Quote :

""I believe we are now in a struggle over whether or not we are going to save America," Gingrich said. "I believe the radical left is a secular, socialist machine so dedicated to values destructive of America that if it is allowed to remain in power…that machine is antithetical to the survival of America as a prosperous healthy country.""

-Newt Gingrich

Really, guys?

2/21/2010 6:33:06 PM

The left is too secular for government work... that is priceless.

2/21/2010 6:41:11 PM

http://www.newsleader.com/article/20100222/NEWS01/2220318

Quote :

" State Delegate Bob Marshall of Manassas says disabled children are God's punishment to women who have aborted their first pregnancy. He made that statement Thursday at a press conference to oppose state funding for Planned Parenthood. "The number of children who are born subsequent to a first abortion with handicaps has increased dramatically. Why? Because when you abort the first born of any, nature takes its vengeance on the subsequent children," said Marshall, a Republican. "In the Old Testament, the first born of every being, animal and man, was dedicated to the Lord. There's a special punishment Christians would suggest.""

Quote :

"WOW. JUST, WOW."

2/22/2010 1:05:08 PM

The thing is...despite all the belly-aching from liberals about GOP craziness, the left is still going to take a walloping at the polls this November...and it is richly deserved after their actions last year.

2/22/2010 11:49:38 PM

Craziness isn't the main concern, its gridlock in terms of holds on nominations sometimes across the board for well qualified individuals at a level higher than we've seen before, & threatening filibusters are record levels, & turning against bills that GOP have cosponsored once democrats start signing on b/c they'll score more political points if Washington is gridlocked than if they see legislation they want to pass actually pass, and its hypocrisy in terms of secretly pleading for the recovery act to pass so that they can get pork & then taking credit for passing it with big fake checks when they voted against it.

The Sarah Palin lead Tea Party aspect & McCarthyism trends, arguments about him not calling it a war on terror when he has many times, and social conservative lets make gov small enough to fit into your bedroom, and opposing DADT and the like are only small parts compared to the larger obstructionist trends. And the first ever National Tea Party convention, followed by CPAC, followed by the second ever National Tea Party convention all within a 6 month or so period, near elections, is showing the american public the specific republicans running for office & specific candidate never poll as well as generic ones. Not to mention Tea Party candidates may run against some GOP ones, & be the Ralph Nadar to the republican party like they were in New York not so long ago. And more GOP are retiring in the House, Senate, and Governors offices this election cycle on ever level than Dems (not all retirements are created equal, but that sort of kills the notion that dems are retreating).

And like you, the right is sure they have this election in the bag, which isn't always the best strategy for winning elections (see Martha Coakley as a prime example).

Passing a jobs bill & health care reform before the election should help get the ball rolling. And the President has already signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, he signed a bill to expand veteran benefits, he signed kids tobacco legislation, he signed a major land protection act, & SCHIP, gave the Cairo speech & followed it up with appointing special envoys, the first time home buyers credit has seemed pretty popular, he gave a widely watched education speech, he's advocated for science in our schools, & is for stem cell research, he's appointed a supreme court justice, he's ended torture, respects the Geneva Convention, and has plans to close Gitmo, he's working to end DADT which is polling very well right now even in NC, he's going to have us out or Iraq next year and starting to pulling out of Afghanistan (the one that actually attacked us) at the same time.

And owning the GOP at Question Time certainly didn't hurt. If the end I still the GOP is going to have some gains in the House & Senate, but not take over, which is par for the course in an off year election when a party controls the executive and legislative branch, but hardly the bloodbath & walloping some on the right expect. They could do really well, instead of just following the tradition of making some gains in this type of election, but they're wasting their opportunity on a mix of crazy, gridlock, & heavy social conservatism.

[Edited on February 23, 2010 at 2:05 AM. Reason : .]

2/23/2010 1:38:16 AM

http://politics.mync.com/2010/02/mccrory-campaign-also-forgot-2-helicopter-flights/

[quote]McCrory Campaign Also Forgot 2 Helicopter Flights

RALEIGH, N.C. – Pat McCrory’s gubernatorial campaign failed to report two helicopter flights valued at $3,300 taken in the waning days of his unsuccessful bid.

The manager for McCrory’s campaign said Tuesday the October 2008 flights were uncovered as the State Board of Elections wrote candidates for governor since 2004 asking for more information about their air travel.

Manager Jack Hawke said the campaign filed an amended report dated last week to report the flight expenses. He said one flight invoice never reached the campaign. There was never an invoice issued for the second flight.

State Democratic Party executive director Andrew Whalen said McCrory’s refiling raises more questions beyond allegations he discussed at a news conference earlier Tuesday focusing on one of the flights.[quote]

2/24/2010 12:24:30 PM

shouldn't that go in the "crooked NC republicans" thread, at best?

2/24/2010 6:20:57 PM

^There is no such current thread. I would have thought you'd prefer all the GOP bad stuff to be isolated into one thread like this one anyways, instead of having it spread out.

2/24/2010 11:04:28 PM

http://www.thewolfweb.com/message_topic.aspx?topic=567024
why not ask to have it bumped. oddly enough, it was one you started

2/24/2010 11:07:25 PM

I am not going to ask to have an old thread bumped when it has fallen by the wayside and a more current thread covers the topic.

2/24/2010 11:14:19 PM

Quote :

"North Carolina Democratic Party Chairman David Young today called on state Senator Jim Forrester (R-Iredell County) to publicly apologize for an alarming, hate-filled speech he delivered in Mooresville on Tuesday night. In the speech, first reported today by the Statesville Record and Landmark, Forrester lashed out at African-Americans and gay North Carolinians, claiming, among other things, that "...homosexual lobbies and African American lobbies are running Raleigh." "

Just got an e-mail from the North Carolina Democratic Party. We have a white straight mayor in Raleigh, and a white straight governor residing in Raleigh, majority white straight town council in Raleigh, majority white straight county commission, and majority white straight legislature. WTF is Forrester thinking?

2/25/2010 9:20:06 PM

Here's the original article:

Quote :

"By Jim McNally | Statesville R&L Published: February 25, 2010 State Sen. Jim Forrester believes the North Carolina General Assembly has moved too far to the left of the political spectrum. "The (state) Senate is as liberal as I've ever seen it," Forrester said at the monthly meeting of the Iredell County Young Republicans on Tuesday night in Mooresville. "Slick city lawyers and homosexual lobbies and African American lobbies are running Raleigh," Forrester added. Forrester, a physician whose 41st District takes in a part of Iredell County, said the time is ripe for the GOP to gain the majority in the state Senate for the first time since the late 1800s. The Democratic Party rose to dominance then mostly as a backlash to the Republican Party's more liberal views regarding racial integration. So it may be viewed with some irony that Forrester said the GOP would likely have taken back control of at least one chamber of the General Assembly in 2008 had it not been for what he called the "Obama Tsunami." Forrester said that then-presidential candidate Barack Obama's 2008 campaign invigorated an erstwhile disconnected bloc of the electorate. "It brought a lot of blacks out who don't normally vote," he said. Forrester made brief mention of former U.S. Rep. Frank Ballance, who was released from prison last June after serving four years on mail fraud and money laundering charges. Forrester said authorities were at first reluctant to investigate Ballance — a former state representative and state senator — because he is black. "And they were afraid of being accused of being racist and that kind of thing," Forrester said. Forrester pointed to two current state senators as an example of the left-leaning agenda in state government. He said state Sen. Julia Boseman — the first openly gay person ever elected to the North Carolina General Assembly — "took a bunch of money from a big lesbian group." Forrester said a male senator is rumored to be gay and is currently fighting off charges that he shot another man. Boseman and the other senator, both Democrats, have each said they do not plan to run for re-election. "And I say good riddance to them," Forrester said. He said that neither of the two legislators showed any support for bills Forrester proposed to ban same-sex marriage in the state. Forrester noted that he "is not against homosexuals." He said he has gay patients who see him in his medical practice "and I treat them like everyone else." County Commissioner Ken Robertson spoke at the meeting and said that despite the fact Forrester is not chronologically young, "I would match his energy and commitment to anyone in this room." Forrester filed earlier this month to run for his 11th term in the North Carolina Senate. Forrester was running unopposed as of Wednesday afternoon."

2/25/2010 10:55:48 PM

"Slick city lawyers and homosexual lobbies and African American lobbies are running Raleigh," Forrester added."

^there is no context in which this is true. I'll acknowledge we do have 1 openly gay member in the entire general assembly, which is well below demographically proportionate representation, but hardly counts as running Raleigh, and she is retiring.

And that bill Forrester proposed to amend our state constitution is 1) unnecessarily redundant with laws already on the books 2) is messing with our constitution which shouldn't be lightly tampered with and 3) would cost the state a little under 6 million dollars to pursue his social agenda.

http://www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2009/FiscalNotes/Senate/PDF/SFN0272v1.pdf

2/25/2010 11:31:44 PM

But the bigger story are the dems he was talking about: Boseman (admitted to smoking pot in court the year before she was elected), Soles (plead guilty in the shooting, today) and Wallace (plead guilty to mail fraud and money laundering after making a deal).

But lets not forget Mike and Mary Easley, Ruffin Poole, Jim Black etc

2/25/2010 11:58:43 PM

Quote :

"Forrester noted that he "is not against homosexuals." He said he has gay patients who see him in his medical practice "and I treat them like everyone else.""

That's right up there with "I can't possibly be racist. I have a black friend/neighbor!".

2/26/2010 12:29:57 AM

I know, right...

2/26/2010 12:35:13 AM

Quote :

"The thing is...despite all the belly-aching from liberals about GOP craziness, the left is still going to take a walloping at the polls this November...and it is richly deserved after their actions last year."

"The thing about GOP craziness is, hey look! A red herring!"

2/26/2010 10:25:36 AM

Quote :

"Republican senator gives journalist the middle finger Washington (CNN) - An angry Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Kentucky, refused to answer questions from CNN and ABC News Monday afternoon about his decision to block a bill that would extend unemployment benefits to millions of jobless Americans. An ABC News producer who was there says Bunning gave him the middle finger in response to a question. CNN's Dana Bash and a CNN camera crew tried to get Bunning to comment more extensively on the controversy on Monday. But the senator "got very angry," she said. "Excuse me," the agitated senator told Bash while entering a Senate elevator. "I need to get to the (Senate) floor." Moments earlier, and ABC News reporter and crew also attempted to question Bunning as he was getting on the Senate elevator. A posting on the ABC News website details the exchange: "Excuse me! This is a Senator's only elevator!" Bunning responded as he was asked a question by ABC's Jonathan Karl. "Excuse me!" Bunning yelled. "I've got to go to the floor!" ABC News producer Z. Bryon Wolf spotted Bunning as he exited his office. When Wolf asked Bunning to stay and talk to cameras, Wolf says Bunning walked away and shot his middle finger over his head. CNN reached out to Bunning’s office for comment. A spokesman for the senator said "I don't have any comment," when asked about the obscene gesture. "

It looks like Bunning upset CNN, and they're taking their revenge. They're also running such titles as:

"Dems rip GOP senator for blocking jobless benefits extension" where said senator is Bunning and "Senator's filibuster threatens highway jobs: DOT"

Quote :

"New York (CNNMoney.com) – Department of Transportation secretary Ray LaHood on Monday blamed a senator's filibuster for furloughing thousands of federal employees and threatening state jobs while shutting down highway construction projects nationwide. "As American families are struggling in tough economic times, I am keenly disappointed that political games are putting a stop to important construction projects around the country," wrote LaHood, in a press release. "This means that construction workers will be sent home from job sites because federal inspectors must be furloughed.""

And ABCnews.com is running even more anti-Bunning stories than CNN since they were the other party involved.

3/1/2010 8:18:50 PM

Just to add to what I said, graphics like this are starting to pop up.



And more stories CNN & ABC are each running several more stories, examples including:

CNN:

"Bunning still not answering questions"

ABC:

"Republican Asks Bunning to Drop Blockade; Bunning Declines, Talks Debt, 'Communist China' and 'Revolution'"


This guy is trying real hard to be the least popular member of Congress.

3/2/2010 12:18:24 PM

Quote :

"This guy is trying real hard to be the least popular member of Congress."

Least popular guy in the country is more like it.

3/2/2010 12:23:14 PM

I object.

3/2/2010 12:28:32 PM

Sure, Bunning is a douche, but:

CNN's Dana Bash noted Tuesday that Democrats could effectively work around Bunning and pass an extension of unemployment benefits. However, she said, the Democrats "know that they have a good political issue right now [and therefore] have no plans to do that in the immediate future."

http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/03/02/jobless.benefits.bill/index.html?hpt=T1

It really is all a game to these people.

3/2/2010 2:29:11 PM

No where else to put this.

Quote :

"My Constituents Care Way More About Political Gamesmanship Than Jobs, Health Care, And The Economy by House Minority Leader John Boehner It is my responsibility as an elected official to look out for the people back home, the voters who sent me to Washington. So, after 20 years representing Ohio's 8th District, I know what the good citizens of Montgomery, Preble, and Butler counties really want: someone who engages in the kind of calculated political gamesmanship that increases his standing in the Republican party while simultaneously hindering our country's legislative process at every conceivable turn."

http://www.theonion.com/content/opinion/my_constituents_care_way_more

Funny because its true.

3/2/2010 3:10:46 PM

put it in the health care thread nub

3/2/2010 3:11:19 PM

Quote :

"Now, some of the late president's admirers are launching a new effort to add another honor: printing [Ronald Reagan's] likeness on a $50 bill in place of Ulysses S. Grant's. "

3/2/2010 10:08:13 PM

If anything they should put him on the $1.00 bill to symbolize the money that "trickled down" to us non-fat cats under Reaganomics.

3/3/2010 12:33:30 AM

145 Republican and 8 Democrat representatives vote against the Preventing Harmful Restraint and Seclusion in Schools Act

Text of the bill here:

http://mediamattersaction.org/blog/201003030008

Vote count here:

http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2010/roll082.xml

Apparently, they're totally ok with physical and mental abuse in schools. Apparently their big complaint isn't about what's in the bill, it's about the idea that the bill exists. GG 145 idiot GOPers and 8 idiot Democrats.

3/4/2010 2:40:20 PM

I care more about state's rights than children.

3/4/2010 2:45:02 PM

I'm sure that's how each and every one of their opponents will spin this in the coming elections.

Well, I guess "spin" is a bit strong of a word on this one. They'll probably just say what the bill was and how the representative voted on it, no spin needed.

3/4/2010 2:53:06 PM

I think the way the vote turned out is fine. Congress does not need to be micro-managing every little nuanced legal situation outside of established federal law.

3/4/2010 3:04:31 PM

Quote :

"CBS affiliate CBS13 reports that Roy Ashburn, a married, Republican state senator from Southern California WITH A HISTORY OF OPPOSING GAY RIGHTS was arrested for allegedly driving drunk after leaving a gay bar with another man in the car."

3/4/2010 3:14:50 PM

^^

http://www.napas.org/sr/SR-Report.pdf

Quote :

"Michigan• A 15 year old boy with autism died while being physically restrained at school by four school employees who pinned him down for 60-70 minutes on his stomach, with his hands held behind his back and his shoulders and legs held down. He became non-responsive after 45 minutes but the restraint continued and he eventually stopped breathing. He was the second child in Michigan to die from the use of restraint. Texas • A 14 year old middle school student was killed when his teacher held him down, ignoring his plea “I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe.” Knowing that the student, with a mental illness and other disabilities, was sensitive to food issues because he had been denied food when he was younger, the teacher sought to punish the student for his aggressive behavior by refusing him lunch. When the student tried to leave the classroom to go to the lunchroom the use of deadly restraint by the teacher ensued. Wisconsin • A seven year old girl was suffocated and killed at a mental health day treatment facility when several adult staff pinned her to the floor in a prone restraint. This child, who was diagnosed with an emotional disturbance and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, died because she was blowing bubbles in her milk and did not follow the time-out rules regarding movement."

Yeah no problem here.

GOP: Supporting the death of children since March 3, 2010.

3/4/2010 3:20:32 PM

GOD: Missing the point since 3/4/2010 2:45:02 PM

3/4/2010 3:30:51 PM

The point is that states are either too lazy or don't care enough to implement protections. Tell the mother of that child who died, "HEH, STATES RIGHTS."

Why don't we dismantle the FDA? I mean the states could just regulate their own meat and drugs if they wanted, right?

[Edited on March 4, 2010 at 3:34 PM. Reason : ]

3/4/2010 3:34:06 PM

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/ynews_ts1217

Quote :

"National GOP leaders are doing damage control today after a Politico scoop lifted the curtain on the party's plan to tap voters' "fear" in the coming campaign season. The PR problem started when an absent-minded attendee at the Republican National Committee (RNC) confab on February 18 in Boca Grande, Florida, left a 72-page document from its 2010 strategizing session in a hotel room. Today, Politico reporter Ben Smith's expose is making headlines. The memo tracks the fundraising presentation that RNC Finance Director Rob Bickhart delivered to the RNC's $2,500-a-head annual retreat. The best path to victory in 2010, the document advises, is for Republican candidates to depict themselves as the best hope for resisting the "trending toward socialism" taking shape in a Democrat-dominated Washington. And the document doesn't shy from making its points graphically. MSNBC showed the images this morning on Morning Joe: The presentation portrays the Obama administration as "The Evil Empire," includingthe now-infamous image of President Obama made over in the makeup Heath Ledger used in his performance as the Joker in the 2008 Batman movie "The Dark Knight." House Speaker Nancy Pelosi appears as Cruella De Vil from "101 Dalmatians," and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is the witless cartoon dog Scooby-Doo. The memo candidly confirms that the aim of such caricature is to amp up "fear" among the GOP's conservative base. The memo also makes fun of major RNC donors, categorizing some as "ego-driven" and easily pacified with "tchochkes" (a Slavic word for toys). The embrace of harsh rhetoric and the swipes at the large donor set seem to signal the GOP establishment's growing comfort with employing tactics associated with the activist Tea Party movement-and with plying Tea Party sympathizers for cash. Of course, it isn't unusual for parties out of power to court controversy and play with fire to rile up donors and grass-roots activists. The RNC has caught heat for fundraising tactics in the past, most recently when it was caught sending out fake census forms to raise money. And Democrats have shown a demagogic streak in the past, depicting George W. Bush and Dick Cheney as Bond-like supervillains and playing up alleged GOP plans to kill Social Security to rally voters behind a popular entitlement program. When asked by Yahoo! News if the leaked presentation reflects a coordinated effort to appeal more to the Tea Party movement, RNC spokesman Doug Heye replied that the group's chairman, Michael Steele, "was recently invited by tea party activists to a meeting, which he was happy to do. Following the meeting, it was clear those in the meeting shared a common goal: stopping the Obama/Pelosi/Reid agenda." As for plans to further that alliance with the inflammatory material in the memo, Heye reiterated what he'd told Politico earlier: "The language and the imagery will not be used in any capacity in the future." There's no question that the Obama-as-Joker image--long a familiar icon at Tea Party rallies--is a toxic association for the GOP establishment. Oddly enough, though, that image's origins can be traced to the activist left. As revealed by the Los Angeles Times last year, the image was created by a supporter of Rep. Dennis Kucinich, a University of Illinois student named Firas Alkhateeb, who told the Times that he uploaded the photo onto his Flickr page, and a conservative activist promptly snatched it up. Such are the odd convergences of movement politics. However, the RNC may have more trouble distancing itself from the equation of Democratic policy with socialism, however, since Michael Steele is credited with originating that meme in the health care debate."

3/4/2010 5:07:20 PM

I really don't get the Obama-with-Joker-makeup illustration with "socialism" at the bottom. The joker is a psychopathic anarchist, not a socialist.

3/4/2010 5:36:51 PM

The original creator seems to think so too.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2009/08/obama-joker-artist.html

Quote :

"Regardless, Alkhateeb does agree with the Obama "Hope" artist about "socialism" being the wrong caption for the Joker image. "It really doesn't make any sense to me at all," he said. "To accuse him of being a socialist is really ... immature. First of all, who said being a socialist is evil?""

3/4/2010 7:08:22 PM

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2010/03/entering_the_larry_craig_pantheon.php

Quote :

"Entering the Larry Craig Pantheon Josh Marshall | March 4, 2010, 1:36AM Sen. Roy Ashburn (R) It's no good for a family values Republican to get picked up on a DUI. But substantially worse to get picked up for a DUI after leaving a gay nightclub with an unidentified man in a state vehicle. That's the sorry state that befell California state Senator Roy Ashburn (R-Bakersfield) early Wednesday. [[SLIDESHOW: Greatest GOP Sex Scandals]] In better days Ashburn, a fierce opponent of gay rights, was fighting marriage equality and organizing anti-gay marriage rallies as part of his "Traditional Family Values" campaign. But he hit a bump in the road -- figuratively, not literally -- Wednesday at around 2 AM when CHP officers observed him weaving and driving erratically in downtown Sacramento. After a field sobriety test, officers determined that Ashburn, who reeked of alcohol and had bloodshot, watery eyes, was under he influence of alcohol and placed him under arrest. He was released from jail just before 4 AM. Initial reports only noted the DWI arrest and Ashburn issued a contrite apology on Wednesday. But late this evening, the CBS affiliate in Sacramento reported that "sources" confirmed that Ashburn had left Faces, a gay nightclub in downtown Sacramento, just prior to his arrest. The state issued black Chevrolet Tahoe Ashburn was driving has been impounded at the state Capitol. "

3/4/2010 7:16:00 PM

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/03/gay_club_manager_i_didnt_see_anti-gay_state_senato.php

The night club manager says she didn't see him at the club that night. Apparently it was Latin night and he would have been one of the few white guys on the premises, and therefor easy to recognize.

Or she's just covering for him, whatever. Republican gaybashers getting outed for homosexual activities barely registers a blip on the gaydar anymore.

3/4/2010 7:26:55 PM

http://www.bakersfieldnow.com/news/local/86496447.html

Quote :

"The Sacramento County District Attorney's office confirms State Senator Roy Ashburn of Bakersfield had a blood alcohol level of .14 or nearly twice the legal limit of .08 when he was arrested for a DUI early March 3. And the fall out continues after a report by KOVR CBS 13 Sacramento that Ashburn had been at a gay night club prior to his DUI arrest. At the time of his arrest, Ashburn had an unidentified male passenger with him who was not a staff member nor a fellow legislator. Christopher Cabaldon, the openly gay mayor of West Sacramento told KOVR he has spotted Senator Ashburn at gay hot spots a number of times. According to Project Vote Smart, Ashburn's has consistently voted against gay rights legislation including no on recognizing out of state same-sex marriages, no on creating a state recognized Harvey Milk Day, and no on expanding anti-discrimination laws."

I agree this is nothing new, but... I felt like posting it anyway.

3/5/2010 9:36:46 AM

Quote :

"I really don't get the Obama-with-Joker-makeup illustration with "socialism" at the bottom. The joker is a psychopathic anarchist, not a socialist."

"Why so socialist?" would at the very least be funnier.

3/6/2010 1:20:21 AM

http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/blogs/a/m/americandad/2010/03/an-open-letter-to-conservative.php

Worth a read.

3/23/2010 1:06:14 PM

3/23/2010 2:01:51 PM

Republicans face possible risk in healthcare repeal

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN2311767920100323?type=marketsNews

3/23/2010 8:58:31 PM

good to see them moving in the right direction.

Im hoping for a good Nov.

3/23/2010 9:10:11 PM

Because reform passed McCain declared his revenge will be no more cooperation until the end of the year.

3/24/2010 1:45:00 AM

Lots of GOP support for the individual mandate. Some of which were saying President Obama is wrong for wanting a public option and instead we should have individual mandates to use private options.



[Edited on March 24, 2010 at 2:00 AM. Reason : .]

3/24/2010 1:56:58 AM

^^ because he was offering so much cooperation before…?

3/24/2010 8:15:36 AM

Exactly... at least maybe his tea party primary opponent will make some hay of McCain promising to be a do nothing senator for the rest of the year

3/24/2010 8:21:09 AM

Until last year's election, he was definitely the most cooperative republican, with the exception of Arlen Specter.

3/24/2010 8:23:46 AM