A lot of people believe in the traditional principles of the GOP, unfortunately they haven’t stood up to the vile, undereducated, bigoted, theocratic base of the party and its leadership. So far nothing has wrested the Republican party from the grasp of the extremist right wing.

Ding ding ding. And if they DO try to move to the center, the nuts will howl that they’re being betrayed. They can all kiss my ass.

While those may be the traditional principles of the GOP, Nixon spent ‘em on wooing the Dixiecrats, so they haven’t been particularly part of the conversation during my lifetime.

A lot of people believe in the traditional principles of the GOP, unfortunately they haven’t stood up to the vile, undereducated, bigoted, theocratic base of the party and its leadership. So far nothing has wrested the Republican party from the grasp of the extremist right wing.

As a friend of mine said once, “If I thought they actually stood for what they claim to stand for, I’d probably vote for them.”

Really? Snowe sounds panicked to you?

I didn’t actually hear Snowe say the above, but to me it sounds like a warning shot across the bow of the Republican Party.

“Hey fellas—I could follow Arlen, too, ya know. Get off my ass.”

Although I don’t know that Snowe is facing the death by Repub primary, that Spector was.

A lot of people believe in the traditional principles of the GOP, unfortunately they haven’t stood up to the vile, undereducated, bigoted, theocratic base of the party and its leadership. So far nothing has wrested the Republican party from the grasp of the extremist right wing.

Promise to cut a libertarian’s income tax by 1% and they will reliably vote for endless expansion of the American Empire, torture, theocracy, and an unlimited domestic police state.

“I believe in the traditional tenets of the Republican Party: strong national defense, fiscal responsibility, individual opportunity. I haven’t abandoned those principles that have been the essence of the Republican Party. I think the Republican Party has abandoned those principles.”

...well duh!  When is the last time the Republican Party did anything more than pay lip service to their “traditional tenets”?

Strong National Defense:  Spend billions on boondoggle StarWars missile shield, the fastest, coolest, most bitchenist fighters, cool new (and useless) ships for the Navy, Humvees, helicopters, tanks, and other stupid shit, while the terrorists improvise explosive devices for pennies that neutralize our high-tech advantages.

Fiscal Responsibility:  Hah!  From Reagan through Jr. (interrupted for a few brief years by Clinton) it’s been a non-stop spending spree brought to you by the Republicans and their Democratic enablers.  Republican economic policies have killed not only our economy, but they’re dragging down the rest of the world too. 

Individual Opportunity:  What does this even mean anymore?  If you’re the individual scion of some uber-wealthy Wall Streeter or some other rich crook, you have opportunity leaking out of your ass.  As far as the rest of us “individuals”...we’re lucky to get some food and a place to sleep…

A lot of people believe in the traditional principles of the GOP, unfortunately…

... they’re all Blue Dog Democrats now.

Promise to cut a libertarian’s income tax by 1% and they will reliably vote for endless expansion of the American Empire, torture, theocracy, and an unlimited domestic police state.

You’ve got a much more charitable view of libertarians than I do, because IMHO you don’t need to get anywhere near a 1% cut to get their support for everything else.

Apparently there are others who heard Snowe’s warning shot:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/4/28/725495/-Snowe-Next-Up

<<She won her last election with 70%.

If Arlen was looking at that, he would never have switched.  She doesn’t need to change parties, so I would venture it is unlikely she will.  Methinks she will be getting a bit more republican love in the future though.  They cannot afford to lose her.>>

From the comments to:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/4/28/725495/-Snowe-Next-Up

So maybe still Snowe not panicked, and remember she says she hasn’t been courted by the Dems “lately”—again, “Hey fellas, the other guys sent me candy and flowers.”

while the terrorists improvise explosive devices for pennies that neutralize our high-tech advantages.

And while our troops went without basic armor.  I presume that’s been corrected since I haven’t heard anything about it for quite a while now, but it figures that the Republicans would prioritize fancy, useless technology over fundamental equipment.

”Republicans are seeing across the country that the biggest tent of all is the Tent of Freedom” that CNN’s Rick Sanchez actually says ”What the hell does that mean?”

Fucking hilarious! The “Tent of Freedom”. What a jackass. Does he mean the freedom to live in a tent if you’ve lost your home?

Meanwhile, back in the Blue Dog tent, Senator Ben “Contrary” Nelson is sulking and threatening to take his ball home, because the Dems are courting the new tease:

<<<Sixty is the magic number in the Senate—but only if the party can muster 60 votes. Sixty members alone doesn’t do it, a point emphasized by conservative Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska when asked by the Huffington Post what Specter’s move does to his own position as a power broker in the Senate.

“Nothing. Sixty members doesn’t translate to 60 votes, so it doesn’t really change anything for me,” he said. “The automatic assumption that people will take from this is, ‘Ah, things are changing.’ And maybe they will, but it’s not automatic.”>>

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/28/specters-switch-why-it-ma_n_192354.html

<<Nelson said that Specter’s voting pattern going forward will determine how significant his switch is. “I’m sure his voting patterns will be comparable as a Democrat as they were when he was a Republican,” he said. “I think only time will tell when you see whether there’s a voting pattern that develops.”>>

“She’s not as pretty as you think she is, and if I take my ball and go home, you can’t play anyway.”

”...but it figures that the Republicans would prioritize fancy, useless technology over fundamental equipment.”

Not enough profit in things like armor, rifles, helmets, and other basic grunt gear.

The money is in all the super tech stuff.

Meanwhile, here was the Vietnam equivalent of what we’re up against in a place like Iraq.

Those who fail to learn from history…

“it figures that the Republicans would prioritize fancy, useless technology over fundamental equipment”.

Because fancy gizmos mean big contracts with huge returns and little obligation to provide sustainable, testable, day-to-day battle gear.  Poor fundamental equipment just means dead peasants.  Plenty more where they came from.

I presume that’s been corrected since I haven’t heard anything about it for quite a while now, but it figures that the Republicans would prioritize fancy, useless technology over fundamental equipment.

The great thing about the $160 million a plane F-22 is that they never get used.  If we had a real air war and the planes started blowing up on the tar mat or falling out of the sky, contractors would be in a lot more trouble.

By contrast, bullet proof vests offer a lot less overhead and tend to reveal their uselessness a lot more quickly.  We go through kevlar quick enough, and it’s harder to justify $100k for a steel shirt than it is to slip another $10 billion into the budget for a Top Gun music video.

The running joke with our high tech boondoggles is that they rarely, if ever, work.  Stealth Jets aren’t nearly as stealthy as we claim.  All-Terran tanks get stuck or break down and constantly need maintenance and repair.  Anti-missile systems hit their marks maybe a third of the time.  It’s all crap.  But we’re fighting camel jockeys with explosive rocks so we never really see that out.

Oh, Senator DeMint, you ever-reliable fount of free-flowing blather.  Will you ever stop unintentionally entertaining me?

Republican or Democrat I’m not sure I’d want either to be in control of both the House and Senate.  And, the tent remark is just ridiculous.  If it wasn’t so scary it would be even funnier.

*heh, heh, heh*
*do de dum dee di*
Les see.  Hook the red wire here.  *dum de dum*
Hook the black wire here.  *shoobe do be doo*
Push this thing down.

KA-BLOOOOOEY!

All-Terran tanks get stuck or break down and constantly need maintenance and repair.

Whereas the ones we design for off-planet use are generally reliable.  Weird, isn’t it?

I think it’s unfair to the traditionally avowed principles of the republican party to say that the Blue Dogs follow them. The blue dogs like their power-brokering position much better than they like actual fiscal responsibility (which would, y’know, require putting taxes back where they were at least under Clinton and giving the IRS enforcement power against the big evaders as well). Of course the unavowed “party of the prudish rich” principles go down with “conservative” democrats just fine. Now is when we need some primary challenges, or at least some good targeted advertising…

Let’s not forget, too, Paul, that the Blue Dogs tend to represent the anti-urban, suspicious of the cities and over-laudatory of the so-called “real [i.e. notional Rockwellish] America”.  To steal the words of another writer describing Ontario’s Tory Party in the 1990s, “they see cities simply as places where bad things happen to good people”.

Wow.  These guys are on fucking crack, I’m totally convinced of this now.

“Promise to cut a libertarian’s income tax by 1% and they will reliably vote for endless expansion of the American Empire, torture, theocracy, and an unlimited domestic police state. “

Wow, that is the best description of a Libertarian I have heard yet.

”Republicans are seeing across the country that the biggest tent of all is the Tent of Freedom” that CNN’s Rick Sanchez actually says ”What the hell does that mean?”

Fucking hilarious! The “Tent of Freedom”. What a jackass. Does he mean the freedom to live in a tent if you’ve lost your home?

It makes me think of Better off Ted where Linda spouts off some nonsense to the scientists, and when they question, she says “Listen to my TONE, not my WORDS.”  Later Phil says “Linda’s TONE is right.”

You weren’t supposed to question the meaning of “Tent of Freedom”.  DeMint had the patronizing tone down pat, and he used the focus word “Freedom”.  Sanchez was supposed to nod and move on.  What the hell was he doing listening and asking for meaning?

Big ol’ freedom tent?  I bet Jim Tedisco (R) loved that big ol’ freedom tent when he was writing out his concession speech to Scott Murphy (D) in a district that had a 70,000 Republican ADVANTAGE over Democrats…

“they see cities simply as places where bad things happen to good people”.

...that’s a pretty sharp and accurate remark…

Too bad not all liberals live in cities…‘cause it sucks for those of us trying to keep a low profile in occupied territory…

Of course, a lot of what “happens” in cities / blue areas is simply enlightenment.  It’s funny how when people get easier access to information, other points-of-view, get exposed to other people and other cultures, some of them decide the conservative mentality isn’t so cool anymore…

A lot of people believe in the traditional principles of the GOP, unfortunately they haven’t stood up to the vile, undereducated, bigoted, theocratic base of the party and its leadership. So far nothing has wrested the Republican party from the grasp of the extremist right wing.

They ran me, and some of my friends, out in the 1990’s.  The last straw was the bullshit around Clinton.  Don’t get me wrong, I was for the impeachment because I believe in the law.  A lie under oath is a lie under oath and it’s perjury and the witch hunt didn’t excuse it. 

But the total fucking witch-hunt that went on for almost 8-years, that’s what got me.  Fucking “travel gate.”  Nothing.  Vince Foster.  Nothing.  Whitewater.  Nothing.  On and on and on…  Until Mr. Over-Parse fucked around with the English language. 

So, when he beat the impeachment…  It didn’t bother me.  The entire lead-up to the process was disgusting and immoral.  And I went independent (tough I was for the pre-neocon McCain) and then Democrat (Howard Dean for President!!!) in 2004 as by then the Republicans were looking mighty facist/theocratic in their ways…

denelian:

Snowe’s position isnt exactly new for prominent Republicans.  This sort of nonsense twigged my memory about a Pandagon thread years ago on Justice O’Connor unloading on the wingnuts.  I wouldn’t change a word from what I said then (Well, I corrected the typos):

What amazes me are two things.

First, this “road to Damascus” conversion after doing all the damage is nothing new to O’Connor, but people seem to believe that it is ... Look at her late-late-late conversion to wariness about the death penalty. (The irreplaceable Ben Sargent had a delightful cartoon of her sitting at a bar with a massive executioner (fat, bare hairy chest, black hood, evil eyes and all) representing the death penalty. “God”, she says, “you are ugly“. Surprised, he replies, “you just noticed?”

Second, this “road to Damascus” conversion after doing all the damage is nothing new to prominent “honourable” Republicans in general, but people seem to believe that it is .... Look at Eisenhower’s warning about the “military industrial complex”, issued only as he left office, not in the eight years that he had the power to do something.

So far, she said, she’s staying put. “I believe in the traditional tenets of the Republican Party: strong national defense, fiscal responsibility, individual opportunity. I haven’t abandoned those principles that have been the essence of the Republican Party. I think the Republican Party has abandoned those principles.

Let’s see:

“Strong defense.” Well, if this means throwing as much money as possible and then some at the military-industrial complex without regard to the appropriateness of the technology or necessity of the forces amassed, I suppose the Republicans of my lifetime are hard to beat in that respect. Still, the Democrats have generally been if anything all too willing to play this game too, for very big money.

If on the other hand, by “strength” we mean to include some modicum of wisdom and judiciousness in deploying all this massed force for some discernible purpose, with the goal of actually using as little force as necessary and avoiding its use whenever possible—sadly the Democratic presidents of my lifetime have not always been as wise as they should and the Congress has gone along with some rash schemes. But in any sober evaluation, I think they still come out ahead of the Rs. Who often squander both our servicemembers and global goodwill accumulated by their rivals in their counterproductive posturing.

So, the last Republican President Snowe might be alluding to here (I say “President” because military force is an executive matter after all) would be Eisenhower. Who warned against the MIC. And was not President in my lifetime anyway, which is moderately long already.

“Fiscal Responsibility.” Well, if the practices of the Reagan and first Bush administrations don’t give one the giggles whenever anyone utters “Republican” and “fiscal responsibility” in the same sentence, there will always be the Bush Jr years to contemplate. And the wildly irresponsible demands the Rs who controlled Congress from 1994 to 2006 made.

Of course of “fiscal responsibility” is just code for “screw the poor,” I suppose she could say this seriously, but if that’s her idea of fiscal responsibility it would hardly be a point of contention between her and typical modern Republicans.

“Individual opportunity.” I guess it depends on which individuals matter; if squeezing and screwing the majority is OK because it creates greater wealth for a few individuals, and that’s what we mean by “individual opportunity,” then again she and they should be fine with each other.

If instead we mean real opportunity for normal, average individuals who make up the majority—what have Republicans ever done for us? My opportunities, including many I have blown on my own, come from what they like to call the “welfare state.” Public education, libraries, college funding…heck, when I was a kid I had socialized medicine (as a military dependent).

Other people, more entrepreneurial than me, have made good on these opportunities. Meanwhile I have opportunities to live more or less freely, more or less protected from the worst predatory schemes of my richer neighbors, to form and express my views and even attempt to participate in politics.

The last generation of Republicans I might owe any of this to were perhaps still around in the 1950s. Again, before I was born. Since then, they have been consistently against all this for people like me and even worse towards a lot of others I care about—whose freedom and dignity I value and even see as increasing my objective opportunities—to live in a decent society at the very least.

Face it, Senator Snowe, if you don’t mean by “strong defense,” “fiscal responsibility,” “individual opportunity” the Orwellian opposites your current Party has stood for consistently ever since the mid-60s or so, you ought to be a Democrat. Because they’ve stood for sane and at least relatively humane versions of these ideals all my lifetime at any rate.

And for what it’s worth, I started kindergarten in your state…

I don’t understand Maine, I guess. When I left it I was only 5 after all and that was a long time ago. If Snowe is typical of Maine Republicans, perhaps the entire state party should pull loose from the GOP at least for the time being. If she is not, who votes for her?

I’m guessing—Democrats.

The thing is, you don’t even have to cut a libertarian’s taxes by 1%. All you have to do is promise to cut the taxes of someone the libertarian thinks he (yes, so overwhelmingly he, by identification in the rare cases when not by chromosome) might be kinda like some day.

South Carolina: The Armpit of the East Coast.

*heh, heh, heh*
*do de dum dee di*
Les see.  Hook the red wire here.  *dum de dum*
Hook the black wire here.  *shoobe do be doo*
Push this thing down.
KA-BLOOOOOEY!

Because towelhead sandni@@er motherfuckers are know nothings living in the stone age. AmIright? High-five! High-five! Fuggedaboutit. Man, go make some jokes about the revolutionary war.

Whoa; yet another bright star in the firmament of the GOP.

I guess the cat was asleep, so this is the best they had to offer.

The entire clip made me laugh, but the coffee actually exploded out of my mouth when, at the very end of that clip, DeMint claimed that “Pat Toomey is one of the most mainstream Americans I know”.

I think some went out my nose too…. off to find a tissue.