5 Shameful Right-Wing Moments This Week: Ted Cruz Celebrates Guns!

Nothing says Christmas like a family cradling their firearms.

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Source: AlterNet

Author: Janet Allon

Emphasis Mine

1. Ted Cruz has a banner week.

Ted Cruz is rising in the polls. He cannot catch Donald Trump, who according to CNN has 36 percent. But Cruz has cruised to second, with 16 percent by CNN’s count, edging out the once-popular Ben Carson, whose gaffe-filled couple of weeks (Hamas is not to be confused with hummus) has been amusing but costly to the good doc. Cruz’s formula for newfound success with the ever-wise Republican base? Just be as big a douchebag as possible—in other words for Cruz, be yourself. No one does it better.

Cruz picked up some nice gun-wingnut support by hosting a celebration of gun culture just days after the San Bernardino killings. Technically, he had scheduled his National 2nd Amendment Coalition at Crossroads Shooting Sports in Johnston, Iowa in advance of the California tragedy, but his timing could not have been better. (For its part Crossroads Shooting Sports has said that part of its mission is to “glorify God in all we do.” Glorifying God by shooting things, where have we heard of that before?) In any case, when it comes to Cruz’s timing, the sad fact is you don’t have to be exactly prescient in this country to schedule a gun celebration to coincide with a mass shooting. Because guns, like America, are great. That’s why we’re number 1.

Cruz found plenty of other topics to be creepy about this week. He talked to supporters about how condoms are readily available, and how he’s glad because he and his wife have two daughters instead of 17 of them. Despite the fact that no one in the entire world, including Ted Cruz supporters, wants to hear about his sex life or envision it in any way, he rattled on about the lack of a “rubber shortage” and how he—well, not him, but people—could just buy condoms right out of a machine in dormitory bathrooms in college. (Seriously, do those machines ever work? Definitely not when they’re dispensing

tampons.)

Cruz capped off yet another week of stellar ass-hattery by asserting to his supporters that the “overwhelming majority of violent criminals are Democrats,” apropos of nothing and based on even less.

And the primary voters lapped it up.

2. New York Post openly peddles racism.

There was absolutely no subtlety to the blatant hatemongering Rupert Murdoch’s New York Post engaged in the day after the mass shootings in San Bernardino. Rather than call it mass murder, or even a bloody massacre, which is more tabloidy and would have sold papers, the Post went all in for Islamophobic race-baiting with the gigantic headline, “Muslim Murder,” over a picture of a female victim’s bloody, partially undressed body.

Does this signal a new editorial policy on the part of the paper to feature crime perpetrators’ religion over all else? Can we expect headlines about Christian robbers and Jewish killers? No, we all know we cannot. Do the editors of the New York Post think for a second about their utter hypocrisy and their deliberate endangerment of hundreds of thousands of innocent, peace-loving people just living their lives in America?

No, it is safe to say they do not.

3. Louie Gohmert has a theory and it all makes perfect sense.

As is fairly well known now, Texas tea partier Louie Gohmert is not a terribly clever man. Unless by clever you mean capable of cooking up absurd conspiracy theories about immigrants and President Obama. The less than intelectually gifted Republican representative claimed Friday that the Obama administration has purposely “let loose” criminals and brought “massive” numbers of “violent terrorists” into the country so that the mean old president can tell Americans to “give up your Second Amendment rights because I let all these terrorists in.”

Riiiiight.

Gohmert described this elaborate and diabolical plot on the part of the president (and would-be president Clinton) at great length while guest-hosting crazy Christian crusader Tony Perkins’ “Washington Watch.” Gohmert’s rant was just as fact-free and scare-mongering as you might imagine, with claims that refugees have been brought into this country and charged with terrorism and that the people pouring over our “porous border” are committing crimes in mass quantities. Yet the sole example of an undocumented immigrant harming someone is the shooting death of Kathryn Steinle—which authorities have said was a tragic accident.

It’s not just the porous border, Gohmert further claimed; the Department of Homeland Security is in on the plot too, and is deliberately distributing criminals all over the country.

Jiminy cricket!

It’s all part of one gigantic brilliant plan to restrict gun sales to terrorists just so the gub-mint can take all the guns away from everyone and impose Sharia law.

Amen brother. It all makes total and perfect sense when you lay it out like that.

4. Nevada lawmaker posts festive, armed-to-the-teeth Christmas card.

Nothing says Christmas like a family cradling their firearms.

Nevada Assemblywoman Michele Fiore captured the true meaning of Christmas with her 2015 family Christmas card, which she posted on Facebook this week. In it, every member of her clan above the age of toddlerhood is packing. And so many different kinds of weapons to choose from! There’s a Beretta, some Glocks, a Walther P22 for 5-year-old Jake, and for Michele, a Serbu Super-Shorty 12-gauge shotgun. Woohoo. This marvelous public servant was a big supporter of wonderful, law-abiding Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy. She told MSNBC, “Don’t come here with guns and expect the American people not to fire back.”

For the holidays, she went with a much sweeter tone. “It’s up to Americans to protect America,” her festive message said. “We’re just your ordinary American family.”

Oh, good God, no.

holiday joy
holiday joy

5. Kim Davis’ right-wing Christian lawyer thinks she should be Time magazine’s person of the year.

Because, of course he does.

Just not for the same reason that sane people think she might merit

For the holidays, she went with a much sweeter tone. “It’s up to Americans to protect America,” her festive message said. “We’re just your ordinary American family.”

Oh, good God, no.

Because, of course he does.

Just not for the same reason that sane people think she might merit that distinction.

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See: http://www.alternet.org/tea-party-and-right/5-shameful-right-wing-moments-week-ted-cruz-celebrates-guns?akid=13741.123424.rHkGmA&rd=1&src=newsletter1046852&t=4

Pres. Obama: Republicans Are “Insane” For Letting Terrorists Buy Guns

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Source: Occupy Democrats

Author: Colin Taylor

Emphasis Mine

President Obama had some harsh words for the Republican refusal to pass a bill that would prevent suspected terrorists on the FBI’s no-fly list from purchasing weapons, a move that was derided by the New York Times as a “cowardly vote.” Indeed, it is a truly bizarre set of events that sees the Republican Party inciting hate and fear against refugees from Syria over national security concerns, but then refuse to deal with the recklessly lax laws that allows terrorists like the San Bernardino shooters to legally purchase assault rifles, armored vests, and thousands of rounds of ammunition. Every single Republican except Mark Kirk (R-IL) voted against the bill, just a week after House Republicans passed a bill to block the resettlement of Syrian refugees in America.

This weekend, our hearts are with the people of San Bernardino—another American community shattered by unspeakable violence. We salute the first responders—the police, the SWAT teams, the EMTs—who responded so quickly, with such courage, and saved lives. We pray for the injured as they fight to recover from their wounds.

Most of all, we stand with 14 families whose hearts are broken. We’re learning more about their loved ones—the men and women, the beautiful lives, that were lost. They were doing what so many of us do this time of year—enjoying the holidays. Celebrating with each other. Rejoicing in the bonds of friendship and community that bind us together, as Americans. Their deaths are an absolute tragedy, not just for San Bernardino, but for our country.

More broadly, this tragedy reminds us of our obligation to do everything in our power, together, to keep our communities safe. We know that the killers in San Bernardino used military-style assault weapons—weapons of war—to kill as many people as they could. It’s another tragic reminder that here in America it’s way too easy for dangerous people to get their hands on a gun.

For example, right now, people on the No-Fly list can walk into a store and buy a gun. That is insane. If you’re too dangerous to board a plane, you’re too dangerous, by definition, to buy a gun. And so I’m calling on Congress to close this loophole, now. We may not be able to prevent every tragedy, but—at a bare minimum—we shouldn’t be making it so easy for potential terrorists or criminals to get their hands on a gun that they could use against Americans.

Today in San Bernardino, investigators are searching for answers. Across our country, our law enforcement professionals are tireless. They’re working around the clock—as always—to protect our communities. As President, my highest priority is the security and safety of the American people. This is work that should unite us all—as Americans—so that we’re doing everything in our power to defend our country. That’s how we can honor the lives we lost in San Bernardino. That’s how we can send a message to all those who would try to hurt us. We are Americans. We will uphold our values—a free and open society. We are strong. And we are resilient. And we will not be terrorized.

It is a truly insane set of circumstances that sees the Republican lawmakers in Congress so beholden to the financial and political support of the National Rifle Association that they refuse to pass any law that would make it mildly inconvenient for people to purchase guns, let alone any real restrictions that would impede either the mentally ill or suspected terrorists from acquiring the deadly weapons used in mass murders every day this year. The right wing sees threats in the faces of desperate women and children and security in the idea of an assault rifle in every home. It is a disturbed and twisted worldview that is not appropriate for governing a civilized nation.

See: http://www.occupydemocrats.com/pres-obama-republicans-are-insane-for-letting-terrorists-buy-guns/

 

Chomsky: The Republican Party Has Devolved Into A “Radical Insurgency”

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Source: Occupydemocrats.com

Author: Steven Bernstein

Emphasis Mine

Noam Chomsky, a well-known MIT philosophy professor, political commentator, social justice activist, and public intellectual – has told Truthout.org that the left should support Bernie Sanders’ presidential aspirations even as he caucuses with the Democratic Party: “His campaign has had a salutary effect. It’s raised important issues that are otherwise sidestepped and has moved the Democrats slightly in a progressive direction.” Unfortunately, argues Chomsky: “Chances that he could be elected in our system of bought elections are not high, and if he were, it would be extremely difficult for him to effect any significant change of policies. The Republicans won’t disappear, and thanks to gerrymandering and other tactics they are likely at least to control the House as they have done with a minority of votes for some years, and they are likely to have a strong voice in the Senate. The Republicans can be counted on to block even small steps in a progressive – or for that matter even rational – direction. It’s important to recognize that they [the Republican Party] are no longer a normal political party.”

In fact, even Thomas E. Mann and Norman J. Orenstein, resident scholars at the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington D.C. think tank, wrote a couple of years ago:

“The Republican Party has become a radical insurgency—ideologically extreme, scornful of facts and compromise, and dismissive of the legitimacy of its political opposition. Securing the common good in the face of these developments will require structural changes but also an informed and strategically focused citizenry.”

Chomsky notes that the Republican Party began to radicalize with Ronald Reagan, as it became the party of the very rich the one-percenters aligned with extremist, evangelical Christians.

“Since Ronald Reagan, the leadership has plunged so far into the pockets of the very rich and the corporate sector that they can attract votes only by mobilising sectors of the population that have not previously been an organised political force, among them extremist evangelical Christians, now probably the majority of Republican voters; remnants of the former slave-holding States; nativists who are terrified that “they” are taking our white Christian Anglo-Saxon country away from us; and others who turn the Republican primaries into spectacles remote from the mainstream of modern society — though not the mainstream of the most powerful country in world history.”

However, a Sanders presidency will also face opposition from some Democrats, since they have also become inflexible and “their policy shifts would not make them more like moderate Republicans.” So, the best chance for effecting change, argues Chomsky, “would come from the rise of popular movements which could push him [Sanders] further in his own policies.”

Sanders has been strongly questioned about his ability to get anything done, should he be elected president, given the polarized political environment. He has been very straightforward about the prospects, saying “…no president, not Hillary, not Bernie Sanders, not anybody, will succeed unless there is a mass mobilization of millions of people who stand up and say, enough is enough. Koch brothers and billionaires can’t have it all.” Sanders has drawn large crowds and inspired people at his rallies, but as Chomsky notes: “the most important part of the Sanders candidacy…It has mobilized a huge number of people. If those forces can be sustained beyond the election, instead of fading away once the extravaganza is over, they could become the kind of popular force that the country badly needs if it is to deal in a constructive way with the enormous challenges that lie ahead”- perhaps akin to the social uprising and social movements of American citizens, such as the anti Vietnam War movement of the late 1960’s and early 70’s – so our politicians hear “We the people…”

Steven Bernstein’s academic training is in political and social philosophy. He holds an M.A. in Philosophy. Since retiring in 2010 from a construction contracting business he co-founded, he has been able to fulfill a passion for writing and teaching—as a freelance writer and academic tutor.

See: http://www.occupydemocrats.com/chomsky-the-republican-party-has-devolved-into-a-radical-insurgency-2/

GOP’s Self-Made Trump Dilemma: Understanding the Monster of Their Own Creation

Republicans spent months pushing for maximum deportations, now they can’t grasp why their party loves Donald Trump.

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Source: AlterNet

Author: Simon Maloy/Salon

Emphasis Mine

This week has been one of self-reassurance for Republicans and conservatives of all stripes. They’ve come together to say to themselves and to anyone who may be listening: calm down, get it together, it’s okay… Donald Trump will not be our 2016 nominee.

New York Times columnist David Brooks writes this morning that the campaign is still in the “casual attention stage” and compared it to a recent rug-shopping experience he had – a very Trump-like pink rug temporarily caught Brooks’ eye until “a subtler and more prosaic blue rug grabbed center stage.” Weekly Standard editor William Kristol also urges the jittery to calm down, writing that “while Trump has defied gravity so far, it’s hard to believe that, as voting gets closer, his support will go up rather than down.” Of course, that’s coming from the same guy who said almost exactly nine years ago that “Barack Obama is not going to beat Hillary Clinton in a single democratic primary. I’ll predict that right now.” 

So are they right about Trump? Who the hell knows! The common theme in their analysis is that Trump is merely a bauble, something glitzy and eye-catching with transient appeal. That argument is belied somewhat by the fact that Trump has been the dominant frontrunner for five months running, he’s beaten back a challenge from Ben Carson, and his support is higher than it’s ever been. There’s still time for the Trump collapse to happen, but people have been wrongly predicting his collapse since July.

And as Greg Sargent has been diligently pointing out, there’s a more satisfying explanation for why Trump is so stubbornly popular among Republican base voters: they really like his anti-immigrant proposals and promises to deport all undocumented immigrants. The latest CNN poll of the Republican primary bears this out. It found that 53 percent of Republicans, 51 percent of conservatives, and 52 percent of self-identified Tea Party supporters believe the government “should attempt to deport all people currently living in the country illegally.” Strong pluralities of all three groups also believe that deporting all the immigrants will help the U.S. economy. This lines up perfectly with what Trump proposes, which may also explain why 48 percent of those polled say Trump is the best candidate to handle immigration.

Even if this doesn’t end up translating into a Trump nomination, it’s still a huge problem for the GOP, given its oft-repeated concerns about expanding the party’s demographic appeal beyond old, angry white people. Republicans and conservatives may soothe themselves with the idea that voters will eventually abandon Trump, but any attempt to explain why he’s risen in the first place would require the GOP to confront the unpleasant truth that they took an active role in creating this monster.

As Trump endures in the polls, I think more and more about the political significance of the child migrant crisis of the summer of 2014. With the midterm elections coming up and the GOP poised to make gains, the thousands of unaccompanied minors coming across the southern border offered a ripe opportunity to demagogue on immigration and bite back against some of Barack Obama’s executive orders granting deportation relief. The House GOP took full advantage and passed legislation that would have expedited deportations of children crossing the border, and separate legislation that would have ended the White House’s deferred-action program for undocumented immigrants brought to the country as children. They targeted people who had nothing to do with the migrant crisis as part of a broader message that the Republican policy position was “throw ‘em all out.”

That ugly display was followed up by a >government-funding fight in which Republicans in the House and Senate threatened to shut down the Department of Homeland Security if Obama didn’t roll back is executive orders halting deportations for certain classes of undocumented immigrants. There was no chance of either of these legislative gambits working. They were all about sending a message: deport everyone.

And now the party’s voters are flocking to a candidate who is the loud, crude embodiment of that message. Republicans may worry that Trump could be their nominee, but they’re the ones who set him up for success.

Simon Maloy is Salon’s political writer. Email him at smaloy@salon.com. Follow him on Twitter at @SimonMaloy.

 

See: http://www.alternet.org/election-2016/gops-self-made-trump-dilemma-understanding-monster-their-own-creation?akid=13740.123424.qxUdJL&rd=1&src=newsletter1046797&t=

Colorado Republican: Planned Parenthood Deserves Terrorist Attacks

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Source: OccupyDemocrats.com

Author: john prager

Emphasis Mine

On Black Friday, a right-wing Christian extremist — a deeply religious man who praised anti-abortion terrorists as “heroes”  — by the name of Robert Dear ranted about “baby parts” as he succumbed to the feverish right-wing rhetoric regarding Planned Parenthood’s role as Satan’s “baby parts” mill, attacked one of the organization’s facilities in Colorado. The terrorist attack, which left three dead and nine others wounded, sparked a one-sided debate from the Right, who insisted that the shooter was a “transgendered leftist activist” who simply botched a bank robbery and ducked into the health care facility for cover. Unfortunately for our friends on the Right, reality is a thing, and those theories were quickly stamped out by people who aren’t mystified by the technical aspects of using a toothpick.

In their desperation to blame someone — anyone — but themselves, those responsible for the rhetoric have resorted to a favored right-wing tactic: blaming the victim. On Monday, Colorado State Rep. JoAnn Windholz said that Planned Parenthood — not the shooter, not the anti-abortion group that produced the fraudulent “baby parts” videos, not Republicans who consintued to spread the lies — was responsible for this act of right-wing terrorism.

2015-12-01_15-58-51

 

“When violent acts happen at a Planned Parenthood facility, the left goes on ‘auto-pilot’ blaming eveyone in sight when they should be looking in a mirror,” she wrote. “Free speech has brought to light the insidious selling of baby body parts (pph has no shame),” she wrote, adding that “these facts and overall mission of the abortion industry would send anyone over the hill who wasn’t rational.” She added:

“Violence is never the answer, but we must start pointing out who is the real culprit. The true instigator of this violence and all violence at any Planned Parenthood facility is Planned Parenthood themselves. Violence begets violence. So Planned Parenthood: YOU STOP THE VIOLENCE INSIDE YOUR WALLS.”

Windholtz was, of course, referencing the fraudulent Center for Medical Progress video whose deceptive editing started the faux-outrage against Planned Parenthood and the “baby parts” rhetoric that spread through conservative media.

In another post, this surely God-fearing conservative woman joined Dear in his illogical hatred of Barack Obama, quoting Christian extremist Franklin Graham’s complaint that the President is ruining America for white people, calling it “well worth reading” and “sad but so true”:

The American Dream ended on November 6th, 2012 in Ohio .The second term of Barack Obama will be the final nail in the coffin for the legacy of the white Christian males who discovered, explored, pioneered, settled and developed the greatest Republic in the history of mankind. A coalition of Blacks, Latinos, Feminists, Gays , Government Workers, Union Members, Environmental Extremists, The Media, Hollywood, uninformed young people, the “forever needy,” the chronically unemployed, illegal aliens and other “fellow travelers” have ended Norman Rockwell ‘s America.
The Cocker Spaniel is off the front porch, the Pit Bull is in the back yard. The American Constitution has been replaced with Saul Alinsky ‘s “Rules for Radicals” and Chicago shyster David Axelrod along with international Socialist George Soros will be pulling the strings on their beige puppet to bring us Act 2 of the “New World Order”.

This may seem off-topic at first glance, but the ending puts the Right’s willingness to embrace violence on full display. In fact, Windholtz seems to feel people like Dear are necessary in carrying out her hateful agenda:

It will take zealots, not moderates and shy, not reach-across-the-aisle RINOs to right this ship and restore our beloved country to its former status.
Those who come after us will have to risk their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor to bring back the Republic that this generation has timidly frittered away due to white guilt and political correctness…

Zealots — zealots like Robert Dear, Dylann Roof, and the Millers — are necessary, according to her post, to “restore our beloved cuntry to its former status.”

Think about that.

Windholtz has since deleted her Planned Parenthood post — but you can still find her disgusting quote about how much whites are suffering.

 

See: http://wp.me/p3h8WX-5QG

 

Republican Talking Heads Claim Talk has no Power to Influence Beliefs and Behavior

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Source: valerietarico.com

Author: Valerie Tarico

Emphasis Mine

Who incited Christian terrorism?  Not me.  Couldn’t be.

In what could be the greatest hypocrisy in a season of head-spinners, Christianist Republicans—from presidential candidates to congressmen to Fox News bimbos to sleazy video-splicers and wild-eyed sidewalk ranters-with-rosaries—are scrambling to deny that what they say actually matters.

Specifically–no surprise–their words had nothing to do with a shooting rampage at Planned Parenthood in Colorado Springs.

Never mind that conservative Christians in high places have been fanning the flames for months, calling women and care providers murderers, pretending to believe Planned Parenthood kills big-eyed babies and sells body parts for profit. Never mind that we call such language incendiary because it is incendiary. They are shocked-shocked-I-say, that some wingnut in Colorado actually took their becking at face value and opened fire in a family planning clinic.  Who could have possibly known that all that posturing and lying for political gain might affect someone’s behavior?!  Uh, I mean, it didn’t! It couldn’t. It was just talk!

Did anyone other than the guilty parties themselves fail to notice the bizarre irony here?

The people now hastening to assure us that talk doesn’t matter are people who earn big salaries talking. We refer to them as talking heads because that’s what they do, day in and day out, month in and month out.  Talk, talk, talk. Why?  Because like all bullies they (and the folks who bankroll them) are betting that words actually can hurt you.

Those most carefully denying any relation between talk and murder are politicians who spend years speechifying in order to change voter behavior, assisted by well-paid communications experts who the big bucks because tweaking words slightly might affect what voters do. They are pulpit pounders who siphon off 10 percent of churchgoer earnings on the premise that by talking to and for God they can influence beliefs, attitudes and behavior. Talk can save souls. In fact, in the Iron Age mythology of the Bible, it can bring whole worlds into existence.  In the beginning was the word. 

But a bloodbath incited by mere words? Stochastic terrorism? A crazy lone wolf who reacts predictably to the fear and fury of the pack? Words erupting into violent action and reaction? Words shattering into the staccato of gun fire, into screams of terror and anguish? Words slurring into the soft gurgle of the dying? Couldn’t be.

Someone should tell America’s politicians, ad men, preachers and campaign consultants to pack up and get jobs where they actually have some influence. If, as they claim, they’re not capable of getting one crazed wingnut among millions to pick up a gun and open fire after months of professionally crafted goading and millions of dollars of airtime, they don’t deserve their big salaries.

Valerie Tarico is a psychologist and writer in Seattle, Washington. She is the author of Trusting Doubt: A Former Evangelical Looks at Old Beliefs in a New Light and Deas and Other Imaginings, and the founder of www.WisdomCommons.org.  Her articles about religion, reproductive health, and the role of women in society have been featured at sites including AlterNet, Salon, the Huffington Post, Grist, and Jezebel.  Subscribe at ValerieTarico.com.

See:http://valerietarico.com/2015/11/30/republican-talking-heads-claim-talk-has-no-power-to-influence-beliefs-and-behavior/

Why Donald Trump Is Giving the Conservative Establishment a Splitting Headache

Republicans and conservatives happily encouraged the ugly forces that buoy Donald Trump, but they won’t admit it.

chasdarwin1 Comment

Source: AlterNet

Author: Simon Maloy/Salon

Emphasis Mine

The Donald Trump 2016 freakshow keeps on gaining momentum as it slides deeper into the pit of human misery and despair. For those who haven’t been following, the proto-fascist and nakedly xenophobic Republican presidential front-runner found a new way to broadcast his utter lack of human emotion: mocking a New York Times reporter for his physical disability. Trump denies he did any such thing, which is just another lie to throw on the pile. And if history is any guide, the whole episode will merely cement his supporters’ affection for him.

In one way or another, Republicans are struck with Trump. The durability of his support means you can’t just brush him off as a non-credible threat to win the nomination. And even if he does collapse at some point, he’s already succeeded in dragging the

primary down to his own level. Other candidates in the race are reacting to Trump, shifting further rightward to better align themselves with his extremism, and eschewing direct criticism of the man so that they can position themselves to poach his constituency. Like it or not, the GOP is the party of Trump.

What’s remarkable, though, is how many Republican and conservative elites deny this reality even as it screams “MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN” right in their faces. On Friday morning, the consistently wrong and bafflingly influential William Kristol tweeted that Trump, despite all outward indicators, lacks “genuine staying power.”

It’s an amusing take for several reasons. First off, Trump has been the dominant front-runner in state and national polling for four months running, which would seem to indicate that he has some measure of “staying power.” The Atlantic’s Molly Ball went to a Trump rally in South Carolina and came away with the impression that Trump’s people are clear-eyed and determined in their choice of candidate: “Perhaps the people who first glommed on to his celebrity got bored

and drifted away. But if so, they didn’t find anybody else they liked. And they came back. And now, they are not leaving.”

Also, there’s the inconvenient fact that Kristol has been incorrectly predicting Trump’s collapse for a long time now, going back to his July warning that Trump’s attack on John McCain’s military service would be “the beginning of the end.” In the months since, he’s said that we’ve passed Peak Trump, that Trump’s political stock was poised to crash, that “normal Americans” had grown sick of him, that he’d begun to fade, and that Trump had once again reached “the beginning of the end.”

Lastly, it was Kristol, you may recall, who gave the GOP the gift of Sarah Palin. Palin’s and Trump’s political styles are very similar – policy-light, resentment-heavy, personality-driven – and after the former Alaska governor was vaulted to the top of Republican politics in 2008, she won the adoration of conservative activists and mainstream Republicans alike with her folksy, inane, “you betcha” shtick. She was an early beneficiary of the same conservative backlash against establishment Republicans that Trump is currently profiting from. You could rightly argue that Palin differs from Trump in that she actually held elected office and had something of a political background to undergird her rise, but she remained popular well into the cartoonish, “death panel” phase of her post-government career. So it’s a bit strange that after he helped make a conservative star out of Palin, Kristol can’t believe that the party would also coalesce around Trump.

That gets to the conservative denialism surrounding Trump: The elites of the movement and the Republican Party happily encouraged and nurtured the same forces that have empowered Trump because they offered the promise of short-term political gain. The Trump phenomenon shows how those forces have grown beyond their control. As Brian Beutler writes at the New Republic, some Republicans and conservatives are, at this late hour, recognizing the threat posed to them by Trump and starting to grapple with the fact that they are the authors of their own political misfortune. But there’s still a sizeable contingent of right-wing power brokers who just can’t believe that Donald Trump is the candidate they deserve

See:http://www.alternet.org/election-2016/why-donald-trump-giving-conservative-establishment-splitting-headache?akid=13720.123424.UrrrwM&rd=1&src=newsletter1046472&t=10

Blood On Republican Hands: Killer Screamed “No More Baby Parts!” At Planned Parenthood

chasdarwin1 Comment

Source: Occupydemocrats.com

Author: Collin Taylor

Emphasis Mine

When the news broke of the shooting at a Planned Parenthood in Colorado Springs, the right-wing echo chamber immediately began trying to frame the attack as anything than what it was – first as a bank robbery, then as just another “mentally disturbed individual.” But NBC just reported that Robert Louis Dear yelled “no more baby parts” during the attack, proving to the whole world that this was a right-wing terrorist attack inspired by the Republican Party’s vile slander and public lies about Planned Parenthood.

The beloved healthcare provider was called out on national television by opportunist and reprehensible gender-traitor Carly Fiorina who demanded that we “watch a fully formed fetus on the table, its heart beating, its legs kicking while someone says we have to keep it alive to harvest its brain.” The footage used belonged to a miscarriage, and did not take place in a Planned Parenthood, and may not even have been inside the United States. Florida Senator Marco Rubio even had the gall to say that women were getting pregnant “just to sell their fetuses to Planned Parenthood”. As Bernie Sanders noted today, the damage has been done, despite the countless investigations that have come up with nothing.

The Republican Party’s collective refusal to acknowledge the truth and their relentless propagation of these abhorrent lies have come to this. Three dead, including a policeman. They are all responsible for this outrageous act of terrorism, and the mainstream media is just as complicit in distorting the narrative. The New York Times called him an “itinerant loner” and the Washington Post called him “adrift and alienated.” This was an act of terrorism, pure and simple; but our nation refuses to call it that.

After the outpouring of hatred and bigotry coming from the right over the past two weeks, aimed squarely at Muslims, where is the outcry? Why won’t Republicans call this what it is – radical Christianity? Why won’t moderate Christians denounce this terrible attack? Why aren’t we collecting databases on alienated white men who own machine guns? Their hypocrisy is absolutely disgusting, and now the blood is on all of their hands.

But especially yours, Ms. Fiorina.

See: http://wp.me/p3h8WX-5Pq

Bernie Sanders’s Refreshingly Sane Foreign Policy

In his speech last week, Sanders said what every presidential candidate ought to say about ISIS and the Middle East.

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Source: AlterNet

Author:Sean Illing / Salon

See: http://www.alternet.org/election-2016/bernie-sanderss-refreshingly-sane-foreign-policy?akid=13718.123424.aks17V&rd=1&src=newsletter1046419&t=16

Welcome to the GOP’s Age of Rage: Shocking New Study Shows How Anger Is Fueling the Republican Party

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Source: AlterNet

Author: Heather Digby Parton/Salon

Emphasis Mine

According to the latest Pew poll, Republicans are mad as hell and they’re not going to take it anymore. They are, as usual, deeply confused about what government does and what they want it to do, but whatever it is, they’re very angry about it. Thirty-two percent of GOP voters say they are mad at the government, while only 12 percent of Democrats say the same. According to Pew, among the truly engaged (like those, say, who go to a political rally a year before an election), 42 percent of Republicans are angry compared to 11 percent of Democrats.

Both sides say you cannot trust the government, but Democrats’ views don’t change depending on who is in the White House while Republicans are far more trusting of government when one of their own is president:

In Barack Obama’s six years as president, 13% of Republicans, on average, have said they can trust the government always or most of the time – the lowest level of average trust among either party during any administration dating back 40 years. During George W. Bush’s presidency, an average of 47% of Republicans said they could trust the government. By contrast, the share of Democrats saying they can trust the government has been virtually unchanged over the two administrations (28% Bush, 29% Obama).

It doesn’t appear, then, that despite their constant bleating about the predations of big government, this mistrust is truly a matter of principle with Republicans. Republican voters simply believe that government is the enemy unless Republicans are in charge of every bit of it. This famous quote by Grover Norquist in the wake of the 2004 GOP victory perfectly expresses how they believe government is supposed to work:

“Once the [Democratic] minority of House and Senate are comfortable in their minority status, they will have no problem socializing with the Republicans. Any farmer will tell you that certain animals run around and are unpleasant, but when they’ve been fixed, then they are happy and sedate. They are contented and cheerful. They don’t go aroundpeeing on the furniture and such.”

And while one might think that having majorities of governors and state legislatures, running both houses of Congress and a majority on the Supreme Court would make them hate the government less, without having control of every branch, they are convinced that they are an aggrieved minority who are losing at every turn: “large majorities of both conservative Republicans (81 percent) and moderate and liberal Republicans (75 percent) say their political side loses more often than it wins.” And heaven forbid they might compromise to get some of what they want. If they can’t have it all, it’s not worth anything.

None of this is really news to anyone who’s been watching the presidential race unfold this year. The Trump phenomenon alone is enough to convince observers that while a large chunk of the Republican base is ticked off at just about everything — especially immigrants, Muslims and President Obama. But what really makes them see red, and what Trump (and to some extent Carson) articulates the best, is the visceral loathing for what they call “political correctness.” (That’s what what people used to call “good manners” or “basic human decency.”) The social disapprobation against being rude and demeaning completely enrages them.

Some conservatives openly defy any restriction on their God-given right to be puerile jerks:

(Helen Keller jokes were considered gross and out of bounds even when I was a kid and that was long before the term “political correctness” existed.)

Rush Limbaugh, Mark Levin, Ann Coulter and Laura Ingraham come to mind as similarly infantile and crude. But mostly they are screaming mad. They are the leaders of the angry right who have been stoking the discontent of their audiences for many years, creating the subculture of right wing rage that is finding its political expression in the candidacy of Donald Trump.

No less than the Wall Street Journal made note of their influence and how they’ve managed to turn it against the very establishment that helped create them:

Consider the folks who regularly tune in to conservative talk radio. These listeners expect a steady diet of Obama-bashing, so it’s hardly surprising that not one surveyed for a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll in late October approved of the job Barack Obama is doing as president.

That anger translates to how these Americans view the country as a whole. Some 98% think the country is headed in the wrong direction, a view regularly reinforced on the airwaves by the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Mark Levin and other talk-radio hosts who don’t have much nice to say about GOP leaders in Washington, either.

A decade ago, Republicans touted conservative talk radio as a foolproof medium to communicate directly with their most ardent supporters. Democrats and liberal groups tried to replicate that success by building their own left-leaning television and radio stations, with far less success.

Now, the tables have turned. Republican leaders in Washington are under siege from their own activists, in part, because conservative radio hosts are almost as likely to rail against the party brass in Congress as they are to lament Mr. Obama’s failings in the Oval Office.

This is a switch from the days when Rush would have the whole Bush family on his show in 2008 so they could kiss each other’s rings:

RUSH: What are…? (interruption) Interrupting for what?

THE PRESIDENT: Hello!

RUSH: Oh, jeez. The president?

THE PRESIDENT: Rush Limbaugh?

RUSH: Yes, sir, Mr. President.

THE PRESIDENT: President George W. Bush calling to congratulate you on 20 years of important and excellent broadcasting.

RUSH: Well, thank you, sir. You’ve stunned me! (laughing) I’m shocked. But thank you so much.

THE PRESIDENT: That’s hard to do.

RUSH: (laughing) I know, it is.

RUSH: Well, thank you, sir. You’ve stunned me! (laughing) I’m shocked. But thank you so much.

THE PRESIDENT: That’s hard to do.

RUSH: (laughing) I know, it is.

THE PRESIDENT: I’m here with a room full of admirers. There are two others that would like to speak to you and congratulate you, people who consider you friends and really appreciate the contribution you’ve made.

RUSH: Thank you, sir, very much. Put ’em on.

THE PRESIDENT: How you doing? This is my swan song? If this is all you got for me, I’m moving on.

RUSH: (laughing) No! The show’s yours; take as much time as you want.

THE PRESIDENT: Well, I’m just calling along with President 41 and the former governor of Florida. We’re fixing to have lunch here, and I said, “Listen, we ought to call our pal and let him know that we care,” for you. So this is as much as anything, a nice verbal letter to a guy we really care for.

RUSH: Well, thank you, sir, very much. I’m overwhelmed. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this and how much you’ve surprised me.

THE PRESIDENT: Well, that was the purpose of the phone call.

RUSH: You succeeded.

THE PRESIDENT: Good. There was trouble in paradise even then, however, although the Bush family may not have been aware of it. You may recall that President Bush had tried to pass immigration reform and was thwarted by one of the earliest exercises of right wing muscle in Congress. Former Senate majority leader Trent Lott left no uncertainty as to who and what was to blame:

Comments by Republican senators on Thursday suggested that they were feeling the heat from conservative critics of the bill, who object to provisions offering legal status. The Republican whip, Trent Lott of Mississippi, who supports the bill, said: “Talk radio is running America. We have to deal with that problem.”

There’s nothing they can do about it. That “problem” continued on unmolested and ended up empowering the Tea Party right to create an obstructionist bloc in the House, destroyed the political career of the House Majority Leader last year and is now fueling the angry crowds who are showing up to cheer on Donald Trump as he eschews all human decency to “tell it like it is” in exactly the terms these talk radio folks are used to hearing it. And today, as then, racism and xenophobia are their main motivators.

Like Limbaugh, Levin, Savage and Ingraham, Trump channels their anger and feeds it back to them. The Pew Poll reported:

Donald Trump is viewed more favorably by the nearly one-third of Republicans and leaners who are angry at government (64% favorable) than by those who are frustrated or content with government (48%). Other GOP presidential candidates (Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz and Ben Carson) also get higher favorable ratings among Republicans who are angry at government than among non-angry Republicans, in part because they are better known among the “angry” group.

And if you want to know why establishment Republicans are so unwilling to challenge talk radio’s toxic spew and the political virus that grows from it, the Journal explains:

Republican presidential contenders would be unwise to write off this bloc; roughly a third of Republican primary voters strongly identify with conservative talk radio, about 10 percentage points higher than the share of GOP primaryvoters who consider themselves moderate or liberal, according to the survey conducted by the Democrats at Hart Research Associates and the Republicans at Public Opinion Research.

There are way more of these talk radio acolytes than there are any other kind of Republican. They run things now. And they are livid — at least until the Republicans manage to control all of government and enact their agenda precisely as talk radio tells them it must be enacted. Then they might calm down. But I wouldn’t count on it. Rage is their life blood now. They can’t live without it.

Heather Digby Parton, also known as “Digby,” is a contributing writer to Salon. She was the winner of the 2014 Hillman Prize for Opinion and Analysis Journalism.

 

 

See: http://www.alternet.org/welcome-gops-age-rage-shocking-new-study-shows-how-anger-fueling-republican-party?akid=13706.123424.EYfW1-&rd=1&src=newsletter1046254&t=12