How Our Government Works

John Cole calls it "This Is What Obstructionism + Nihilism + the Wurlitzer Looks Like", and it's supposed to be sarcastic. But it's true, and it's truly sad to say that this is actually what our federal government looks like these days. If Republican domination of America goes on much longer, I will be ashamed to talk to my kids about democracy.

They won't fire even one shot

Steve Benen says that "the biggest Democratic political problem of the day is ... picking among the several GOP scandals and deciding where to invest party energies." Wrong. The biggest Democratic political problem if the day is that Dem leaders won't make a fuss over any of the GOP's tantrums, corruption, or obstruction.

We don't have a two-party system; it's maybe a one-and-a-half-party system? If that much?

IOKIYAR

IOKIYAR, a common abbreviation in progressive circles: It's OK if you're a Republican. If a Dem and a Repo do the same thing, the Dem will be slammed for it and the Repo will get a free pass:

• Dixie Chicks got slammed for criticizing Bush (though they didn't say anything rude or untrue). So is anyone slamming Ted Nugent for criticizing Obama (and being rude and untrue in the process)? Silly question.
• Talking Points Memo asks, "If an underwear bomb means we're not safe under Obama, does a shoe bomb mean Bush didn't really keep us safe after 9/11?" (And along those lines, one editor I know says, "We take off our shoes because Richard What's-'is-name carried explosives in his shoe. Do we now take off our underwear? This is all generals fighting the last war.")
• Peggy Noonan says that Charles Schumer calling Scott Brown—accurately—a "far-right teabagger" is "obnoxious intrusion" and "name calling". Yet far-right teabaggers calling Obama a Marxist, Nazi, facist, or Antichrist is... what, exactly?
• No More Mister Nice Blog asks us, "Can you imagine if, in the runup to 2006 or 2008, most of the major Democratic presidential contenders had attended a convention featuring a Condi Rice pinata, and maybe a Dick Cheney face shoot or a George W. Bush pretzel-eating contest? And can you further imagine Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama and Joe Biden trying to outdo one another on missing-WMD jokes and Katrina-failure jokes, all while attendees got to knock down a guy dressed in drag as Lynne Cheney, sumo wrestler?"

We're on a road to nowhere

I don't often agree with Nate Silver's opinions, but he has perfectly captured exactly where the Democrats are today: behind in the casino by more than they can afford, and with their ATM card cancelled.

Priorities

Briefly noted at That's My Congress: "The website of the House Judiciary Committee reveals that this month's scheduled hearing, bringing FBI officials to answer questions about the bureau's domestic surveillance of law-abiding Americans, has been canceled. The second of two hearings regarding the government's role in preventing head injuries in football, on the other hand, will proceed as scheduled."

The Party That Means Business

An excellent blog post at Firedoglake spells out how Repos are all in favor of a 'public option' when it's publically-funded and -managed insurance for property, including subsidies, retroactive coverage, and mandated universality—the same Repos who oppose the same things for human beings:

Along the Gulf Coast, on the barrier islands on the Atlantic, in below-water expanses behind river levees and in desert communities plagued by flash floods, our federal government is there using tax dollars to help take care of damaged property.

But people? Providing a public option so people can buy health insurance through the federal government is "socialism," according to Senator John Kyl, the Republican senator from Arizona, a desert state where flash floods are as permanent a feature of reality as sickness and injury. Will someone ask Kyl why he favors what he calls socialist policies for property, but not people?

Remember those turtles on the cable-TV ad, the Slowskis?

Because 40 years of trying, two years of campaigning, and 10 months of Congressional negotiations just aren't enough: Republicans ask US Senate to slow down on healthcare. HA! Folks, this process is anything but rushed. Don't let Repos run out the clock, and don't let conservative Dems kill the public option.

But Barnum reminds us, the nation is full of fools

More quote pulling:

only a complete fool would be blaming Obama for our current mess, and only a complete fool could look at the last few decades and think the solution to our nation’s woes is giving the Republicans another shot in 2010 and 2012. Only this time, they really will take us towards that elusive conservative Utopia that eluded them while they ran the house, the Senate, and the White House! I promise! The check is in the mail! I will respect you in the morning!

Epitaph for journalism

Eric Boehlert has a great dissection of modern "reporting", showing how the American media has become corrupted and biased:

So to summarize: ABC News confirms that it will chase any right-wing "fight" even if it's baseless; even if it's "unfounded." In reporting those fights, ABC News will purposefully exclude Democrat voices from the story. And ABC News, while acknowledging a fight is "unfounded," will allow partisan Republicans to blame the White House for the "controversy."

It's in ABC's own words, folks, not some Democratic Party memo. It's just the latest evidence that the "news" business in this country promotes arguments; the media treats every issue as "on the one hand, on the other hand" even when one side tells the truth and the other side lies.

Wilsooooonnnnnn!!!!

I'm sorry Wilson! I'm sorry you're such a sad, pathetic sack of lying dirt! I'm sorry somebody with your attitude toward the truth has any power or authority in our society!

Investigate & prosecute crimes

Quote of the day, from Doug J at Balloon Juice: "It’s simply astounding to me that the Village thought it was urgent to drop everything and impeach Bill Clinton for a blowjob, consequences be damned, are so concerned about what would happen if we prosecuted people for the violation of basic human rights."

We put out your fire, here's the bill

We don't object to public management of police, fire, and sewer services. We shouldn't hold up public management of health insurance either:

What it all comes down to