Althouse: "Tea party Republicans were elected to go to Washington and save the country

November 3, 2010

"Tea party Republicans were elected to go to Washington and save the country—not be co-opted by the club."

"So put on your boxing gloves. The fight begins today."

Says Jim DeMint.

104 comments:

Scott M said...: Hasn't he been a card-carrying member of the club for a while?; 11/3/10, 1:02 PM
Triangle Man said...: Freshman Congressmen are famous for their ability to immediately expertly navigate the procedural and political maze of Capitol Hill. I wonder which plum committee spots they will get?; 11/3/10, 1:04 PM
Robert Cook said...: The "tea party" republicans were paid for by the club...they are the club...or will be once they're sworn in.; 11/3/10, 1:16 PM
Anonymous said...: The "tea party" republicans were paid for by the club...they are the club...or will be once they're sworn in.

What part of the universe is not a conspiracy, Kookie?

Jesus, you are tiresome.

And, I hate to invoke feminism, which I despise... but...

Your act is pure old fashioned John Wayne machismo. You alone are the superhero with vast knowledge of the world.

Steve Sailer calls your act the Smartest Man in the Room syndrome. The shtick of the Smartest Man is to juggle dozens of impossible theories and somehow manage to hold them all together.

Thus, engendering awe in the audience and winning the argument.

Any plans to every just be an ordinary Joe, Kookie? Or will you be saving the world with your incredible insider wisdom for the remainder of your life?; 11/3/10, 1:24 PM
Chip Ahoy said...: Speaking of mints, my original idea was to temper chocolate and flavor it with mint and pour it into my molds that are produced from my own carvings. The original carvings would all be common Egyptian hieroglyphic symbols. See? Minty chocolate goodness in Egyptian hieroglyphic form. I pass them out all over the place.

But then the single-source chocolate was so good by itself it would be criminal to ruin it with nasty chemical flavor. So now I have a ton of nasty chemical flavors and no practical use for them. Although children report they like the orange. Children got no class a'toll.

chocolate part 1
chocolate part 2

But this is a political thread innit. Observation. If the so-called Tea Party were to morph into an actual political party and not remain a simple insurgent movement with no precise leadership, and if the usually screechy and easily excitable Palin were to emerge as its leader, then they could re-name it the Mamma Grizzly party, and go the way of the Bull Moose.; 11/3/10, 1:34 PM
chickelit said...: What part of the universe is not a conspiracy, Kookie?

I suspect Cook smokes a fair amount of pot.
That would explain his paranoia.; 11/3/10, 1:35 PM
Anonymous said...: Any plans to every just be an ordinary Joe, Kookie? Or will you be saving the world with your incredible insider wisdom for the remainder of your life?

Quoting myself, Kookie?

Do you know how much freedom you get when you refuse to be responsible for saving the world?

I stopped saving the world, hell, three decades ago.

Saving the world was a drag.

When you volunteer to save the world, you are responsible for everything.; 11/3/10, 1:44 PM
Unknown said...: The Lefties are mad and throwing their usual tantrum because they didn't get their way (of course, they throw it when they do get their way, too).

DeMint and Coburn have been the freedom fighters through all this going back to fighting the free spending under Dubya. If they can hold the line (Coburn for Senate Majority Leader and DeMint for Whip, anyone?), you'll see Republican control of the Senate in '12.; 11/3/10, 1:47 PM
ricpic said...: Why not DeMint for minority leader in the Senate right now? Is it McConnell's by divine right? We need fighting blood now, not in 2012.; 11/3/10, 2:06 PM
I'm Full of Soup said...: You know what I'd like to hear from Washington DC? "Crickets" - that would tell me they are not screwing up something.

Or they could start dismantling some unnecessary depts. And fix one thing like social security. I was talking to an elderly uncle today and he said they could start by putting back the money [$3-$4 Trillion] they "borrowed" from the social security tax receipts.; 11/3/10, 2:12 PM
I'm Full of Soup said...: Ricpic:
McConnell does not strike me as a fighter either.

Get him to step down- he is a bigtime DC insider and is married to another bigtime DC insider, Elaine Chao.; 11/3/10, 2:14 PM
Scott M said...: I'm a big fan of them walking in the front door cutting every single department, defense included, by 5%. I've never been a part of any organization, military or civilian, that couldn't find 5% of crap to cut away.; 11/3/10, 2:15 PM
Irene said...: Oh great. Another reason to call Tea Partiers violent. I overheard a group of old lefties moaning about the "emotional" and "visceral" aspects of the right ("Mama Grizzly" analogies are scary, etc., etc., etc.).

Besides, macho-man Harry Reid played that boxing analogy last night.; 11/3/10, 2:17 PM
DADvocate said...: I stopped saving the world, hell, three decades ago.

Same here. Save yourself, your kids, your family. Enough people do that and the world doesn't need saving.

DeMint kinda addresses a problem - how much can get done in Washington that is worthwhile and effective. The backscratching, pork barrel, out of control spending has been going on so long and is so deep seated, it's going to be a hard habit to break.

Many of the left wing pundits have been complaining that the system is broken because tea party candidates were able to win nominations and win elections. That's democracy, not something broken. All the insider, loose speding politics, that's what's broken.; 11/3/10, 2:19 PM
MadisonMan said...: I'm a big fan of them walking in the front door cutting every single department, defense included, by 5%.

I think 7 or 8% would be doable. Maybe even 10%

I think a 5% reduction in workforce would work too. Except for Education and TSA. There, they should shoot for 100%; 11/3/10, 2:20 PM
Trooper York said...: The first rule of Tea Party fight club....you don't talk about Tea Party fight club...you just do it.; 11/3/10, 2:21 PM
Robert Cook said...: "I suspect Cook smokes a fair amount of pot."

Nope, never have, even back in high school and college when most of my peers were doing so regularly.; 11/3/10, 2:23 PM
Anonymous said...: Nope, never have, even back in high school and college when most of my peers were doing so regularly.

Jesus, Kookie, that's really scary.

So, what accounts for the universal conspiracy theories and your Smartest Man in the Room solution to all human problems?

Take my advice. Stop saving the world. Makes life a lot easier.; 11/3/10, 2:25 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: "Tea party Republicans were elected to go to Washington and save the country—not be co-opted by the club. So put on your boxing gloves. The fight begins today."

And this is what we call The Macho Response.

Come on, I did good with the name, didn't I? The name was fucking brilliant!; 11/3/10, 2:28 PM
traditionalguy said...: They first need is to stop the FED from its inflating of the currency at mega speed. That is the hole in the USS Middle Class that is taking on the water to sink us.Meanwhile while the DemonRats and the RINOs have taken all of the lifeboats for themselves and their billionaire friends. Will the new guys try to prevent this intentional sinking of the Middle Class's boat, or will they sell out for a small lifeboat space too?; 11/3/10, 2:30 PM
Robert Cook said...: "Many of the left wing pundits have been complaining that the system is broken because tea party candidates were able to win nominations and win elections."

The system is broken because both parties serve the same constituents, their true constitutents: the wealthy and powerful. Both parties are the parties of war and welfare for the rich.; 11/3/10, 2:30 PM
Robert Cook said...: "Take my advice. Stop saving the world. Makes life a lot easier."

Oh, I'm hardly saving the world. I'm just standing on the sidelines, bitching...fearful and wondering when violence will start breaking out in the streets and across the country.; 11/3/10, 2:33 PM
ricpic said...: When Cookie's worked out the deep deep conspiracy between the Trilateral Commission and Hadassah he'll be ready to save the world. But he hasn't tunneled down that far yet. Still digging.; 11/3/10, 2:35 PM
Scott M said...: The system is broken because both parties serve the same constituents, their true constitutents: the wealthy and powerful. Both parties are the parties of war and welfare for the rich.

You seem to be the most enlightened one around here, RC. Please inform us of a system of government that has existed, ever, that has not been in some way in the hip pocket of the rich and powerful. Please. We need you now more than ever.

You seem to perceive that you exist on a plane outside the one the rest of us mortals inhabit. How do things get done up there in Valhalla? Odin doesn't have his own hand in just about everything?; 11/3/10, 2:36 PM
Fred4Pres said...: It was must see TV last night: Comedy Central...oh wait, it is MSNBC!

Appropriate music. And no, it is not music for the guys going in, but going out.; 11/3/10, 2:37 PM
Cedarford said...: Edutcher - "DeMint and Coburn have been the freedom fighters through all this going back to fighting the free spending under Dubya. If they can hold the line (Coburn for Senate Majority Leader and DeMint for Whip, anyone?)"
==================

Hate to break it to you, but Republicans did not get a majority in the Senate. O'Donnell and Angle assured that. I think Coburn is a real leader, while Demint is a seeker of favor with his direction determined by his thumb to the wind.

Coburn is respected, but Demint is looked on like Lindsay Graham is - an opportunistic, camera-loving bomb thrower.

In any case, Republican leadership will be working with Senate Majority Leader "Dirty Harry" Reid.

Thanks to Angle. Even more than ditsy Christine - Sharron Angle should be a stark lesson to right wing true believers that ideological purity and running against a hated Senator isn't enough if voters determine that the hardcore right candidate is unfit for office.
The notion that voters want someone even less fit for high office than they consider themselves to be, trumps ideology.

"She may be unfit, but will vote as Goddess Palin directs..." wasn't persuasive to Harry Reid-hating Nevadans.; 11/3/10, 2:41 PM
Anonymous said...: The system is broken because both parties serve the same constituents, their true constitutents: the wealthy and powerful. Both parties are the parties of war and welfare for the rich.

And, so what? What makes you think that this is different than any other society at any other time in human history? What you've described is often called "the human condition." Some surprise that the system serves the rich and powerful! Know any place or time where that wasn't true?

Oh, I'm hardly saving the world. I'm just standing on the sidelines, bitching...fearful and wondering when violence will start breaking out in the streets and across the country.

Don't worry. that's not going to happen in America. Lefties have been predicting that kind of stuff forever. Partly, they're hoping it will happen. Sometimes, the left tries to make it happen, aka, the SLA. Starting a race war is one of the favorite fantasies of the far left. Charlie Manson was hoping for that one, too.

America is the land of the middle class. The middle class isn't interested in street fighting. Blacks are becoming middle class, so they're rapidly phasing out of the leftist plan for class and race warfare.

Don't worry about this stuff, Kookie. Give it a rest. You're wasting your time.

Middle class Americans are like me. They don't give a shit so much whether the CEO is making $12 million as long as they get their $50k to $100k. It eats at you, but that's your problem.

Most of us aren't too worried about abstract demands for justice.

The recession will end. People will make money again. The shopping malls and resorts will be full.

Get some for yourself and forget this shit.; 11/3/10, 2:42 PM
Hoosier Daddy said...: I'm just standing on the sidelines, bitching...fearful and wondering when violence will start breaking out in the streets and across the country.

You know you make an excellent point. I mean look at all those package bombs in Europe being sent to budget cutters and austerity proponents like Sarkozy and Merkel by leftists who are upset they won't be getting as much government largese.; 11/3/10, 2:43 PM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: I'm a big fan of them walking in the front door cutting every single department, defense included, by 5%. I've never been a part of any organization, military or civilian, that couldn't find 5% of crap to cut away.

This.

Plus they could say do 5% this year and another 5% reduction for the next 4 years.

DeMintt gave very good advice. I hope that the newbies listen and heed.; 11/3/10, 2:45 PM
test said...: MadisonMan said..."
I'm a big fan of them walking in the front door cutting every single department, defense included, by 5%. "

This is in general a good idea, although the number has to vary by department. But in practice you have to be in a position to act if you get unsatisfactory results. I recall hearings from the Reps effort to enact 1% across the board cuts, which resulted in every departemnt head explaining that that 1% was what kept it's department running.

Until you have someone who can respond "ok, then we'll get rid of the other 99%" you can't enforce the plan. You have to be able to get rid of the people who refuse to act, and Obama's not going to cooperate.; 11/3/10, 2:45 PM
Hoosier Daddy said...: Please inform us of a system of government that has existed, ever, that has not been in some way in the hip pocket of the rich and powerful.

That's easy.

It began with the forging of the Great Rings. Three were given to the Elves; immortal, wisest and fairest of all beings. Seven, to the Dwarf Lords, great miners and craftsmen of the mountain halls. And nine, nine rings were gifted to the race of Men, who above all else desire power.; 11/3/10, 2:46 PM
Scott M said...: HD

Only kings got the rings though, so, once again, the little guys (including everyone, not just hobbits) got screwed out of their own ring of power.; 11/3/10, 2:48 PM
Alex said...: And this is what we call The Macho Response.

Yes Crack, you are awesome.

*not worthy*; 11/3/10, 2:50 PM
Robert Cook said...: "America is the land of the middle class."

Not inevitably, and possibly for not that much longer.; 11/3/10, 2:51 PM
Methadras said...: I'm wondering how soon the republican establishment is going to send their staffers to start to help the current new crop of freshman congressman set up shop to spy on them. The leftards do it and I imagine the republican establishment does as well.; 11/3/10, 2:53 PM
Anonymous said...: Not inevitably, and possibly for not that much longer.

Lefties have been saying that my entire life.

Long ago, I realized that they were actually hoping for everything to fall apart so that they could launch their great revolution.

Sometimes, the lefties even decide to give the system a little push to see if they can knock it over.; 11/3/10, 2:53 PM
Methadras said...: Robert Cook said...

"America is the land of the middle class."

Not inevitably, and possibly for not that much longer.

I don't see you doling your way into improvishment. Practice what you preach, chump.; 11/3/10, 2:55 PM
Methadras said...: shoutingthomas said...

Your act is pure old fashioned John Wayne machismo. You alone are the superhero with vast knowledge of the world.

Steve Sailer calls your act the Smartest Man in the Room syndrome. The shtick of the Smartest Man is to juggle dozens of impossible theories and somehow manage to hold them all together.

Dude, you give captain commie-cookie to much credit. It isn't a schtick, he's just naturally stupid.; 11/3/10, 2:56 PM
Anonymous said...: Dude, you give captain commie-cookie to much credit. It isn't a schtick, he's just naturally stupid.

Well, no. Give the guy some credit.

He's so smart, he's stupid.

That's a whole different thing.; 11/3/10, 3:00 PM
Ignorance is Bliss said...: Tea party Republicans were elected to go to Washington and save the country—not be co-opted by the club.

Washington is the land of the Lotus Eaters.; 11/3/10, 3:18 PM
Alex said...: Yeah what about Shitmo? He really really really thinks he's the smartest man in the room.; 11/3/10, 3:19 PM
Jim said...: McConnell does not strike me as a fighter either.

Credit where credit is due. McConnell held the Republicans together in united opposition to Obama's programs. And that includes the Maine sisters, McCain, Graham, et al. That's no mean feat, and he deserves credit for that.

I highly doubt that DeMint would have been able to do so. I like him, and I like the vast majority of his ideas. But the skill set for leader is not the same as that required to be an ideological leader.

Better to let DeMint be DeMint and McConnell to be McConnell.; 11/3/10, 3:33 PM
Jim said...: Hasn't he been a card-carrying member of the club for a while?

Not a fair thing to say. DeMint has been leading the fight against earmarks, corruption, etc., often against his own party.; 11/3/10, 3:35 PM
Anonymous said...: Final, final, last visit before good-bye.

Yes, I was blind-sided. I was wrong. I am finished.

But, something worked in my scientific polling.

Senate seats: 54. Remember. I said it. We are close. I predicted Reid victory. I did so. My polling with Hispanic voters was accurate.

Of course, my GF, future inlaws, landlady, etc. do not buy anything anymore. WH has removed me from all communications.

But, I was partially, well, somewhat correct...

See you in 2012.; 11/3/10, 3:40 PM
Opus One Media said...: I think that if anyone asked S. Carolina for a repeat of December 20, 1860 there might not be a huge objection.; 11/3/10, 3:42 PM
Scott M said...: Yes, I was blind-sided. I was wrong. I am finished.

Are those your words, AP, or is the cribbed from today's press conference?; 11/3/10, 3:43 PM
Gabriel Hanna said...: @DADvocate:

Save yourself, your kids, your family. Enough people do that and the world doesn't need saving.

Screwtape agrees:

Do what you will, there is going to be some benevolence, as well as some malice,
in your patient's soul. The great thing is to direct the malice to his immediate neighbours whom he meets every day and to thrust his benevolence out to the remote circumference, to people he does not know. The malice thus becomes wholly real and the benevolence largely imaginary. There is no good at all in inflaming his hatred of Germans if, at the same time, a pernicious habit of charity is growing up between him and his mother, his employer, and the man he meets in the train. Think of your man as a series of concentric circles, his will being the innermost, his intellect coming next, and finally his fantasy. You can hardly hope, at once, to exclude from all the circles everything that smells of the Enemy: but you must keep on shoving all the virtues outward till they are finally located in the circle of fantasy, and all the desirable qualities inward into the Will. It is only in so far as they reach the will and are there embodied in habits that the virtues are really fatal to us. (I don't, of course, mean what the patient mistakes for his will, the conscious fume and fret of resolutions and clenched teeth, but the real centre, what the Enemy calls the Heart.) All sorts of virtues painted in the fantasy or approved by the intellect or even, in some measure, loved and admired, will not keep a man from our Father's house: indeed they may make him more amusing when he gets there.

We've all known people so full of love and concern and compassion for humanity, that they have none left over for real people.; 11/3/10, 3:43 PM
Clyde said...: Surprisingly, not everyone on the Left is oblivious. I read this comment in a Daily Beast thread about the MSNBC meltdown:

"Blue-eyed blues

"I get it now, I know why America has had it with liberals. I was at what was suppose to be a victory party for a local democratic politician last night... it was a concession speech. MSNBC was on TV half of the room cheered some of the comments by the MSNBC team while others were embarrased. Except when Bachman was on - they all cheered when he called her in a trance, then she dropped the big one.... the tingly feeling comment smacked Matthews and silenced the room. Right then I knew why America looks down on us libs and the night just fell apart from there.

"But that was not the worst of it. As results from the rest of Florida came in, my fellow dems got ugly. The continuous racial remarks about Marco Rubio and Allen West got down right ugly, words I would never utter myself and was shocked that democrats would speak them so openly in public. Then came the results that Lizbeth Benacquisto, a republican state senate candidate had won. She got national press for responding to her opponentsTV adds about abortion and rape with her own rape expirience. I was shocked with the remarks from a prominent local lesbian who told our little group in quite graphic terms of what she would do to her. That was it - I left the party.

"After the results from last night, the comments of MSNBC, the people I thought were my fellow dems and dreading having to go in to work today and face little miss tea party in my office I was close to calling in sick. But I held my head up and dragged my ass in, I got my coffee and waited for that smug little Palin wannabee to let me have it. Instead she came up to me and put her hand on my shoulder and asked how I was doing. I sat in my office and realized she has treated me with much more respect than I had been treating her but I was just not open to see it.

"I get it, there is a reason why we lost last night, there is a reason why msnbc is getting whooped by fox, if we continue to go down that path we will lose everything and I don't want to be like the vile people I was with last night or the pompous panel on msnbc. I'm not joining the tea party or anything but we in the democratic party better use last night as a reality check because the rest of America is leaving us behind."; 11/3/10, 3:45 PM
roesch-voltaire said...: I have seen too much of the same to jump in with an immediate opinion, but history does tend to caution an optimistic view to all this save the country mantra. That said, I would love to see 10% cut from all kinds of projects including the Defense budget.; 11/3/10, 3:50 PM
AST said...: Huckabee is saying that Obamacare is like the Poll Tax. I don't get it.; 11/3/10, 3:50 PM
Scott M said...: @Gabriel

TSL is still my favorite Lewis novel. Screwtape's take on marriage is especially fun.; 11/3/10, 3:52 PM
Fen said...: Nice post Clyde. Thanks.; 11/3/10, 3:52 PM
Jim said...: AST -

Huckabee is saying that Obamacare is like the Poll Tax. I don't get it.

The Poll Tax was unconstitutional because it required you to pay money to exercise your rights. ObamaCare is similarly unconstitutional because it requires you to pay money SIMPLY FOR BEING ALIVE.; 11/3/10, 3:54 PM
Jim said...: I think that if anyone asked S. Carolina for a repeat of December 20, 1860 there might not be a huge objection.

That must be why those racist, misogynists in South Carolina elected BOTH Nikki Haley and Tim Scott.

Check your facts before you spout your ignorance. It would something new for you. But try it. You wouldn't look like such a knee-jerk moron if you did that once in a while.; 11/3/10, 3:58 PM
Robert Cook said...: "I don't see you doling your way into improvishment. Practice what you preach, chump.

Not for the first time, and not surprisingly, you offer a nonsensical statement.; 11/3/10, 3:59 PM
Roger J. said...: It was hilarious to watch msnbc do their schtick last nite

Talk about cognative dissonace--lord these idiots have no fucking clue which probably explains why Fox was the most widely watched network last nite if drudge is to be believed.

And where, BTW, are our resident liberals? I assume awaiting their talking points from the DNC.

We won, dipsticks--get used to it. (wasnt that the schtick in 2008?); 11/3/10, 4:01 PM
Roger J. said...: oops--please spell cognitive correctly in me previous post; 11/3/10, 4:02 PM
Fen said...: No worries Roger. Most of us treat this as informal chat.; 11/3/10, 4:04 PM
Roger J. said...: Re Harry House: "I knew him Horatio: a man of infinite jest..."
particularly with respect to his 9 patents.; 11/3/10, 4:05 PM
Fen said...: "I don't see you doling your way into improvishment. Practice what you preach, chump.

Robert: Not for the first time, and not surprisingly, you offer a nonsensical statement.

He means that, like all Leftists, you don't really believe in the things you lecture the rest of us about.; 11/3/10, 4:05 PM
Unknown said...: Cedarford said...

Edutcher - "DeMint and Coburn have been the freedom fighters through all this going back to fighting the free spending under Dubya. If they can hold the line (Coburn for Senate Majority Leader and DeMint for Whip, anyone?)"
==================

Hate to break it to you, but Republicans did not get a majority in the Senate.

Typo, cedar, but you know what I mean.; 11/3/10, 4:06 PM
Gabriel Hanna said...: @Scott M:

TSL is still my favorite Lewis novel. Screwtape's take on marriage is especially fun.

I don't understand Christianity very well but C. S. Lewis makes me think I understand his kind of Christianity. I think his arguments are mostly very good, and the occasional lame one stands out by contrast.

Example: his argument for the divinity of Christ in Mere Christianity was that anyone who said he was God and wasn't God has to be crazy, and Jesus wasn't crazy, ergo... And my reaction was, Whatever, Clive--are you telling me that Julius Caesar was God? After all, the Roman Senate said he was a God, anyone who said that when it wasn't true would be crazy, the Roman Senate WASN'T crazy, ergo...

And nowadays many people think you are crazy if you merely say you are in communication with God (two-way). Arguing that a person in ancient times was not crazy by applying a standard from thousands of years later is not a very good argument.; 11/3/10, 4:06 PM
Clyde said...: Fen, I didn't write that myself, it was from a commenter at Daily Beast named Blue-eyed Blues. I think that learning what she did might mean that this election wasn't a total loss for her.; 11/3/10, 4:08 PM
Eric said...: Oh, I'm hardly saving the world. I'm just standing on the sidelines, bitching...fearful and wondering when violence will start breaking out in the streets and across the country.

Probably won't, now that the Democrats won't be able to ram things down everybody's collective throat. Well, that is unless they take the normal leftist road of deciding a few eggs must be broken to create the perfect society.; 11/3/10, 4:38 PM
Hagar said...: The next thing the left will complain about is that Angle and O'Donnell were merely agents of that fiendishly Macchiavellian Karl Rove, so that the Senate would remain Democrat, and the Republican could continue to blame Obama-Reid for everything.

It's a thought, since nothing can really be achieved until 2013 anyway.; 11/3/10, 4:49 PM
Trooper York said...: "Robert Cook said...
Oh, I'm hardly saving the world. I'm just standing on the sidelines, bitching...fearful and wondering when violence will start breaking out in the streets and across the country."

I don't know how many real bar fights you have been in Robert, but a good general rule is that the people who are the loudest and the nastiest are not the ones you need to worry about. It's the quiet ones who sit there drinking and then all of sudden get up and hit you over the head with a bar stool.

I wouldn't worry too much about people who make a lot of noise on the Internets. You can rest easy buddy. Just sayn'; 11/3/10, 5:12 PM
Michael said...: Trooper York: I never had the bar stool but I did receive a well deserved right hook from someone who had been quietly taking in my bullshit. He got up and walked out. I think I picked up his tab. A long time ago.; 11/3/10, 5:23 PM
Ignorance is Bliss said...: *drinks the rest of my drink*

*quietly picks up my barstool...*; 11/3/10, 5:25 PM
Trooper York said...: That's how it goes Michael. Always watch out for the quiet ones.

That's what I am thinking about these Tea Party guys. They talk a good game. But lets see if they just quietly go about their business and kick some ass.; 11/3/10, 5:28 PM
blake said...: I think the TPers are pretty quiet in general. I believe yesterday was their equivalent of a barstool.; 11/3/10, 5:43 PM
Anonymous said...: It was hilarious to watch msnbc do their schtick last nite

They thought it was so cute (Olby was giggling) when Chrissy was questioning Congresswoman Bachman about "will you use the subpeona power to investigate liberals" (note elected Democrats mind you, but liberals) and she didn't take the bait so Chrissy asked her if she was in a trance. She responded by saying that I bet that tingle in your leg feels a little different tonight. And, to top it off, someone was standing behind her with a sign that said Feel the Tingle.; 11/3/10, 5:45 PM
Trooper York said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 11/3/10, 5:53 PM
Big Mike said...: @Clyde, I've been there. One day you look around the room and ask yourself what on earth you're doing in the company of fools and idiots like the people with whom you have yourself.

Whoever wrote that, their eyes have been opened.; 11/3/10, 6:05 PM
DaveW said...: Cutting this or that department - or every department - by 5% will just lock in place the budgetary madness of the last 2 years and will strike people as arbitrary and ill conceived.

They should start by passing a budget based on the 2007 pre-tarp budget. Take the 2007 numbers and project what the normal increases for inflation would have been, if any, and make any adjustments necessary for special circumstances like military operations, disasters, etcetera.

Pass that as a base budget. Let anyone that wants to increase spending from that baseline make their argument from there.

Once the budget baseline has been restored to that already too high level we'll still have substantial deficits due to the economic slowdown but we won't have the children running around with daddy's credit card anymore. Then we can do whatever small bore stimulation (tax cuts) that's necessary or desirable. Passing a budget like that would be defensible to the electorate as a common sense approach.

I won't hold my breath waiting for that to happen though.; 11/3/10, 6:06 PM
Anonymous said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 11/3/10, 6:14 PM
Anonymous said...: According to this piece, DeMint says that Republicans are going to ban earmarks.

Yeah, right. It'll never happen. One year from now the Republicans who were elected yesterday will be cashing in their chits to make sure their own home-district Bridges to Nowhere get funded.

I think DeMint is an asshole for promising this. He should know that it won't be kept.; 11/3/10, 6:16 PM
Trooper York said...: They should take an example from the Roman Legions and decimate the ranks.

Fire one in every ten non-miltary employees.

And look at cutting back the miltary overseas. Bring the troops home from Germany and Japan. That war was over a long time ago and now it is just a money boondoggle.; 11/3/10, 6:18 PM
Big Mike said...: Before the 111th Congress incoming freshmen senators and representatives were warned to "get along by going along."

That didn't work out so well for a number of freshman and sophomore Democrats who went along with Cap and Trade (cost Rick Boucher his seat in VA-9) and Obamacare (cost Perriello VA-5, not to mention a bunch of otherwise Blue Dog Democrats).

Hope the lesson doesn't get forgotten by Paul, Rubio, and the rest of the newbie Republicans who will soon be looking for housing in Washington, DC.

(Wait until they find out what DC's housing market -- and public schools! -- are like. They may wonder why they bothered filing.); 11/3/10, 6:21 PM
Big Mike said...: Not that Boucher was a freshman. He'd held VA-9 since some time in the 1980's.; 11/3/10, 6:26 PM
Big Mike said...: Bring the troops home from Germany and Japan. That war was over a long time ago and now it is just a money boondoggle.

We kept troops in Germany during the Cold War because of the implied threat from the USSR. They're kind of gone now.; 11/3/10, 6:27 PM
Hoosier Daddy said...: Bring the troops home from Germany and Japan. That war was over a long time ago and now it is just a money boondoggle.

I agree. We can leave each one with a postcard of Dresden and Hiroshima with a caption that says: "Now behave yourselves and don't make us come back here."; 11/3/10, 6:28 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: The war on liberals never stops..
Give us 22 minutes.. weather on the eighths.

Join us for a Post Election get together.
Thursday November 11, 2010
Time: 6:30-9:30 PM
Place: The Barnyard and Carriage House
754 Totowa Road, Totowa, NJ 07512

Remember Preparation H Maximum Strength Pain Relief.

America runs on Dunkin.; 11/3/10, 6:37 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: The true test of the tea parties viability, as I see it, will be every election from now on.

The spending appetite is not going to change overnight.

A tea party elect score card.

Its better not to be taken "seriously".; 11/3/10, 6:44 PM
blake said...: I agree. We can leave each one with a postcard of Dresden and Hiroshima with a caption that says: "Now behave yourselves and don't make us come back here."

Heh. I wonder if FLS is ever frustrated by agreement he finds here, or if he just figures we're all nutz.; 11/3/10, 6:45 PM
Moneyrunner said...: I signed it. Now garage, shut up; you are embarrassing yourself.; 11/3/10, 7:19 PM
traditionalguy said...: Hagar...That is exactly what happened by O'Donnell's, Angle's and Raese losing. It sets the table for a 2012 victory. But Rove says it was all Palin's fault, doesn't he.; 11/3/10, 7:41 PM
traditionalguy said...: Gabriel...I believe that Lewis argued that Jesus was either a con man, an insane man, or a Godman acting in fulfillment of the Hebrew prophet's description of Messiah. You seem to be a Renaissance man yourself.You might enjoy Ken Boa, a teacher and a friend of mine that is in C. S. Lewis's class. He has a website of free mp3 archives.; 11/3/10, 7:57 PM
Methadras said...: Alex said...

Yeah what about Shitmo? He really really really thinks he's the smartest man in the room.

Schtickmo's delusion is that he thinks he's smart as a function of how much he can threadcrap.; 11/3/10, 9:00 PM
DADvocate said...: We've all known people so full of love and concern and compassion for humanity, that they have none left over for real people.

Yes, Gabriela, sad but true.

Clyde, thanks for posting that comment. Differences in opinion are inevitable. Vile, pompous incivility need not be.; 11/3/10, 9:07 PM
Opus One Media said...: Jim said...
"That must be why those racist, misogynists in South Carolina elected BOTH Nikki Haley and Tim Scott."

If you say so Jimmy.

and I just thought they were morons and that was it...; 11/3/10, 9:11 PM
Methadras said...: Robert Cook said...

Not for the first time, and not surprisingly, you offer a nonsensical statement.

Let me put into simple terms that a mind like yours might understand. If you claim that America is the land of the middle-class when that construct isn't so years (less than 70 years) and then claim that it won't be around for much longer, then what I'm suggesting for you is to become your own argument. Do you work to subsist or to get ahead? If it's to subsist, then where was your origin point? Clearly you had to start somewhere to amass a modicum of wealth to get to the point you claim to be at now and maintain it? Therefore if you are a subsistence oriented individual, then you have no aspiration of doing anything to move ahead. In that vain, if you are seeing the destruction of the middle class, then you will soon be joining it. In that further vein, you might as well write a check for even more taxes to the IRS and dole your way into poverty along with the rest of the middle class that you claim is headed there. Be the tip of the spear.; 11/3/10, 9:15 PM
Methadras said...: Roger J. said...

Re Harry House: "I knew him Horatio: a man of infinite jest..."
particularly with respect to his 9 patents.

Is that befuddled Alzheimers patient known as HDHouse still touting his bullshit patents?; 11/3/10, 9:18 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: Alex,

Yes Crack, you are awesome.

That's right - I'm The Crack Emcee - I'm awesome!; 11/3/10, 9:23 PM
Methadras said...: Robert Cook said...

"Take my advice. Stop saving the world. Makes life a lot easier."

Oh, I'm hardly saving the world. I'm just standing on the sidelines, bitching...fearful and wondering when violence will start breaking out in the streets and across the country.

you won't find that much violence in conservative enclaves. However, in the wonderful Utopian communities that your degenerate brethren have created, I'm sure you'll find all the violence you ever wanted or not wanted. You are pathetic, you know that? You have the temerity to proclaim and wait for the oncoming violence when it is you and your kind that have been more responsible for death and destruction mankind in it's totality has ever seen. Fuck you.; 11/3/10, 9:24 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: Lem,

The true test of the tea parties viability, as I see it, will be every election from now on.

The spending appetite is not going to change overnight.

I agree with this, but I'd be happier if a focus was put on fraud as well. This country would be completely different, and in to totally different place financially, if a larger emphasis was put on avoiding the Bernie Madoffs, large and small, preying on society. My emphasis on Oprah may seem unhinged but the woman promotes fraud, openly and to the approval of all, accompanied by a bizarre refusal by anyone to acknowledge what's occurring. Barack Obama anyone? We pay a very high price for gullibility.

Its better not to be taken "seriously".

Indeed. You wanna be Rorschach. That's conservatism with Alinsky equalling a decent kind of anarchy.

Like I said yesterday, the only questions now are what do we want? and where do we stop? Hardly a political platform, but unlike the libs, we're just tinkering anyway.; 11/3/10, 9:51 PM
NMBDC said...: OK folks, it's time to get serious:

1. The 'partiers aren't capable of or even interested in saving the country. They're separatists, whether they know it or not. They aren't the SuperPatriots they pretend to be (and dress up as), and some of them aren't exactly patriots either. Real patriots don't think that anyone who disagrees with them isn't a patriot. (Yes, that sentence is going to confuse anyone who fell for the teaparties.) Real patriots don't largely ignore immigration for over a year, or largely ignore the Kirk race. (Their response to Kirk makes them as bad as the Dems who supported his opponent.)

2. The partiers are all about the money, and those who have the real money are going to call the tune that they're going to dance to.

For the actual facts about them that you won't hear from Althouse and other TP promoters or from their other opponents, see my extensive Tea Party coverage.

--------------

Necessary note: because teapartiers are vile idiots (see the link) I have to point out that there's a 99% chance that any replies to this comment from 'partiers will be full of lies and smears. That's who they are and what they do. No teapartier has ever been able to present a valid, logical counter-argument to anything I've ever written. Instead, all they can do is lie and smear. That's part of the reason why I encouraged everyone to hold their noses and vote for every one of their opponents. And, I'm basing that on covering politics for over eight years in over 9000 posts. I have never seen a more malignant group than the teapartiers. See the link above for all the details.; 11/3/10, 10:53 PM
Clyde said...: @ NMBDC

Funny thing: I seem to remember seeing that whole last paragraph about 9000 posts under the name of "Lonewacko." Are you trying to rebrand yourself? Because it's not working, for those of us who remember your other identity.; 11/3/10, 11:54 PM
Bruce Hayden said...: Funny thing: I seem to remember seeing that whole last paragraph about 9000 posts under the name of "Lonewacko." Are you trying to rebrand yourself? Because it's not working, for those of us who remember your other identity.

I really don't believe that all these trolls keep changing their names. I think that it is more likely that they all get their talking points and fallacious facts from the same sources, and that is why so many of them sound like each other.; 11/4/10, 12:24 AM
Robert Cook said...: Mehadras stated:

"Let me put into simple terms...."

And then you turned that promising start into a lie by tacking onto it a paragraph of typing that is an even more impenetrable thicket of gibberish than your previous comment, which at least had the sole virtue of brevity.; 11/4/10, 5:39 AM
Fen said...: Yah, LoneWacko got his sockpuppets mixed up again.; 11/4/10, 9:02 AM
Anonymous said...: Jim DeMint is one of the most stridently anti-gay homophobic Senators in the country.

Funny to see how in love Ann is with him.

Wonder what Chris thinks of that?; 11/4/10, 2:08 PM
Anonymous said...: Jim DeMint wants to ban gay people from teaching.

http://www.ontheissues.org/domestic/Jim_DeMint_Civil_Rights.htm

Ann is a huge supporter of Jim DeMint and is 100% in support of his policies to ban gays (er - sorry - "faggots") from teaching in public schools.

Lovely.

And if you don't believe me - find ONE quote where she has ever condemned Jim DeMint for this stance.

Why does Ann think that her gay son should be banned from teaching? Where does Ann's son fall on the 1-10 scale - where 1 is a normal gay gay and 10 is a child molesting murderer (as the Wall Street Journal editorial page - which Ann so admires - puts it); 11/4/10, 2:17 PM
Anonymous said...: It's time to eliminate wasteful government spending.

Let's start by eliminating public funding for law schools; 11/4/10, 2:20 PM
LonewackoDotCom said...: Thanks to those who replied for proving my point. Obviously, I'm not trying to hide anything; my comments didn't appear under this name so I tried again using a different name. However, anyone with the intelligence of a turnip would see that the link to my 'partiers coverage - identified as "my" - is the same with both names.

And, Clyde, if you have an actual, valid, logical argument against anything I've written, act like a grown-up and spell it out.; 11/4/10, 8:00 PM