It's getting very funny looking on as the right-wing punditocracy tries its hardest to grapple with the myriad scandals now facing the Bush administration. Having had many of my days free recently during this latest temp gig, I've listened a good bit to
Rush Limbaugh, who flew into an apoplectic rage following the Scooter Libby verdict. I've watched as Kate O'Beirne went on "Hardball" and actually had the sheer nerve to question the motives of firefighters upset with Rudy Giuliani. I've seen a
steady stream of right-wingers defend Ann Coulter, just as I've seen them try, feebly, to explain away the prosecutor purge scandal. And when they're not actively trying to cover their pathetic asses, they've wasted our time attacking the speech patterns of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama and have, as Bill O'Reilly did,
blamed people's "so-called compassion" for helping "kill those kids" who died tragically in a Bronx fire. In other words, things - on their side of the fence - are falling apart.
What was once a slow-burn destruction of the Bush-era Republican Party, which officially hit a new low after having its ass kicked last November (remember, no incumbent Democrat lost - except for Cynthia McKinney, who lost in a primary - and not a single Republican was able to unseat a sitting Democratic governor or member of Congress), is now an all-out freefall. As two-bit criminals do, Republicans are now turning on their fellow Republicans. What's more, it appears the party can't even find a suitable nominee for president, their choices now between a reviled, hypocritical former mayor, an old fogey wed to Bush's escalation and a flip-flopping hairpiece. So bad is the
panic, in fact, that many Republicans are actively trying to recruit either a disgraced philanderer or a third-rate actor. The Democrats, meanwhile, are fielding perhaps the best primary slate in modern history.
Not only can't Republicans get on the same page, but the American people have also turned their backs on the party that used their power in recent years to do anything but the people's business. The only holdouts, sadly, are the all-too-willing dupes in the
servile press corps. Here's a memo to those in the Fourth Estate who
aren't openly partisan hacks or confirmed centrist Democratic cowards: What are you waiting for? The moment you stop treating the entire Republican apparatus as a gold-plated, Teflon-covered machine is the moment you resume doing your job, which is acting as a check on power and an advocate for the people. The Republicans you worship have long ceased to matter in the public debate. The president? I couldn't think of a lamer duck and a bigger embarrassment. His friends in Congress? I couldn't imagine a sadder bunch of obstructionist cowards. They aren't even willing to debate the most important issue of the day.
Like I said, cowards. And the ones who aren't trying to avoid electoral defeat by seemingly jumping ship to a more progressive position are busy lawyering up for the inevitability that they, like the tarnished occupants of the White House, are headed to the graybar hotel. So, to those still too timid to see things for how they are, what are you waiting for? The sad shell of a once-prominent party is now as down as they have been in recent memory.
Kick them while they're down, people. Hit them hard, again and again. Remind everyone you know that the reason things are so bad is because the
Republicans own it and got us to where we are. Ask members of the media why so many of their colleagues refuse to acknowledge the truth. Call your members of Congress and ask them to take a harder tack. The time is right. The day is ours. Let's act like it.
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