Open Thread

Let's give this thread some content, shall we?

Booman asks if Hillary can kill the modern GOP. If she wins Texas Arkansas and Kentucky (and recent polls show her leading all three states), that means she can win in North Carolina, Indiana, Montana, the Dakotas, Tennessee, Georgia, Missouri, and Arizona, and if she wins all of those states, and all the Obama blue states from 2012, yes, I think she can.

There was this Star Trek: The Next Generation episode that had the Enterprise caught up in a stampede of these one dimensional interstellar beings who were heading towards a Quasar or a Pulsar of some such thing that would immediately destroy them, and the Enterprise. The valiant crew of the Enterprise tried throughout the episode to make these beings realize that, if they continued on their current course, they would destroyed upon collision with the Quasar thingy. And yet, in the end, it was revealed that the Quasar is the one place in the universe that these beings wanted to go, even if it meant their destruction. Much like a moth to a flame, or a bug to a bug zapper, or lemmings to a cliff, sometimes beings have instincts to force them to take an action that will result in their death. Republicans have spent decades, generations even, ranting on and on about cutting government spending. So now matter how politically damaging the coming Sequester Cuts are going to be for these Republicans, no matter how economically damaging they are going to be for the rest of us, they don't care. It is instinctive. The Sequester Spending Cuts are the Republican's long dreamed of destination: massive spending cuts at last. Sure, they may complaint about the cuts in military spending, or that this is Obama's Sequester, but if the Republicans really really wanted to avoid the sequester it is within their power to pass legistlation today repealing it. The Senate will pass that repeal and the President would sign it. So the only reason they don't repeal it is because the Sequester is the one place in the universe where these beings we call Republicans want to be.

Speaker John Boehner is doing everything he can to portray the Sequester as Obama's idea and sole responsibility, I suppose because he knows that the affects of the massive draconian spending cuts will be felt immediately and everywhere, but that they will cost a million jobs and send the country into a recession, and thus the cuts will ultimately be politically unpopular to the point that if a candidate voted for the Budget Control Act of 2011, that candidate will be defeated in 2014, which will mean that the Democrats will retake the House (since contrary to Boehner's revisionist history, it was mostly Republicans who voted for the BCA, including Boehner himself). Tomasky agrees:

[I]t sure isn’t going to be looking very responsible to people, as the March 1 sequestration deadline approaches, for Republicans to be going before the cameras and saying that the cuts are unfortunate but necessary medicine, or whatever formulation they come up with. They’ve wanted these spending reductions for two years. It hardly matters much who invented the mechanism for the cuts. What matters, as the Republicans will find out, is that the people don’t want them.

So Boehner is panicking, since he knows he can do nothing to prevent the Sequester because his crazy ass party won't let him do anything. In fact his crazy ass party loves, and I mean LOVES, the cuts that are coming. Don't believe me, listen to the crazy ass Republicans themselves:

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY): “It’s pretty clear to me that the sequester is going to go into effect…Read my lips: I’m not interested in an 11th-hour negotiation.” [Washington Post, 2/12/13] Republican Congressman Mike Pompeo (R-KS): “It’s going to be a homerun…I am very optimistic that on March 2nd, we’ll all wake up and America will have tremendous respect for what its House of Representatives led and what it’s federal government was able to accomplish.” [Politico, 2/13/13] Republican Congresswoman Cynthia Lummis (R-WY): “Sequestration will take place…I am excited. It will be the first time since I’ve been in Congress that we really have significant cuts.” [Billings Gazette, 2/11/13] Republican Congressman Paul Broun (R-GA): “I want to see it go into place.” [Cherokee Tribune, 2/9/13] Republican Congressman John Shimkus (R-IL): “He [President Obama] can announce all he wants. Sequestration is coming.” [Politico, 2/5/13] Republican Congressman Scott DesJarlais (R-TN): “Sequestration needs to happen…Bottom line, it needs to happen and that’s the deal we struck to raise the debt limit.” [Cleveland Daily Banner, 2/1/13] Republican Congressman Steve Scalise (R-LA): “The consensus is we want the sequester numbers to come in and to finally see spending reduced in Washington.” [Dow Jones Business News, 2/8/13] Republican Congressman Mick Mulvaney (R-SC): “We want to keep the sequester in place and take the cuts we can get.” [Dow Jones Business News, 2/8/13] Republican Congressman Tim Huelskamp (R-KS): “The majority of the caucus agrees that at the minimum, the spending cuts we have already agreed on, must happen.” [U.S. News, 2/6/13] Republican Congressman Tom Cole (R-OK): “We would rather see those cuts happen…I can assure you that there will not be a political blink on this. These cuts will occur.” [U.S. News, 2/6/13] Republican Congressman Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA): "We’re willing to let it go through till they (Democrats) respond to us.” [McClatchy, 2/6/13] Republican Congressman Jim Lankford (R-OK): “We’d rather do it another way. But if the only way it can be done is sequestration, then it has to be done.” [Politico, 2/5/13] Republican Congressman Jim Jordan (R-OH): “The only thing that’s worse than cutting national defense is not having any scheduled cuts at all.” [Roll Call, 10/12/12] Republican Senator John Barrasso (R-WY): “Let me be very clear – and I’d say this to the president as I say it to you – these spending cuts are going to go through on March 1.” [CNN, 2/17/13] Republican Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK): “I think sequester’s going to happen…I think people want it to happen.” [NYT, 1/31/13]

Three major labor unions in Delaware, the AFL-CIO, the Delaware Building and Construction Trades Counsel and the Delaware Public Employees Council 81-AFSCME, have endorsed marriage equality and are lobbying the General Assembly to pass the bill this session. Kavips gets all "Day After Tomorrow" on us. So the chief achievement of Senator Tom Carper's entire lengthy career in politics, the establishment of a National Park in Delaware, is nigh. That this is his chief achievement, and that I am still confused as to what will constitute this so-called "National Park" speaks volumes.

Although the federal government "currently puts hemp in the same category of illegal drug as heroin, LSD and ecstasy," Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) "wants to change that," NBC News reports. McConnell "joined forces Thursday with a pair of West Coast Democrats -- Oregon Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley -- to cosponsor a bill that would allow American farmers to grow hemp without fear of punishment." How the hell is Mitch F*cking McConnell to the left of Barack Obama on this issue? On medical marijuana and the legalization of marijuana, the President has been very disappointing.

Last weekend, I watched all thirteen episodes of the new series House of Cards on my Netflix Streaming Account. If you are a political junkie, this is a great show for you to watch, much like the West Wing was. Although it is much darker, and more evil. Indeed, I described it on Facebook as the Evil West Wing. Here are a few clips:

I gotta give credit where credit is due. The freshman Republican Congressman from Michigan, Rep. Justin Amash, said the following true statement (a rarity for a Republican):

"I think it's a mistake on the part of Republicans to try to pin the sequester on Obama. It's totally disingenuous. [...] [Y]ou can't vote for something and, with a straight face, go blame the other guy for its existence in law."

This is on top of Amash's denouncing John McCain for making a racist joke earlier this year. Good job Amash.

Delaware keeps its Triple A bond rating, due to the great stewardship of its Democratic leaders.

All three of the country’s major bond-rating agencies have awarded Delaware that highest rating again based on its fiscal management practices. The three agencies praised Delaware’s financial history, with Moody’s predicting that the state will come out of the recession in a stronger position than most of its peers.

Chuck Hagel's confirmation as Secretary of Defense is now in serious jeopardy because the traitorous Senate Republicans have decided to filibuster a confirmation vote for the first time in the history of the United States. It would appear that while Hagel would be confirmed if a majority vote was held, it would appear that the chickenshit coward Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who refused to reform the filibuster when he had the chance, lacks the 60 votes to break the unprecedented and McCarthyite filibuster by the traitorous Republicans. I have no sympathy for Harry Reid and Senate Democrats. They are the perpetual Charlie Brown and the conniving Repubicans are the Lucy and the football. Maybe one day they will get the spine and do something real to break the Republican Party's traitorous obstruction, but until then we are now left with no Secretary of Defense, and a broken government.

Here's one from Booman, whom I agree with almost completely:

Obama's vision isn't binary. Our government is made up of citizens. Our citizens form governments, large and small, to get things done for each other. If our governments can't help us, then we cannot help ourselves. Obama's vision is diametrically opposed to Reaganism precisely because it isn't binary.

President Obama's State of the Union speech "will be less a presidential olive branch than a congressional cattle prod," Politico reports. Excellent. Hell, if the President wants to curse at the Republicans, I am perfectly fine with that.

Who isn't fascinated by the looming Republican self immolation? I can't read enough about it. Here is a bit of Josh Marshall pointing out that - and I'm paraphrasing - it isn't "radicals" vs "reasonables" it is "radicals" vs. "sick minded, greedy, power hungry freaks"