Year: 2016

David Corn on why this is the most unpredictable race for the Republican nomination in generations:

The reason for the chaos, though, is obvious. The party elite has become unmoored from the party's base—and that base has veered further into extreme territory. After years of being fed Obama hatred—death panels, gun-grabs, and secret socialism imported from Kenya by a terrorist-loving covert Muslim!—many die-hard GOP voters are alienated from elected Republicans who haven't been able to repeal Obamacare, impeach the president, or, better yet, lock him in shackles. Consequently, the wise men of the party can no longer easily direct its voters toward a preferred candidate. At least, not when self-financing, say-anything Donald Trump is in the race, brazenly exploiting the anger and frustration the party's leaders had previously fueled for their own purposes. So the GOP is in for weeks, if not months, of disorder, in what will likely be a historic break from its usually orderly past. For a party that has encouraged fear and loathing, this is what democracy looks like.

Perhaps if the GOP Establishment had not been so blinded by racism, and if they had not decided on a strategy of opposition that employed complete and total obstruction, and instead worked on compromises with the President and the Democrats, their base would been kept in line. But then again, plenty of GOP incumbents still lost to tea party crazies despite this total obstruction strategy (remember Mike Castle!). No, it is likely that this is all the end result of the base been more aligned with talk radio and Fox News that it is with the Party itself. If Rush Limbaugh et al stoking fear and loathing 24/7 since 1993, this was eventually bound to happen. And it could not happen to a better party.

F#ck Yeah, we are racists. So what? - Donald Trump It's the blacks coming up from Ct. and New York selling the drugs and f#cking our white girls. You'd be crazy to not be racist. - Paul LePage You are goddamn right we poisoned the shit out of those poor-ass loser in Flint. What are you going to do about it? - Rick Snyder We are going to get rid of food stamps because, f#ck it. - Jeb Bush Of course our only goal is to simply to f#ck shit up. Haven't you been paying attention? - Paul Ryan

It is impossible to be shocked or surprised by Republicans these days. They have been as unguarded about their goals as they have been about their prejudices. [The statements above have been only lightly paraphrased.] As the ante continues to be upped, I'm sure, by the GOP convection, one of the GOP candidates will call Cornel West a nigger, and I wouldn't rule out that person being Ben Carson. I suppose the only surprising thing left is how Democrats never seem to make Republicans pay a price for being so unguarded. Although, then again, with Democrats like John Carney, who think that Republicans are still good faith partners in governing - I guess that isn't so surprising either.

If you are one of those people who isn't buying the Republican fear mongering about how this country is going to hell in a hand basket and the world is on fire, you'll want to read Michael Grunwald's piece titled: Everything Is (Even More) Awesome!

America is already great, and it’s getting greater. Not everything is awesome, but in general, things are even more awesome than they were a year ago. The rest of the world can only wish it had our problems. Start with the economy, which, if you listen to Sanders or the Republicans, is a garbage dump of existential despair. Actually, it’s doing quite well. Unemployment has dropped from 10 percent during the worst of the Great Recession to 5 percent today, thanks to a record 69 consecutive months of private-sector employment growth that has produced 13.7 million new jobs. The past two years have been the best two years for job creation in the 21st century. After a near-death experience during the financial meltdown of 2008, the U.S. auto industry enjoyed record sales in 2015. The housing market has also rebounded from the crisis, and after-tax corporate profits are at an all-time high. It can sound partisan to mention those facts when a Democrat is in the White House, but they’re facts; it ought to be possible to acknowledge them without necessarily giving President Obama too much credit for them. [...]

I am still a Bryan Townsend partisan, but Sean Barney just got my attention through the announcement of his campaign team. Come inside to see. Teaser: Joe Trippi.

If you ask even sober, reasonable Republicans like Ken Simpler what they want, the #1 item is tax cuts. Sure tax cuts have never worked, but evidence is for eggheads and sissies. Real men have the courage to stick with things that have failed time and again. That's why, in spite of never working, #2 on the Republican wish list is always "Right to Work for Less" laws. There is some magic in Right to Work for Less that will someday fix failing economies, even though (like tax cuts) it never has. The important thing is to keep trying. Just ask economic genius, Scott Walker.

E. J. Dionne, Jr. explains why "The gun lobby's con game will come to an end.." As Dionne writes, "... Something important happened in the East Room when Obama offered a series of constrained but useful steps toward limiting the carnage on our streets, in our schools and houses of worship and movie theaters. He made clear that the era of cowering before the gun lobby and apologizing, trimming, hedging and equivocating is over...Bullies are intimidating until someone calls their bluff. By ruling out any reasonable steps toward containing the killing in our nation and by offering ever more preposterous arguments, the gun worshipers are setting themselves up for wholesale defeat. It will take time. But it will happen."