I just can't stop myself from mocking these idiots
Before I launch into this let me just say that I've grappled with it all day...I told myself last night that I'd done enough bashing of the modern Republican party for the week, but this is just too much for me to hold back on.
So yesterday I came back home after a meeting, it was late afternoon, 5-ish if I remember correctly, and I turned on the TV and opened up my laptop. Flipping channels a bit trying to decide what news program to watch, I came across C-SPAN and noticed that some sort of press conference was taking place with the Republican "leadership" in the House of Representatives. I recognized John Boehner and Eric Kantor immediately, I can't recall who the others were, but what was taking place was the unveiling of Republican alternative to the Obama budget that was released a few weeks ago.
"Well it's about fucking time," I thought to myself.
For weeks these guys have been running around playing Chicken Little about how all the spending in the Obama budget was going to turn us into the Soviet Union without having offered any alternative ideas themselves, and for a brief moment I thought, "whew...now finally both parties can sit down and negotiate and come to some sort of middle ground." And that's what I thought would happen all along. I've long believed that the Obama budget was a sort of moon and the stars wishlist that they knew would hald to be pared down a bit. I thought that the strategy that the White House was employing was no different from that of a person buying a house or a car. You go in with an initial offer that you know that you'll probably not get, but it's the starting point from which you negotiate.
So there I was passively watching this press conference and I have to tell you that I was beginning to feel hopeful, hopeful that all of the ridiculous posturing and game-playing by the Republican leadership had ended, that they've spent all these weeks crafting an alternative to be taken seriously, and that the nation's best interests would finally be served by having two opposing parties hammer out a budget that most reasonable people could live with.
But then as the hours passed it began trickling out into the media from people whose opinions I respect that had actually seen this new Republican budget, something called "The Republican Road to Recovery," that the plan was a horrendous piece of shit, a complete farce really.
Like, IT HAS NO NUMBERS IN IT!
Apparently what it is is a series of charts and graphs and pictures of bubbles and windmills (WTF?!) and such filled with all the usual Republican buzzwords and catch-phrases about tax cuts and spending cuts and such, but it contains no real numbers or any sort of deficit projections. It can't even be turned into the non-partisan congressional budget office for their analysis because, well, THEY CAN'T ANALYZE A BUDGET THAT DOESN'T HAVE NUMBERS IN IT!
Read more on this here, here, here and here.
I have to admit...I'm beyond beside myself here. I keep wondering who these people are and where did they come from? These asshats certainly aren't the people I aligned myself with when I registered as a Republican when I first registered to vote, that's for sure. This is just shameful. They're just playing games. They're not even trying. They essentially just threw together a pile of dogshit just so they can go before the cameras and have a big "the president is not living up to his promise to reach across the aisle" dog and pony show after Obama tells them to go fuck themselves for having the gall to waste his time with such cheese. It's all just a "well we offered a plan but he ignored us" political stunt. It's also tragic because the party in power needs a strong opposition to keep it in check. Especially in times like these. These are the people who so often claim to be the Patriots who love America more than their opposition does?!?!?!
Even further, witness Republican Party chairman Michael Steele in a recent CNN interview explaining how he's just playing everybody with all of the dumb things that come out of his mouth. It's all part of his master plan you see...
These people are just fucking clowns.
5 comments:
I think my favorite part is at the end of their happy little flow chart is their happy little upper middle class white family. I just can't believe that they only have one kid. Who is androgynous. Isn't that a sin?
I can't stop laughing.
"I think it's pretty neat that they decided to use those cute bubbles instead of numbers. Maybe next week they'll present their budget using interpretive dance or little animated jelly beans."
RJ
I can't read this thing. After every sentence proclaiming what they will do to, for example, provide "universal access to affordable health care", I just want to shake these people and scream "HOW? - how do you propose to do this stuff?"
And of course, that's the point - there is no how. Just like all those Glen Beck-style videos that blame everything on illegal immigration - all we have to do is keep these people out, stop bailing out deadbeat homeowners, cut, cut, cut taxes, and all will be well.
Cajunboy - I know you're not a local (as in Louisiana) blogger, but do you have any thoughts on how hypocritical it is of Bobby Jindal to complain about big government spending when he has just pledged $400 million in state money to help a private company purchase a failing chicken processing plant in North Louisiana? Yes, Bobby, who says we don't want to grow government, wants the state to help people grow chickens.
They only ideas that they Republicans have are the same recycled ones that have directly caused this historic mess.
The Party of No Ideas.
But opposition parties are always irresponsible; it's part of the job description. Notice how the Democrats went from wanting Bush to get out of Iraq immediately to adopting a plan that could have been written by Bush himself (though not McCain, who is totally off his nut on the war). That said, yeah, it would be nice to see the Republicans come up with an actual alternative. If Obama's long-term budget projections don't pan out, we're all fucked. It's a situation where a credible alternative might be worthy of consideration, but Boehner, Cantor, et al., ain't the people to present one. John Breaux, where are you when we need you?
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