Eugene Robinson: Are Sanford and Cuccinelli the best the GOP can offer? – The Washington Post

By Eugene Robinson, Apr 04, 2013 11:52 PM EDT The Washington Post Published: April 4

I think I’ve figured it out. Republicans must be staging some kind of fiendishly clever plot to lure Democrats into a false sense of security.

That’s the only possible explanation for some of the weirdness we’re seeing and hearing from the GOP. The party must be waiting to come out with its real candidates and policy positions at a moment when unsuspecting Democrats are in the vulnerable position of being doubled over with laughter….

Eugene Robinson: Are Sanford and Cuccinelli the best the GOP can offer? – The Washington Post

Eugene Robinson: Paul Ryan’s make-believe budget – The Washington Post

Voters were supposed to believe that Ryan was an apostle of fiscal rectitude. But his real aim wasn’t to balance the budget. It was to starve the federal government of revenue. Big government, in his worldview, is inherently bad — never mind that we live in an awfully big country.

Ryan and Mitt Romney offered their vision, President Obama offered his, and Americans made their choice. Rather emphatically.

Now Ryan, as chairman of the House Budget Committee, is coming back with an ostensibly new and improved version of the framework that voters rejected in November.

Eugene Robinson: Paul Ryan’s make-believe budget – The Washington Post

» Conscience gets the best of some conservatives on Medicaid | ABQ Journal By Dana Milbank / Syndicated Columnist on Sun, Feb 24, 2013

In Florida, the dwindling band of tea-partyers was furious with Scott, calling him a “Benedict Arnold.” But the cause he supposedly betrayed has already lost. After following the tea-party agenda over the last two years, Scott has the support of just one in three Floridians.

Now he’s acting like a competent executive. He said he would evaluate the expansion over time and decide whether changes should be made. That’s a great idea. It’s too bad the law’s opponents wasted three years hollering about socialism and tyranny.

Scott argued that the Supreme Court and the 2012 election made Obamacare inescapable, but he also made a personal appeal for the expansion. The recent death of his mother gave him “a new perspective,” he said. “I thought about my mom’s struggles raising five children with very little money. I remember my mom’s heartbreak when she struggled to find health care for my brother … I don’t want any parent to worry like my mom did.”

“My top priority continues to be to make Florida the global leader for job creation,” the tea-party traitor said. “But we also have to be sensitive to the needs of the poorest and the weakest among us who struggle to access affordable, high-quality health care.”

Barack Obama couldn’t have said it better himself.

» Conscience gets the best of some conservatives on Medicaid | ABQ Journal

“Recently, information has come to me that this sacred situation might be twisted, re-written out of whole cloth and shopped to press outlets large and small in a vicious attempt to smear, hurt and diminish Pete Domenici, an honorable man, his extraordinary wife, Nancy, and other innocents,” Michelle Laxalt.

An honorable man known as Saint Pete, who cheated on his wife yet continued to participate in his Catholicism and conservatism? From the woman involved in St Pete’s betrayal of his extraordinary wife?

Understand: None of these people needs my forgiveness, understanding, nor respect. People are flawed. People cheat and lie. When “saints” do it, one could kindly say he’s only human. But Conservatives have raged against society’s decline at the hands of everyone but them. Conservatives present themselves as pillars and paragons. Conservatives believe they are more patriotic and more trustworthy than liberals. Perhaps they are simply bigger fools. It would be funny except for how hard they ride roughshod over the rest of society. Conservatives had earned humiliation, scorn, and derision. I don’t want to hurt Saint Pete or any of these fools. I want to see all of Conservatism with its head bowed, tears in eyes, lips trembling as it lies, “Please, baby, I won’t do it again.” We should know better.

That the paragon of Republicans before the party went insane was a lying philandering hypocrite for over 30 years? I want to see Republicans tearing off their shirts to flog themselves bloody in the street – nothing less will begin to redeem the party of scoundrels and bastards. Until then, they can shut the fuck up, sit on their hands, and nod politely while decent people move the nation forward again.

I would be fine with Gingrinch and Rove killing each other — literally. There is no better fight to the death than between fat old rich white men. Bring it on. The young Republicans — a nauseating oxymoron — can bury the dead and make up fairy tales about how great they were and will be again. Bullshit.

Could Newt Gingrich Attack On Rove Signal Beginning Of Public Intra-Establishment Fight?

"I am unalterably opposed to a bunch of billionaires financing a boss to pick candidates in 50 states," Gingrich writes, casting Rove as the "boss" picking candidates through groups like American Crossroads. "No one person is smart enough nor do they have the moral right to buy nominations across the country."

"That is the system of Tammany Hall and the Chicago machine. It should be repugnant to every conservative and every Republican," he writes.

Gingrich also mocks Rove for his "blow up" on Fox News on Election Night, after Fox called Ohio for Obama.

"Handing millions to Washington based consultants to destroy the candidates they dislike and nominate the candidates they do like is an invitation to cronyism, favoritism and corruption," Gingrich writes.

Could Newt Gingrich Attack On Rove Signal Beginning Of Public Intra-Establishment Fight?

Can the Republicans Be Saved From Obsolescence? – NYTimes.com

About an hour into the session, Anderson walked up to a whiteboard and took out a magic marker. “I’m going to write down a word, and you guys free-associate with whatever comes to mind,” she said. The first word she wrote was “Democrat.”

“Young people,” one woman called out.

“Liberal,” another said. Followed by: “Diverse.” “Bill Clinton.”“Change.”“Open-minded.”“Spending.”“Handouts.”“Green.”“More science-based.”

When Anderson then wrote “Republican,” the outburst was immediate and vehement: “Corporate greed.”“Old.”“Middle-aged white men.” “Rich.” “Religious.” “Conservative.” “Hypocritical.” “Military retirees.” “Narrow-minded.” “Rigid.” “Not progressive.” “Polarizing.” “Stuck in their ways.” “Farmers.” …

“What would be the sign to you that the Republican Party is moving in the right direction?” Anderson asked them.

“Maybe actually pass something?” suggested a 28-year-old schoolteacher named Courtney, who also identified herself as conservative.

The session with the young men was equally jarring. None of them expressed great enthusiasm for Obama. But their depiction of Republicans was even more lacerating than the women’s had been. “Racist,” “out of touch” and “hateful” made the list — “and put ‘1950s’ on there too!” one called out.

Showing a reverence for understatement, Anderson said: “A lot of those words you used to describe Republicans are negative. What could they say or do to make you feel more positive about the Republican Party?”

“Be more pro-science,” said a 22-year-old moderate named Jack. “Embrace technology and change.”

Can the Republicans Be Saved From Obsolescence? – NYTimes.com