2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumThe G.O.P.’s Bachmann Problem
The G.O.P.s Bachmann Problem
By CHARLES M. BLOW
March 22, 2013 NYT
The current intramural squabbling on the right is just too delicious for words. At least for nice words.
Senator John McCain called the far-right darlings Senator Rand Paul, Senator Ted Cruz and Representative Justin Amash wacko birds earlier this month. (McCain later apologized for that burst of honesty and candor.)
Ann Coulter used her Conservative Political Action Conference speech to take a shot at New Jerseys governor, Chris Christie, who was not invited to speak this year. Coulter quipped: Even CPAC had to cut back on its speakers this year, by about 300 pounds. What a lovely woman.
Also at CPAC, the half-term ex-governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin, took a whack at Karl Rove, challenging him to run for office himself. Buck up or stay in the truck, she said with her usual Shakespearean eloquence. Rove shot back that if he were to run and win, hed at least finish his term. Ouch.
Donald Trump took to Twitter recently to call the conservative blogger Michelle Malkin a dummy who was born stupid. Its hard to know whom to side with when two bullies battle.
But all this name-calling, as fun as it is to watch, is just a sideshow. The main show is the underlying agitation.
The Republican Party is experiencing an existential crisis, born of its own misguided incongruity with modern American culture and its insistence on choosing intransigence in a dynamic age of fundamental change. Instead of turning away from obsolescence, it is charging headlong into it, becoming more strident and pushing away more voters whom it could otherwise win.
..............................more
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/23/opinion/blow-the-gops-bachmann-problem.html?ref=charlesmblow&_r=0
Cirque du So-What
(25,941 posts)Thing is, she's just one among many other grenade-tossers within their party. Long live gooper infighting!
Vinnie From Indy
(10,820 posts)I say give that lady a bigger microphone!
Paladin
(28,264 posts)Bachmann tells so many lies with any given statement that she's burning out fact-checkers. What an absolute blessing to the Democratic Party......
ErikJ
(6,335 posts)............"People like Bachmann represent everything that is wrong with the Republican Party. She and her colleagues are hyperbolic, reactionary, ill-informed and ill-intentioned, and they have become synonymous with the Republican brand. We dont need all politicians to be Mensa-worthy, but we do expect them to be cogent and competent.
When all the dust settles from the current dustup within the party over who holds the mantle and which direction to take, Republicans will still be left with the problem of what to do with people like Bachmann."
Paladin
(28,264 posts)Great article, very worthwhile reading.
Generic Brad
(14,275 posts)I will be so happy when her shooting star finally fades out.
GraniteDem
(30 posts)You made my day!
Milliesmom
(493 posts)Exclusive: Congressional Ethics Probe Adds to Michele Bachmanns Political Woes
by John AvlonMar 25, 2013 11:45 AM EDT
Add the Office of Congressional Ethics to the long list of probes and lawsuits that may be the only enduring legacy of Bachmanns presidential face-plant. John Avlon exclusively reports.
More at:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/03/25/exclusive-congressional-ethics-probe-adds-to-bachmann-s-political-woes.html
Scuba
(53,475 posts)Milliesmom
(493 posts)Submariner
(12,504 posts)doing in government as a law maker? We had a government full of goons from Jerry Falwell's Liberty University infiltrated throughout our government under Bush. That was bad enough.
I'm sure there are a lot more qualified individuals from top rated universities available to us than these losers from 4th tier or lower rated shit-hole schools like Oral Roberts U and Liberty U.
It's time to clean house in 2014.
Jamaal510
(10,893 posts)Myrina
(12,296 posts)... the folks I know who live in MN are rather intelligent & logical. Even if they aren't Dems, they recognize batshit crazy when they see it.
AlinPA
(15,071 posts)adieu
(1,009 posts)As I had said before, the GOP HAD to follow Reagan's dictum of the 11th commandment, "Thou shall not speak ill of fellow republicans." The reason is because they are so self-contradictory that they can't even message themselves congruently. So it is very easy for them to point fingers and accuse each other of not being the "pure republican". The only thing holding them together is a verbal agreement not to hate another fellow republican, just because he or she has declared herself to be a republican (I guess card-carrying is the only requirement.)
Once the commandment has been broken, you now see the effects: everyone hates everyone else. There are no true republicans. The GOP has fallen into the "No True Scotsman" fallacy. Well, good for them and good for the country.
Keep up the good fight, GOPers!
Sheepshank
(12,504 posts)there are a couple of quotes here that needs forwarding