I think a lot of us were stunned yesterday not by Chicago losing their Olympic bid, but at the glee to which the right reacted to the news. If we examine the record, should we really be surprised? It started on January 20 with Rush Limbaugh’s “I hope he fails,” which was echoed approvingly by all the Limbaugh wannabes. One poster as Daily Kos points out that conservatives have taken the call for America’s failure to heart and have opposed the following:
Bill Clinton freeing American journalists from North Korea
Marines rescuing Americans from Somali pirates
Rescuing American automobile manufacturers
Health care for all Americans
An American city hosting the Olympics
However it is getting more serious than just rooting for American’s failure rhetorically. Texas governor Rick Perry has even spoken in support of secession and other Republicans have talked about invoking the 10th amendment in order to disobey the laws of the land. Eric Kleefeld at Talking Points Memo finds that Republicans are also trying to conduct their own diplomacy contrary to the diplomacy of the United States:
• Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) is visiting Honduras in order to support the recent military coup against a leftist president, which has been opposed by the Obama administration and all the surrounding countries in the region. (Late Update: DeMint’s office says he is not taking sides during his visit to the current Honduran leadership, denying the New York Times reports that this was his intention.)
• Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK) will be going to the upcoming climate change conference in Copenhagen, bringing a “Truth Squad” to tell foreign officials there that the American government will not take any action: “Now, I want to make sure that those attending the Copenhagen conference know what is really happening in the United States Senate.”
• House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA) traveled to Israel, where he spoke out against President Obama’s opposition to expanded settlements. He also defended Israel on the eviction of two Arab families from a house in east Jerusalem, which had been criticized by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
• Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL) boasted in June that he told Chinese officials not to trust America’s budget numbers. “One of the messages I had — because we need to build trust and confidence in our number one creditor,” said Kirk, “is that the budget numbers that the US government had put forward should not be believed.” Since then, he has declared his candidacy for U.S. Senate.