tea Parties who won.

I actually liked John Boehner's speech last night although I'm wonder if my "thinkers and not feelers" in my readership did. He cried. Does that mean he's feeling instead of thinking? If that's the case, there might be some hope for him.

There also might be some hope for Republicans. They seemed quite humble in their victory and did not overreach too much. I guess we'll get to see if that translates into action when they get into session.

Going far right didn't work in the Senate, though. Harry Reid is still around and the GOP completely blew it in Delaware and possibly Colorado. And what will happen in Alaska with "Write In" beating Palin anointed and armed guard user Joe Miller? They could've had both houses and really blew it because of the Tea Party.

In my own home state, the GOP took control of both state houses but (probably) elected Mark Dayton as governor. WTF???!! Dayton made no bones about being very liberal and wanting to tax the rich. So he wins and others lose? It's going to be VERY interesting here.

In my own district (MN-03), I'm happy to report the highest voter turnout in our history! Over 485,000 votes were cast. Erik Paulsen, the Republican, will continue as my representative, getting 90 thousand more votes than he did in 2008. To give you an idea at how massive this is, Jim Meffert, his challenger, get the same number of votes this year (178K) that Paulsen got in 2008. I'm not happy with the result, obviously, but I'm very proud of the voter turnout. I hope we keep it up!

So, what was this election about? Was it really a condemnation of Obama's policies? Certainly those who don't like them will say that. I think it was more about anger and frustration--two emotions the right has always been able to harness quite well. I only need to point to this example.

Last summer, I ran into a friend of mine named Rachel at the gym one night. She lives in MN-03 just like me. The subject of politics came up and her faced turned mean. "I hope we throw our bum out of office. He's the worst rep we have ever had." Not knowing her exact politics, I said, "So you hate Paulsen then, huh?" She nodded her head and proceeded to go on a tirade about government, health care and entitlements. "But Paulsen voted against all those things. He's been a staunch conservative and against President Obama on everything," I politely informed her.

"You mean my rep is a Republican?" she replied. "I'm a Republican. Wait...what district do I live in again?"

I think I know the answer to my questions above.

Election Day

Today is election day. First of all, I want to say...GO VOTE. People that bitch about the state of things affected by politics (which is mostly everything) and don't vote are full of crap. It's like complaining about your sex life and refusing to engage in coitus. It makes no sense.

So what are my predictions for today?

The Senate will hold for the Democrats at 53-47. Given the unpredictability of Alaska right now, it could very well be 54-46 with Scott McAdams pulling out a victory. I'll stick with 53, though, as we could see some surprises.

The Democrats will lose a total of 40 seats in the House but pick up another 5 from some of the heavily Democratic districts held by Republicans. That puts the number at 220 D and 215 R. In all honesty, this is probably the worst outcome.

What I would like to see, based on all that has gone on since the last time I made a prediction, would be for the Republicans to net around 42 seats...putting them at 220 and the Dems at 215...give or take a few. When all the hysterical laughter has died down about "beating" Pelosi (which actually won't be true as she will probably be re-elected as well to her district) and the Right has enjoyed their main goal in life (winning the argument or, in this case, the vote), they are going to have to govern...govern with a dozen or more Tea Partiers who will now be in charge of committees. That means that people like Michelle Bachmann are going to be given the spotlight and, lordy oh lordy, I want them in that spotlight.

The American people want things yesterday. Generally speaking we are impatient little children who think that it only takes 18 months to fix giant catastrophes. Even ones that have taken 30 years to make. In the next couple of years, people are going to start to see the benefits of the work of the 111th Congress and President Obama. When they start to "feel it," as Velma Frank put it so eloquently to the president a few weeks ago, they need to see the contrast of Michelle Bachmann, John Boehner and the rest of the lapdogs to corporate money screaming about socialism. Finally, much of what I say on here will make sense.

"But wait," the electorate will ask, "these new programs work and actually help out country. Why are they foaming at the mouth?" For the most part, the American people need to see that contrast otherwise it won't make any sense to them. With a five vote majority in Congress for the Dems, they will never see it and the chances of Obama being a one term president rise significantly. If the 5 vote majority is the other way, it works out better. The GOP is essentially just as limp but still in charge which means the blame (and the increased attention) will go to them.

There is no doubt in my mind that the 111th Congress will be remembered as one that told the truth and took action when it wasn't politically advantageous to do so. Yeah, they were spineless about a few things but they could've been worse. They did what was best for the country regardless of their political lives. And now they might lose because of it. I think, in many ways, I have been way too critical of them.

At least they aren't our possible new Speaker who sends out a laughable "pledge" to America that doesn't offer anything that the movement they co-opted to stay alive actually wants in the way of spending cuts for entitlements. I think it's going to be quite enjoyable, should he win, to watch him try to placate the loud yet small group of mouth foamers that want to abolish Social Security on one hand and keep his base of frightened old people on the other. Pelosi might have her problems but she wasn't a gutless turd like Boehner is going to be.

If the GOP does end up winning small majority in the House (and I sincerely hope they do), moderates, liberals, progressives, and all the rest of us that are to the left of the one yard line on the football field need to take heart. I know it will be tough to see the adolescent glee at winning which they will take as being proved "right." Shining examples of this will be seen in comments should a GOP victory come to pass.

Like all bullies though, it doesn't take much to see the insecurity lurking beneath the surface. They know that the history of our country is filled with successful and very popular social FEDERAL programs as well as government regulation. They don't like that at all. An example of this distaste can be seen in the comments thread with my socialism pledge. None of them have taken it. Or refused to take it. What does that tell you?

Regardless of what happens today, they will still be afraid. Very afraid.

And that explains quite a lot.