The Top 10 Conservative Idiots, No. 381

[top10]

The Top 10 Conservative Idiots, No. 381

September 27, 2010
Pledge Of Darkness Edition

This week the Republican Party (1,3) makes the foolish mistake of actually saying what they're going to do if they get elected -- and it's all John Boehner's (2,7) fault! Elsewhere, Susan Collins (5) and Rand Paul (6) teach us all about fairness, and Christine O'Donnell (10) has a plan to... well, you'll see. Don't forget the key!



The Republican Party

Last week the GOP released its much-awaited "Pledge To America," a rehashed "Contract With America" which aims to dispell the popular notion that Republicans have got absolutely nothing new to offer whatsoever. Want to know what's in it? I'll http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hBuErW4Kv_v_HYB_21r54a5KJuOgD9IDQTL81">give you a clue:

The "Pledge to America" was filled with familiar proposals to slash taxes and spending and cut down on government regulation, as well as repeal President Barack Obama's health care law and end his stimulus program.

See, they have ideas! All we have to do is cut taxes, reduce spending, and do away with everything the Democrats have done the past two years, and lo and behold it's morning in America all over again.

Just one problem...

The plan steers clear of specifics on important issues, such as how it will "put government on a path to a balanced budget." It omits altogether the question of how to address looming shortfalls in Social Security and Medicare, which account for a huge portion of the nation's soaring deficit, instead including a vague promise: "We will make the decisions that are necessary to protect our entitlement programs."

So how is the GOP going to do all the http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39314078/ns/politics-capitol_hill/">great stuff that's featured in their very special document, for example vowing to "cut taxes and federal spending" while simultaneously providing "full funding for missile defense programs?" I'm glad you asked. http://thinkprogress.org/2010/09/23/goppledge-ask-americans">According to Think Progress:

During the roll-out of the House GOP's "Pledge to America" gimmick, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) was asked for specifics on how his colleagues would balance the budget and cut the deficit, but he wasn't able to hide the fact that document falls short on details. "I don't have all of the solutions," Boehner said, adding that the American people "will help us get the answers."

Nice work John -- that should look good on a bumper sticker.




John Boehner

Of course President Obama was quick to push back against the Republicans' "Plague On America" (thanks for http://thehill.com/homenews/house/120537-clyburn-new-gop-pledge-like-a-plague-on-taxpayers">that, James Clyburn).

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2010/09/obama-says-gops-pledge-to-america-will-be-the-exact-same-agenda.html">According to ABC News:

The president tonight mocked their proposal in advance, casting it as more of the same.

"Make no mistake: The Republicans running for Congress, they want the next two years to look like the eight years before I took office," he said. "They might be announcing some new details tomorrow -- but the chair of one of their campaign committees already told us their intentions. He said that if the other party takes control of Congress, they plan to pursue -- and I'm quoting here -- the 'exact same agenda' as they did during the last administration. The exact same agenda."

Wow, a bit of a blunder there by that campaign committee chairman. Still, surely Republicans aren't so stupid as to make the same mistake http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/23/from-boehners-lips-fodder-for-democrats/?src=twt&twt=thecaucus">twice...

The idea behind Thursday morning's news conference by House Republican leaders was not to provide ammunition for Democrats.

But that may be what happened.

Even as Representative John Boehner, the Republican leader, was trumpeting the "Pledge for America," he may have inadvertently played right into the hands of the White House and Democratic candidates.

In answer to a question from a reporter about the party's position on social issues, and with the cameras running, Mr. Boehner said: "We are not going to be any different than what we've been."

I stand corrected.



The Republican Party

A few more notes on the GOP's "Plague On America..."

1. As Democrats were more than happy to http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dc/2010/09/dems-gop-already-broke-tax-cut.html">point out, just four hours after unveiling their pledge -- which included a promise to "give small business tax deductions" -- Republicans marched back to the House and voted in lockstep against $12 billion in tax cuts for small businesses. Only one Republican voted for the bill.

2. It was http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/22/pledge-for-america-brian-wild-lobbyist_n_735911.html">revealed that the author of the Pledge To America -- determined by looking at the original PDF file's properties -- was a man named Brian Wild, who, until he started working for John Boehner this past April, was a bigshot lobbyist for AIG, Exxon Mobil, Comcast, and Pfizer.

3. http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x9187316">Courtesy of the Rude Pundit:

The "Pledge" says, "End TARP Once and For All: Americans are rightly outraged at the bailouts of businesses and entities that force responsible taxpayers to subsidize irresponsible behavior. We will cancel the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), a move that would save taxpayers roughly $16 billion." Of the current House GOP leadership, John Boehner, Eric Cantor, and Pete Sessions all http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2008/roll681.xml" target="_blank">voted for it. Shouldn't they be held accountable by the caucus for bringing about the current crisis?

Well at least we now know why the GOP has called their plan the "Pledge" -- there is some serious turd-polishing going on around here.



The Republican Base, aka Bush's Backwash, aka The Tea Party

The media has spent much of the past two years fixating on the plight of America's most downtrodden group -- old white Republicans -- and trumpeting the rise of the Tea Party as their answer to the problems facing America today. Apparently what old white Republicans need most is no health care and no Social Security. Who knew? Not even them, I'll wager.

Anyway, it seems that despite two years of media fellatio the Tea Party is finally going floppy, and not a moment too soon. Don't get me wrong, the mid-term elections will still be an uphill battle for Democrats -- but let's face it, win or lose, sooner or later the Republican powers-that-be are going to dump the Tea Party over the side of the ship.

The cracks in the facade were on display last week in http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/24/tea-party-convention-is-canceled/">this New York Times article announcing that the grand National Tea Party Unity Convention in Las Vegas has been cancelled. Oh, woe.

Sponsored by Tea Party Nation, a social networking site, the convention was supposed to emphasize Tea Party groups working together -- a contrast to the convention in February, which was plagued by infighting among groups, with sponsors and speakers dropping out right up until its opening hours.

(snip)

Barbee Kinnison, a Tea Party activist in Las Vegas who had been helping organize the convention, sent an e-mail to supporters saying that it was with "deep sorrow" that she had to announce "the convention is just not going to happen."

So what happened? Well, it turns out that there are actually tons of different Tea Party groups, and the Tea Party Nation just can't teabag like the rest of 'em.

Tea Party Nation still draws scorn from some other Tea Party groups, which have raised eyebrows at asking people to spend more than $200 to attend a convention, so it was not clear what this said about the strength of the movement. Tea Party Patriots, a large umbrella for about 2,700 local Tea Party groups nationwide, had criticized the media attention on the convention in February, saying it was not a real representation of Tea Party activism.

But Ms. Kinnison said in her e-mail that "the various large 'other' Tea Party organizations have slid in their participations and donations across the country, and their events are free."

A group called Unite in Action had hoped to have a three-day Tea Party extravaganza of seminars and rallies in Washington starting Sept. 10, but Ms. Kinnison said that classrooms that the group had set up for 500 people ended up with only 5 in them.

You mean this whole Tea Party thing has been blown out of proportion by a factor of 100? Color me shocked.



Susan Collins

Every year, the Senate has a brief debate on the annual Defense Authorization Bill, and then votes to pass it. The National Defense Authorization Act funds the Pentagon and literally provides soldiers with their paychecks, so voting against it is not usually seen as a politically savvy move.

That is, until this year! Yes, this year every single Republican in the Senate http://thinkprogress.org/2010/09/21/defense-cloture-dadt/">voted against cloture on the bill, meaning it could not even come to the floor for a vote. In case you've been living in a cave for the last couple of years, that is called a filibuster. As in, "Can you believe those assholes actually filibustered the Defense Authorization Bill?!?!?"

Mind you, Republicans had a really good reason to filibuster the bill this year -- the Democrats had attached an amendment to it which would repeal the military's Don't Ask Don't Tell (DADT) policy, and of course Republicans can't have gay people running around fighting and dying for their country. Why, letting openly gay people into the military might make people think that they're, you know, normal. And obviously we can't have that.

So it was up to such principled folks as Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) to explain why she actually supports repealing DADT, but somehow couldn't bring herself to let the bill come to the floor of the Senate for an up-or-down vote:

"I support the provisions in this bill. I debated for them; I was the sole Republican on the Committee that voted for the Lieberman-Levin language on don't ask, don't tell. I think it's the right thing to do, I think it's only fair. I think we should welcome the service of these individuals who are willing and capable of serving their country. But I cannot vote to proceed to this bill under a situation that is going to shut down debate and preclude Republican amendments. That too is not fair."

So there you have it. While DADT may not be fair to gay people -- in that it forces them to live a life of shame and deceit in exchange for the privilege of serving their country -- it is equally unfair that the Senate Republicans weren't allowed to offer unlimited amendments to the Defense Authorization Bill.

Nice to know that Susan Collins has got her priorities in the right order.



Rand Paul

Dear seniors: yes, we know you have paid Medicare taxes all your lives. Yes, we know that you pay premiums for Medicare Parts B and D. And yes, we know you also have to pay co-pays for prescriptions. But I'm sorry -- http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9IDSOL81.htm">according to senate candidate Rand Paul (R-Obviously) you're going to have to open those wallets a little wider if Republicans take over Washington this fall.

Kentucky Republican Senate candidate Rand Paul said Thursday that Medicare recipients may have to "bear more of the burden" to shore up the health program's finances as rising numbers of seniors rely on its benefits.

While accepting a business group's endorsement, the tea party-backed Paul told reporters that dealing with looming Medicare shortfalls will require a bipartisan solution, but said options could include higher premiums.

"Nobody wants that," Paul said during a question-and-answer session in a steamy business warehouse. "I don't want higher premiums. But I also don't want the system to be bankrupt where we can't pay for Medicare at all.

"So I think we need to be adults and talk about the fact that we're short of money."

Okay then, let's talk about it like adults. Say Mr. Paul, what do you think of the idea of extending tax cuts for the wealthiest 2% of Americans, which will give them all an additional http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-09-08/obama-says-progress-on-repairing-economy-painfully-slow-in-visit-to-ohio.html">$100,000 each (on average), despite the fact that doing so will add http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2010/07/let_cuts_expire.html">$830 billion to the deficit? http://www.kentucky.com/2010/09/16/1436998/rand-paul-supports-tax-cut-extension.html">Do tell...

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Rand Paul said he would vote to extend federal tax cuts even without proposed spending cuts, a move that would dramatically deepen a federal debt he has railed against.

Paul, who has built his campaign around opposing big government and a $13.4 trillion national debt, said it would be better to pair the tax cuts with a plan to reduce spending.

However, asked if he would vote to extend the tax cuts without corresponding spending cuts, Paul said, "Absolutely. The money is not the government's. It is ours."

So to clarify: Rand Paul is okay with borrowing an additional $830 billion so that millionaires can pad their bank accounts. He's okay with borrowing that money even if there aren't any spending cuts. But if there have to be spending cuts, then he's fine with forcing struggling seniors who rely on Medicare and Social Security for their very health and well-being to "bear more of the burden."

You know, I'm sure Republicans used to be a bit more careful about flat-out saying things like, "I want to take money away from America's seniors and give it to millionaires." I guess they really are feeling confident about the upcoming elections.



John Boehner

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/opinion/s_700079.html">Word on the street is that the Republican rank-and-file is http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/16/john-boehner-mitch-mcconn_n_719631.html">not particularly happy with Minority Leader Boehner. As the Orange One's http://www.tnr.com/blog/jonathan-chait/77753/the-coming-boehner-purge">gaffes pile up, top Republicans may be starting to smell blood in the water.

All of which makes you wonder where http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheat-sheet/item/times-sitting-on-story-of-boehner-affair/scandal/">this little story came from:

Maybe we shouldn't be so quick to inaugurate John Boehner the next Speaker of the House: The New York Post says, "Insiders on Capitol Hill are buzzing about an upcoming New York Times exposé that will detail an alleged Boehner affair," and that the paper is planning to drop the story sometime in October. On Thursday, a reporter at Daily Kos http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/9/23/143551/011" target="_blank">asked Boehner and the alleged mistress-lobbyist Lisbeth Lyons -- about the rumors. At the time, both just offered stony "no comments."

That "no comment" was later upgraded to:

Boehner's office says: "This is bullshit."

At this point I should note that "Boehner" is an anagram of "Bone her." Coincidence?!?!?!?



Kenneth Kratz

While we're on the subject of Republican family values, meet Kenneth Kratz, district attorney of Calumet County, Wisconsin. Or rather, former district attorney of Calumet County, Wisconsin. Why? Because it was revealed last week that he "sent sexually suggestive texts to a domestic abuse victim last year, during the time he was prosecuting her case against her ex-boyfriend." And if that doesn't spell "scumbag," I don't know what does. http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/09/district_attorney_in_wi_sent_sexually_suggestive_texts_to_domestic_abuse_victim.php">According to Talking Points Memo:

Kratz was handling the case of Stephanie Van Groll, 26, in October 2009, after she accused her ex-boyfriend of nearly choking her to death. Van Groll complained that in a two-day span, Kratz sent her "20-plus" texts attempting to start an affair with her. One of the texts said: "Are u the kind of girl that likes secret contact with an older married elected DA...the riskier the better? Or do you want to stop right now before any issues?"

Kratz handed over the case once Van Groll made the complaint, and has since resigned his position on the Wisconsin Crime Victims' Rights Board. Reportedly, he resisted at first, and tried to avoid "public disclosure" of the case, according to Channel 3000 News.

TPM also has a selection of text messages taken from the police report which I won't republish here. Oh all right then, just one:

Im serious! Im the atty. I have the $350,000 house. I have the 6-figure career. You may be the tall, young, hot nymph, but I am the prize! Start convincing

Yes, Kenneth Kratz is a real prize all right.


And in case you were wondering, yup, http://www.postcrescent.com/article/20100918/APC0101/9180517/Calumet-County-District-Attorney-Ken-Kratz-says-he-will-not-resign">he's a Republican.

UPDATE: It seems that http://www.piercecountyherald.com/event/article/id/29182/">five women have now come forward to accuse Mr. Kratz of sexually harrassing them. What a charmer.



The Media

According to a http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/09/21/us/politics/AP-US-Health-Care-Poll.html?_r=1&ref=news">report in the New York Times last week:

Six months after President Barack Obama signed the landmark health care law, the nation still doesn't really know what's in it.

More than half of Americans mistakenly believe the overhaul will raise taxes for most people this year, an Associated Press poll finds. But that would be true only if most people were devoted to indoor tanning, which got hit with a sales tax.

Many who wanted the health care system to be overhauled don't realize that some provisions they cared about actually did make it in. And about a quarter of supporters don't understand that something hardly anyone wanted didn't make it: They mistakenly say the law will set up panels of bureaucrats to make decisions about people's care -- what critics labeled "death panels."

The uncertainty and confusion amount to a dismal verdict for the Obama administration's campaign to win over public opinion.

Wait a second. Yes, the administration can and should do a better job informing the public about the health care law, but I have a question:

What about the media's role in all this?

The whole point of the media is to keep the public informed. It's easy to say that "The uncertainty and confusion amount to a dismal verdict for the Obama administration's campaign to win over public opinion," but when the Times lays the blame at the feet of the Obama administration it ignores the massive elephant in the room -- that the public shouldn't be this poorly informed, and that they are this poorly informed because the media has done such a shitty job of informing them.

And it's easy to see why. Rather than reporting on what was actually in the health care law, most media air time was given over to political operatives with partisan interests who were more than happy to just plain invent stuff on live television and elsewhere -- and could do so with little consequence. Hence this finding now that so many people think that death panels are real and their taxes will go up.

Remember when http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2003-09-06-poll-iraq_x.htm">70% of Americans thought that Saddam Hussein was personally involved in the 9/11 attacks? Well hey, that's because the Bush administration did such a great job "winning over public opinion."

It's also because THE MEDIA FUCKING SUCKS.



Christine O'Donnell

And finally, there is no doubt that we'll be seeing a lot more of Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell (R-Teabag) between now and the elections on November 2, especially if Bill Maher keeps his word to release one video clip a week from her appearances on his former ABC show "Politically Incorrect" if she doesn't appear on his current HBO show "Real Time." (See http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2010/09/25/odonnell-in-1998-evolution-is-a-myth/">here for the latest clip: If evolution is real, how come we can't see monkeys evolving into humans?)

But even without Bill Maher's assistance it seems there's still plenty of video floating around out there that doesn't exactly put Ms. O'Donnell in a flattering light. And when I say "doesn't exactly put Ms. O'Donnell in a flattering light," I mean it makes her look like a crazed megalomaniac desperate to impose her fucked-up religious fanaticism on the rest of the country.

Here's The Plum Line's http://voices.washingtonpost.com/plum-line/2010/09/video_of_christine_odonnell_im.html">description of a new video unearthed last week:

At the time, O'Donnell was with the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, a conservative group she later sued for gender discrimination. The exchange, on Scarborough Country on November 13, 2003, is an argument between O'Donnell and Eric Nies, then with the Moment of Hope foundation, about whether to counsel kids to have safe sex:

NIES: I tell them to be careful. You have to wear a condom. You have to protect yourself when you're going to have sex, because they're having it anyway.

NIES: There's nothing that you or me can do about it.

O'DONNELL: The sad reality is -- yes, there is something you can do about it. And the sad reality, to tell them slap on a condom is not --

NIES: You're going to stop the whole country from having sex?

O'DONNELL: Yeah. Yeah!

NIES: You're living on a prayer if you think that's going to happen.

But let's be fair to Christine here -- she's probably got a better chance of stopping everyone in America from having sex than she does of becoming the next senator from Delaware.

See you next week!

-- EarlG

[WillParkinson]

1. I first joined DU when someone sent me a Top Ten...

And I've been hooked ever since.

[GreenTea]

29. I did a Google search in 2001 looking for "dumb" or "idiot" republicans I can't recall which

Then I "stumbled" upon DU - In so much as I've had a FEW incarnations over the years since - This one I have now has lasted the longest of all of them though.....It was early 2001 and there were only, oh, I don't know, a couple of thousand user names then, maybe a bit more....

[sakabatou]

2. Heheheh

[NYC_SKP]

3. Thanks, EarlG!

:applause:

:P

[CaliforniaPeggy]

4. Delicious!

Soooooooo glad you're back, even if only briefly!

Highly Recommended!

:kick:

[mistertrickster]

5. The Top 10 is BACK. And the Idiots are even more idiotic than ever! nt.

[Initech]

6. I got to admit - "Real Time With Bill Maher" has kept me sane a lot.

[hibbing]

7. Good stuff

Hi,
Thanks always was a highlight seeing this pop up every week and still is awesome when I see it show up randomly. Thanks for the time you take to do this.

Peace

[Demeter]

8. Sad but True

The madness never stops on the Right. Good job, EarlG.

[Scuba]

9. Thank you.

[dmr]

10. Maybe Christine can have a chat with Kenneth Kratz ....

:crazy:
Thanks for the Top Ten, Earl!
:hi:

[Bluzmann57]

11. Number 8 and number 9 are intertwined

At least in a way. There have been numerous stories about Kratz and so far as I can tell, not one mentioned that he is a republican. If he was a Democrat you can bet the "liberal" media would have mentioned that fact over and over. Thanks again for the return of the top ten list, even if it is only temporary. It not only is good for a few laughs, it is an educational tool as we near the election.

[FSogol]

12. Glad you are back. Keep up the good work. n/t

[Diclotican]

13. Yes!!!

Hey

And As I have wondered before, where are all this persons coming from?.. Are they breed some speciall places, and then put into the world in sequenses?:..

I know that top 10 is just on a wind now, to the end of the elections, but it was one of the few places in the world, where the "ring-wings" wa put in their places.. As plain stupid ones

And you dosen't disapoint now either Earl, nice job, even tho i guess you could do a double top 10, and even then just got the surface..

Diclotican

[Auggie]

14. Relish the Top 10...

best damn thing on the World Wide Web.

Thank you, EarlG

[mopinko]

15. locking

for language insensitive to republicans, tea baggers, and the just plain batshit insane.

great job boss.

[Grins]

16. Word flip, but it's OK

Man! I guess I have to have two cups of coffee before reading the Top-10.

#4: "The media has spent much of the past two years fixating on the plight of America's most downtrodden group -- old white Republicans..."

Damn. For some odd reason I read "fixating" as "fisting".

Not that it changes the sentence's meaning or anything....

[Proud Liberal Dem]

17. Nice to see these again, Earl G!!!!

:thumbsup:

[Oceansaway]

18. thanks...n/t

[bluetiger]

19. The Polls are crystal clear

The vast majority of the America people want to keep SS and Medicare

Including Republicans, if Dem's can't win on that then we need to "tea-bag" the Dem's

Hell we need to that anyway

[lob1]

20. K&R. I love the top ten. Thanks, EarlG.

[Scurrilous]

21. K & R

:thumbsup:

[shanti2]

22. I can't believe Mr Kratz

hasn't looked in the mirror in the past 10-20 years to see
that he isn't a hot attorney at all. He is a middle aged
chubby who should have quit a while ago. Makes me laugh that
he thought he had or has a chance with any woman he didn't
pay.

[louis-t]

23. I'm so glad Top 10 is back for awhile.

[badgerpup]

24. K & R

:hi: and thanks, EarlG!


:kick:

[Arkana]

25. IT'S BAAAAACCCCKKKKK!!!! WOOOOOO!!!!

[BolivarianHero]

26. Great list..Sad to see my #1 not make it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QvKOdiyFaw

By far some of the scariest, most extreme rhetoric I've ever heard from the GOP. Reminds me of that hundreds of millions of years of intergalatic jihad kook in the Bronx.

[yawnimawke]

27. Happy to see Top 10

Man, I popped over here to see what was happening and was glad to see the Top 10 back. I checked out of DU because I'm a kossack and usually both sights have the same info EXCEPT the Top 10. And the Top 10 guided me to DU and DU guided me to Kos soo...Glad you're back EarlG! That means I'm back too!

[BlancheSplanchnik]

28. O! EarlG, YOU ROCK!!

I joined DU years ago (different name) because of the Top Ten!!


oh, am I trying to butter you up to continue doing the Top Ten, on into the future, intrepidly speaking what no one has spoken before??????

certainly NOT! ..... NO.....never..... no way.....

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
yes

[BanTheGOP]

30. Would someone give me one...ONE!!!...good reason to NOT ban the republian party

I'm waiting. We had our chance to ban it when Obama was elected, but the spineless congress was too petrified by the Cheney military/industrial complex muscleheads to act. Now it's too late and all we can do is just wring our hands.

At this point, my effort is on stopping the 2010 elections.

[ProudDad]

31. Jon Stewart's take on their "ideas"...

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-september-23-2010/postcards-from-the-pledge

[ladym55]

32. YOU'RE BACK!!!!!!

I can't tell you how happy I am!!! :applause: Your weekly skewers of the absolute asshats who have an R after their names help me handle the nonstop bullpuckey that makes for M$M.

And Hooray for this little item:

The whole point of the media is to keep the public informed. It's easy to say that "The uncertainty and confusion amount to a dismal verdict for the Obama administration's campaign to win over public opinion," but when the Times lays the blame at the feet of the Obama administration it ignores the massive elephant in the room -- that the public shouldn't be this poorly informed, and that they are this poorly informed because the media has done such a shitty job of informing them.

And perhaps the complete failure of the media just might explain why so many think our President is a Muslim who attended a scary Christian Church for years. :wtf:

[freethought]

33. Great Top 10 Guys!!

I haven't seen it in some time. Nice to have it back!!

[beac]

34. What a great welcome home!

Left the country ten days ago and returned to find TWO WEEKS WORTH of the Top Ten waiting for me. Hurrah for EarlG!!

[KoKo]

35. K&R....Good to see you Back Again!