Open thread on Ft. Hood shooting spree

11 comments November 5th, 2009

 Have your say (but respectfully, please) on this tragedy.

UPDATE: Suspected shooter is NOT dead. See HERE.

AMA and AARP endorse Democratic health bill

11 comments November 5th, 2009

I guess THIS means that these two organizations have been taken over by socialists bent on sapping us of our precious bodily fluids.

The curious decline of Southern political power

12 comments November 5th, 2009

Ezra Klein NOTES that “Dixie has fallen out of favor in Washington, and fast.”

Here’s more on Mark Kirk’s flirtation with Sarah Palin

1 comment November 5th, 2009

 Yesterday, we had THIS.

 Today, we have THIS.

 A few excerpts:

 When Kirk decided to run for the Senate, it made some sense — Illinois is one of the more reliably “blue” states in the country, but Kirk has generally preferred to keep the far-right, Sarah Palin wing of the Republican Party at arm’s length…

 Why in the world would Kirk sully his reputation like this [by seeking an endorsement from Palin]? Because he’s facing a little-known, underfunded anti-tax activist/political neophyte in a Republican primary, and a right-wing third-party candidate is a possibility in the general election.

Grayson on disintegration of GOP

5 comments November 5th, 2009

Teabaggers of long, long ago

1 comment November 5th, 2009

WARNING: If F-bombs offend you, don’t watch this video. Otherwise, prepare to be amused at the parallels with today’s super-orthodox wingnuts:

(Hat-tip to NoMoreMisterNiceBlog)

Lindsey Graham warns GOP against going too far right

Add comment November 5th, 2009

 THIS KIND OF STUFF is sure to make the South Carolina Republican a RINO in the eyes of the political kamikazes of the radical right.

 An excerpt:

 “To those people who are pursuing purity, you’ll become a club not a party,” Graham told POLITICO in the Capitol Wednesday. “Those people who are trying to embrace conservatism in a thoughtful way that fits the region and the state and the district are going to do well. Conservativism is an asset. Blind ideology is not.”

 UPDATE: Graham also is WAXING SENSIBLE on global warming.

Tuesday’s elections were disastrous, cataclysmic blows to Obama’s prestige

9 comments November 5th, 2009

 Gail Collins tells us the TERRIBLE TRUTH.

 An excerpt:

 We have a dramatic saga story line brewing here…and I hope Obama has gotten the message. Really, he had better shape up and completely transform the way Washington works before the next election. Otherwise, another governor’s head could roll.

 UPDATE: Ruy Teixeira also has a GOOD TAKE on the elections:

 To hear Republicans tell it, Tuesday’s elections, in which their candidates captured the governorships of Virginia and New Jersey, were a repudiation of President Obama and indicated a voter shift toward their party. They should calm themselves down. The results don’t show this and, in fact, suggest some rather daunting challenges for the Republicans.

 UPDATE II: El Rushbo BLAMES Newtie for wingnut loss in NY-23.

 UPDATE III: The incomparable Nate Silver offers a WORTHY PERSPECTIVE:

[I]n New Jersey, there’s literally almost no evidence that the Democrats’ agenda had anything to do with Jon Corzine’s defeat. Voters who cited a national issue were more likely to vote for Corzine, and voters who cited a local one, the Republican Chris Christie.

In Virginia, the evidence is certainly a little stronger, insofar as the national agenda may have affected the lopsided turnout (the electorate which turned out Tuesday had voted for John McCain by 8 points, a near-reversal of the actual results). Even there, however, the quarter of the electorate that cited health care as their main issue went for the Democrat Deeds 51-49. And in NY-23, which was supposed to have been the ultimate smackdown of the Democrats’ agenda, the Republican Conservative candidate unexpectedly lost.

 UPDATE IV: Dick Armey throws NY-23 wingnut UNDER THE BUS.