It sounds like Steve Schmidt is basically on board with my advice to treat the Tea Party element in the Republican Party like you’d treat a drug addict in your family.
Former John McCain senior adviser Steve Schmidt says he has “deep regret” for helping to create a “freak show” wing of the Republican Party when he had a hand in bringing former McCain running mate Sarah Palin to the national stage.
Schmidt said Monday on MSNBC’s “Hardball” it’s time for the GOP to stand up to the “asininity” embodied by Palin and others.“For the last couple of years, we’ve had this wing of the party running roughshod over the rest of the party. Tossing out terms like RINO saying we’re going to purge, you know, the moderates out of the party,” Schmidt said. “We’ve lost five U.S. Senate seats over the last two election cycles. And fundamentally we need Republicans, whether they’re running for president, whether they’re in the leadership of the Congress, to stand up against a lot of this asininity.”
“Hardball” host Chris Matthews asked Schmidt what he thought of the “Frankenstein monster” he created in Palin and Cruz.
“You finally you saw it with Ted Cruz. Maybe he was the one that who’s got a bridge too far,” Schmidt said. “Maybe we’ll start seeing our elected leaders stop being intimidated by this nonsense, have the nerve, have the guts to stand up and … to fight to take conservatism’s good name back from the freak show that’s been running wild for four years and that I have deep regret in my part, certainly, in initiating.”
Basically, we’ve gotten to the point where the Republican Party can no longer function because it is infected with a disease, and it’s now impacting the entire country because the Democrats can’t make laws by themselves. And we can’t cower in fear anymore. We can’t tiptoe around the problem and try to avoid antagonizing the patient. We have to treat this like a sickness and apply what we know about the recovery process to the GOP’s problem. You can take the addict analogy as far as you want, but I’m not kidding about the need to stop coddling these morons. It’s time to get right up in their face and tell them that not only are they liars but they have grown to believe their own lies. They need help.
Unless the Republicans who are not on board with this whole freak stand up and shout a forceful and resounding, “NO” to all of this, it just doesn’t seem like there is a damn thing that can be done, unless the balance of power is changed in 2014.
I have listened to several national Republicans who say the same things as Schmidt. And I have talked to some of our local Republicans where I live. Many of them say the same thing, “I am embarrassed to say I’m a Republican”.
But unless these people stand up to the Tea Party wing, I’m afraid we are in a political death spiral.
Damn.
I saw Benmosche’s comment earlier today. This really is where we are at. Anything, even the most insignificant little piece of shit issue that does not comport with the lunatic’s ideology is deemed the most vile fucking view ever held since our species started walking upright. And anyone who holds that view is not worthy of breathing their air and should be fucking KILLED in the public square.
All we need is for shit like this to start taking hold, and away we go. With the mindset that is taking hold in the Republican side of our government, it would not be that hard to orchestrate something which could quickly spiral out of control.
It ain’t taking hold.
It’s the Tea Party mentality and it’s part of what the “sane” Republicans are going to have to push back against.
It’s the Tea Party mentality and it’s part of what the “sane” Republicans are going to have to push back against.
From your keyboard to god’s RSS feed………..
The Republicans who are not on board with this will have a great opportunity to show it in the upcoming votes on funding and debt ceiling.
Here’s what I think is the basic problem, and it’s something that GOP pols know instinctively, but the reality-based community hasn’t caught up with:
27% > half of 50%
The vocal TeaTards are few and loud, but they represent the “crazification factor” 27% of “Bush dead-enders”, hard-core wingnuts. And if they’re not a majority of GOP voters, it’s pretty close.
And they vote in primaries.
As long as that is the case, “intervention” won’t help purge the GOP of TeaTard influence, that will only happen as a result of the TeaTards getting distracted/discouraged, or disenfranchised.
Luckily, the GOP have experts on disenfranchising voters. Now they need to aim their experts at a new target, for their own survival.
Back to the smoke-filled rooms?
Is it true that Harry’s bill for the senate is a clean CR that would only be effective through 11/15? That sounds like more rope for the tea baggers or just enough time for them to find bigger shovels.
I think it’s December 15, so we can all get a Christmas present from the Tea Party.
Schmidt bears alot of responsibility. But for those of the Rep leadership who stood by the wayside and let the lies embolden this lynch mob we call the TeaParty just for the instant gratification of hearing them roar, they must now recognize it is their job to clean house.
Can Fox reinvent itself? Will the Koch brothers go green? Will Walmart offer a living wage?
Nope. As long as the money’s in the pipeline, the fix is in. Schmidt can feel bad til doomsday, Michael Steele can sigh as much as he’d like, Alan Simpson can be Wyoming Repub wise til the cows come home, but to clean house the Rep’s have to confront the money.
The policies of the insane right-wing are the policies Rupert Murdoch supports. His “news” organizations, worldwide, specialize in racism, callousness, and belittlement. His network is doing exactly what he wants it to be doing.
Mehh..I’m not convinced congressional democrats want the teabagger mob gone, or reigned in by more moderate repugs.
Once they are gone, the democrats no longer have an excuse for getting more or less nothing accomplished.
The 300+ bills the 2009-10 House passed that never got taken up by the Senate—largely because of Republican obstructionism—would seem to stand as evidence against your view.
HUH? I don’t know all of the details on these bills, but I’m guessing some were throwaway/garbage bills that don’t deserve the senate’s attention.
regarding worthwhile legislation that goes nowhere, I’ve been saying for years our House of Lords, errrrr, I mean the senate is a huge, status-quo supporting problem.
nearly half of the senate is comprised of millionaires. Former senator John Kerry being one, if not THE wealthiest member.
FAIL
Just watched Dilma Roussef’s speech from the United Nations General Assembly opening session. After the conventional US political rhetoric, it’s a shock to hear what adult political conversation sounds like. And helpful to understanding what the agendas of countries outside the US are.
Understanding that Cruz’s bladder is much smaller than Bernie Sanders’s. Didn’t even last the hour. What a pathetic excuse for a filibuster after such media hype!
The Senate GOP is going to delay action and then complain about Harry Reid jamming the House. The Cruzifarians are going nuts wanting shutdown.
Not much corner left for these nitwits.
The best way to get a reluctant addict to voluntarily seek treatment is to treat all the co-dependents around the addict. The biggest co-dependent in this analogy is the for-profit media. As long as they continue to treat Cruz as a viable candidate for President they have to use kid gloves with him to keep from losing access to him during the primaries and caucuses. As long as people like Cruz are willing to grandstand and make fools of themselves on TV, they will always have a willing and engaged media to cover it because crazy, like sex, sells. The other co-dependent to treat is the audience for this kind of sideshow antics.
Maybe it starts with Clear Channel not renewing Rush’s contract because of advertisers pulling away. Maybe it starts with Hannity saying enough is enough and he starts treating these people like poison. Can FOX change its business model and search for a new audience? Maybe, but not while Ailes is at the helm. A whole lot of dominoes need to fall to perform this intervention. It can happen, but it will be a slow, painful process.
The other co-dependents to treat are the Congressional Democrats who like the fact that GOP shenanigans give cover for their capitulations. For example, McIntyre and Matheson should get some harsh tough love for voting to cut Food Stamps. And Democrats in the House who would think of voting for shutdown should be warned.
Boo wrote “You can take the addict analogy as far as you want, but I’m not kidding about the need to stop coddling these morons. It’s time to get right up in their face and tell them that not only are they liars but they have grown to believe their own lies. They need help.”
I’m not sure what that really means. Because they believe their lies are true, and because one of their strongest beliefs is that they can only believe fellow travelers. No discussion is possible.
Not to use strong language, but tooo f&king bad Stevie boy. You opened that shhh storm of a pandora’s box and now you can suck it.
Now we are all being f
&ked royally because of you blind ambition.
That Koch habit is going to be real hard to kick.
Looking to the Republican Party to take-down or out the crazies that they helped get elected and that increased their power in many states and DC is the same freaking mistake that Democrats made in the mid-1950s and 1960s. Then they had to repay the favor.
If Democrats can’t compete and win against delusional office holders, it doesn’t say anything good about them or democracy.
oops — that should have read:
…the same freaking mistake that Democrats made in the mid-1950s and 1970s. Then they had to repay the favor.
People keep talking about 20-30 “moderate” republicans. Is there any attempt to begin challenging those Republicans in their districts? Ad buys, prominent candidates, whatever? (I mean from Democratic groups).
There should be a Democratic challenger in every Congressional District. The DCCC should allocate at least enough money to print handbills.
Damn, can’t believe this! https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mokoolapps.parisfrancepuzzles
… And we can’t cower in fear anymore. We can’t tiptoe around the problem and try to avoid antagonizing the patient… It’s time to get right up in their face and tell them that not only are they liars but they have grown to believe their own lies. They need help.
And right after you post this, you also suggest that we damage Social Security by giving them a chained CPI that they never dreamed of getting until WE suggested it.