The GOP’s Basiji target ‘Cap and Tr-8-tors’
After eight Republican congressmen voted in favor of the climate change bill (it passed by seven votes), the GOP’s ideological militia — its own rhetorical Basiji, you might say — took after them with a vengeance. The eight defectors were denounced as “quisling Republicans,” as the “Cap and Tr-8-tors,” as “backstabbing, turncoat Rinos.” They’re even peddling bumper stickers denouncing the turncoats by name.
At Politico, Bruce Bartlett, the former Reagan official and longtime conservative think tanker, explores what that kind of reaction by his conservative friends might mean to the future of their party.
“If any of my friends had bothered to try and understand why these Republicans voted contrary to gods of talk radio who now control the Republican Party they would see that they were simply reacting to the demands of their constituents. Since when did it become unacceptable to do what one’s constituents want a member of Congress to do?
The fact is that Obama carried the districts of all but one of these Republicans—in most cases substantially. (Rep. Chris Smith of New Jersey is the exception.) For example, Rep. Mark Kirk’s Illinois district went for Obama by a 61% to 38% margin.”
If the party faithful target those eight, as the Basiji demand, the Republicans could lose those marginal districts or even drive the current occupants to switch parties. And that, Bartlett concludes, “is why the Democrats control Congress and why Republicans won’t for a long time to come.”
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336 comments Add your comment
I Report (-: You Whine )-:
June 28th, 2009
9:15 am
Does this mean Obozo will soon be negotiating with us, like he is with the mullahs?
eewwwww
By the way, anybody who voted for this insane monstrosity, a bill design solely to destory the US economy and grow the size of government, is not a “Republican.”
Begone with them.
DB, Gwinnettian
June 28th, 2009
9:20 am
its own rhetorical Basiji, you might say
Nice. That one yours, Jay? I might need to steal it.
Meanwhile, per The Whiner:
a bill design solely to destory the US
It am? Fo’ sho’?
Your idiocy, and your uncanny knack of unintentionally proving a point Jay might wish to make, rarely fails to entertain when one is in the mood. Give ya that much (and absolutely nothing more.)
DB, Gwinnettian
June 28th, 2009
9:23 am
They’re even peddling bumper stickers denouncing the turncoats by name.
Well, come on, they’re via Cafe Press. Give me ten minutes and I’ll have “Jay is my Dreamboat” thongs available there for Bud, Whiner, Davo and Dave R to purchase.
Jay
June 28th, 2009
9:25 am
Whiner and Wide Stance, both of you need to back it way down — permanently — or be gone.
And Stance, change your name to something that doesn’t reference your buddy there.
Normal
June 28th, 2009
9:27 am
Gee, who would have thought that you would find one, much less eight, independent thinkers in the GOP?
———————–
Goo morning, BRUTUS, SIR! Still missin’ the urinal, I see…careful…don’t fall in…Just sayin’
TnGelding
June 28th, 2009
9:29 am
Loyalty to the party, and to Bush, is what got them where they are.
http://www.quickchange.com/reagan/
http://www.thespoof.com/news/spoof.cfm?headline=s2i9148
Normal
June 28th, 2009
9:29 am
Jay, just call WHINER, BRUTUS SIR and STANCE, BRUTUS, MA’AM…
Seek and ye shall Find
June 28th, 2009
9:37 am
Well, far be it for me to stand in the way of a self-perpetuating implosion. It should be documented, from a safe distance, and eventually used in some sort of relevant classroom setting. Perhaps a documentary of the GOP Basiji movement and its impact on modern Republicanism and the formation of the American Taliban Party.
Redneck Convert
June 28th, 2009
9:43 am
Well, they ought to kick these Traders out of the Republican party, is all I got to say. If they make a law to tax everybody that puts gases into the air, alot of people on Bookman’s blog are going to go belly up. Starting with Sister Dusty and moving right on to this Whiner and Mike. They might even have to find a job. Instead of carping on this blog day and night.
Well, it’s time to go down to the Church of Holiness to get the Conservative Talking Points for the week. Have a good Sabbath everybody.
mm
June 28th, 2009
9:49 am
Bush spends a trillion dollars on Iraq with nothing to show for it, and we’ll never see a dime of that money.
Obama wants to spend a trillion dollars on Americans, and the GOP sellouts want to protect the big insurances companies. No wondere the GOP is almost extinct.
I Report (-: You Whine )-:
June 28th, 2009
9:49 am
bookman- What do you think I’ve been asking you to do other than stop the personal attacks?
If they leave me alone, I’ll be your most cuddly, lovable blogger by far.
clyde
June 28th, 2009
9:54 am
The cap and trade bill just seems like more bad news to me.I would have liked to see the economy on a slight up swing that could be maintained before saddling it with this monster.I just thought about coming out of my protective shell when the price of gasoline put me back under.If the purpose of this bill is to keep consumers home,it’s already working.
mm
June 28th, 2009
9:54 am
Jay, just ban Whiner and everyone will be happy. Isn’t there a limit on the number of lies a blogger can post?
clyde
June 28th, 2009
9:58 am
One question that I’ve been meaning to ask is how many of you that support this bill that promises climate change relief have shut down your air conditioners in support of your beliefs.You know,that’s the least you could do to show you care.
AmVet
June 28th, 2009
10:02 am
“…is why the Democrats control Congress and why Republicans won’t for a long time to come.”
On one hand great news! On the other hand terrible news.
Party loyalty, no, complete obeisance, is the de facto modus operandi in Washington. But is nothing new in American politics. And in spite of the rhetoric, it is not just the purview of the Republicans. Though the members of this abysmal, modern, hijacked version truly are forced into being almost mindless apparatchiks for their intolerant and misguided “leadership”.
And I agree, the fake conservatives are thankfully melba toast for the foreseeable future.
This is their ultimate penance and their inevitable failure that results from two party tyranny.
Some here claim to lean heavily independent. Yet I see very, very few who are actively pushing to eradicate the status quo. And I read almost nothing here that advocates for rescue from the duopoly’s stranglehold of self-serving interests.
Has anyone here voted for the non-Democratic AND non-Republican candidate in four of the past five presidential elections? I think not.
I would contend that though they would never admit it, there are plenty here who still vote a strict party ticket.
Do yourselves and America a huge favor. Forswear the addiction to this “evil of the two lessers”. Join in with vanguards who are trying to take this great nation back for “we the people”. End corporate control of America. Advocate for a competitive and participatory democracy. Demand accountability, and economic and social justice from these bribed, entrenched and closed door, back room frauds who no longer even try to hide that they don’t really represent us anymore.
As much staggering damage and death that Bush/Cheney unleashed on the United States of America, it is arguable that at least he may have been the straw that broke the camel’s back.
The backlash is certainly unmistakable.
And I fervently hope that my grandchildren see an America that has not fully evolved into some sort of 18th century quasi-European aristocracy, controlled by oligarchs and plutocrats…
mm
June 28th, 2009
10:04 am
Clyde,
The idea is to allow us to keep using our air conditioners while making the electric companies pollute less. Why do wingnuts always side with corporations?
Bosch
June 28th, 2009
10:09 am
clyde,
I’m not sure what all this cap and trade stuff is about, could you please explain it to me? Thanks.
ken
June 28th, 2009
10:11 am
mm, Can’t run your air if you don’t have a job. No polution at all, should make every lib smile.
clyde
June 28th, 2009
10:11 am
MM,
I see,MM,a cleaner environment with no sacrifice,is it?I don’t think it’s going to work that way.
Ralph Swietz
June 28th, 2009
10:11 am
Whats so alarming to me is that the Republicans and their “ilk” continue to use these idiotic talking points about government spending, anti-Obama nonsense and being the party of “no”…..Obama won the presidency in a virtual landslide. He was voted in because the majority of the country wanted this….The Republicans continue to alienate the American people by voting against what the people wanted….the next election won`t be as close!!!
Bosch
June 28th, 2009
10:12 am
clyde,
Of course there must be sacrifice – who said/wrote otherwise?
I Report (-: You Whine )-:
June 28th, 2009
10:14 am
Clyde- The libs want to make other people carry the burdens of their grand ideas, as usual-
Unions’ Health Benefits May Avoid Tax Under Proposal
Ooops, wrong example of hypocrisy, mulligan!
Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ocs/liheap/
And do you really think al-Gore is going to be “capping” his energy use any time soon? What does it tell you when the head hysteritic is the top energy user in all of the United States?
Wide stance
June 28th, 2009
10:16 am
Awwwwwww shucks….
mm
June 28th, 2009
10:16 am
Ken,
The morons that voted for Bush caused this mess. It’s going to take a while to undo what he and the GOP did.
Normal
June 28th, 2009
10:18 am
The Grand Old Party- The Do nothing Party. Year 2010, The Grand Old Party- The Nothing To Do Party…Rest In Peace…Just sayin’
clyde
June 28th, 2009
10:32 am
Bosch,
Quickly.The government sets a cap on CO2 emissions and sets up a financial market to either sell or at their discretion,give away permission to emit a certain level of CO2 to companies. Now it is generally conceded that a real price on CO2 emissions is the only way to force companies to comply.Companies purchase permissions and then ,hopefully,develop or purchase technology to reduce their emissions making their permissions available for sale to other companies that haven’t had the capital to follow suit on the technology.Eventually the idea is to force all polluting companies out of business.
In the meantime there’s the consumer that will have to foot all of this bill.That’s you and me.
That is my basic understanding of how cap and trade is supposed to work.
Soothsayer
June 28th, 2009
10:32 am
con·ser·va·tive (kn-sûrv-tv)
adj.
1. Favoring traditional views and values; TENDING TO OPPOSE CHANGE.
2. Traditional or restrained in style: a conservative dark suit.
3. Moderate; cautious: a conservative estimate.
Conservatives oppose change as a matter of personal choice.
Power companies oppose change because they make tons of money the way things are now. The last thing they want you to is generate your own power.
Oil companies oppose change because they tons of money the way things are now. The last thing they want you to do is change from an oil-burning car to an electric vehicle.
But, change we must.
Soothsayer
June 28th, 2009
10:40 am
The United States has just 4% of the world’s population yet we use 25% of the world’s oil. The pumped-up, testosterone-poisoning-induced, macho, ego-extension vehicle of choice in the U.S. is something like the Ford F-150 Super Crew Cab that weighs a staggering 5,913 lbs. and gets just 14 mpg city and 19 mpg highway. Surely, we can do better than this.
We, as a country, operate as if oil is an infinite resource. The right howls at the noonday sun that if we can only drill offshore we can eliminate oil imports and solve our energy dilemma, yet they cannot offer anything to substantiate that claim. I’ve even heard people claim that oil deposits are continually “replenishing themselves” sort of like a bog or something. What a bunch of poppycock.
The sad truth is that the United States (and, yes, the world) is very close to running into a crisis the likes of which we have never seen before. Last summer’s $4.25 gas was just a foretaste of things to come. Our ONLY hope is to get off of oil or at least drastically reduce our use of it.
Many of the world’s largest oil fields are reaching the end of their useful life (Google Cantarell). There has not been a major find since the 70s. There is a day of reckoning coming and $4.25 gas will seem like a Sunday picnic. There are encouraging signs, though. Electric vehicles for one. We are at a turning point in world history that rivals the changes the world experienced at turn of the 20th century. We can adapt and survive or fail and perish.
DoggoneGA
June 28th, 2009
10:41 am
“But, change we must”
Not only must, but will. If we don’t intiate and control the change, the earth WILL extract it’s revenge and force us to change…maybe in ways we REALLY won’t like.
getalife
June 28th, 2009
10:47 am
“CQ takes a closer look and points out that all of those Republicans, except Smith, hail from districts that went for Obama over McCain. The bill passed 219-212.”
They want to keep their jobs
Going to be an interesting battle in the Senate with bribery money coming from Big oil, coal , utilities vs Goldman Sach’s , other investment banks to trade carbon and GE. Establishment vs establishment.
Normal
June 28th, 2009
10:48 am
Doggone, your 10:41 This will be a self fulfilling prophacy, and it won’t be maybe…
josef nix
June 28th, 2009
10:48 am
JAY, as you would say, “now let’s be honest,” don’t you think referring to them as Basiji is a bit over the top and somewhat disrespectful of the horrors being inflicted on the Irani victims of their brutal excesses? I’m not that fond of them either, but there is a huge difference between their obstructive, rude and partisan attacks within the perameters of a free and democratic society and the wholesale razzia taking place in Iran at the hands of those to whom you would compare them speaking in hyperbole.
Bosch
June 28th, 2009
10:48 am
clyde,
Sounds good to me – especially since we foot the bill anyway.
josef nix
June 28th, 2009
10:51 am
Ralph Swietz
The votes of less than one-third of the eligible voters hardly constitutes a “landslide.” Jus’ sayin’
Kamchak
June 28th, 2009
10:52 am
josef
Hyperbole attracts hyperbole
Bosch
Hellova game going on now!!!!!
DoggoneGA
June 28th, 2009
10:53 am
“This will be a self fulfilling prophacy, and it won’t be maybe…”
Exactly
mike
June 28th, 2009
10:53 am
Typical Bookman. Don’t agree with Jay’s own point of view? Well you are part of the Basij.
Why doesn’t Jay whine to us again about Obama being called a fascist or socialist? Typical Bookman hypocrisy: “Do as I say, not as I do.”
As usual, Jay does not address the argument made by those who are so insolent as not to share Jay’s intrinsically correct views. Instead, like always” he moves right into questioning their character.
Jay Bookman, Rush Limbuagh. The only difference is that Limbaugh is successful.
Bosch
June 28th, 2009
10:54 am
Clyde,
Forgot….one thing you left out – since the government is subsidizing much of this change – in other words fitting the bill for new technologies and the such, I don’t see that the bottom line consumer will be spending that much more. Because if you think for one minute that we see a huge increase in utility bills, the general populace will stand for that, well you’re wrong, and politicians know that and will ensure that doesn’t happen.
clyde
June 28th, 2009
10:54 am
Bosch,
I don’t beleive you have a good grasp of the pending costs of capturing CO2 and storing it.
AmVet
June 28th, 2009
10:55 am
Soothsayer,
In two years of asking the question of the self-proclaimed – what is a conservative – you have said in a very few words what all of their empty slogans don’t. And so you’ve hit upon a truth they dare not face.
Either due to a lack of self-inspection, intellect or morals. Or in the case of some, all three.
The trick that the Reagan/Newt/BushCo Republicans could never comprehend, much less master, was/is to maintain the best of our traditional values.
NOT THE WORST.
They for a few pieces of silver sold our American birthright and heritage to the highest bidders. Including the religious madmen and charlatans who run the biggest Ponzi scheme on the planet.
They glorify the wicked and vilify the weak.
And their long sought martyrdom is at hand…
josef nix
June 28th, 2009
10:55 am
Kamchak–”Hyperbole attracts hyperbole”
Meaning?
mike
June 28th, 2009
10:57 am
Oh, and maybe if Jay wasn’t so intellectually dishonest and dedicated to maintaining a high level of partisan hatred, he might start ascribing the extreme comments of Democratic Underground or Daily Kos to the Democrat Party as a whole?
I know, I know. The qualifier of “if Jay wasn’t so intellectually dishonest” is like saying “if George Washington wasn’t dead”, but still…
Normal
June 28th, 2009
10:59 am
What I can’t get my head around is why we are even having this discussion about what is the cause of global warming..Mother Nature has been doing warming/cooling since the beginning. What I want to discuss is what are we doing to prepare for the change? We have never had this many people on this earth before..What will the worst case scenario be? What do we do? What CAN we do? It doesn’t matter if this is a new ice age or a warming melt down, we are sitting on our hands and arguing about what caused it?! Inane…Just sayin’
Normal
June 28th, 2009
11:01 am
…And cap and trade won’t save us either…
josef nix
June 28th, 2009
11:02 am
NORMAL–in response to your 10:59–”It’s not nice to fool Mother Nature,” and when she gets pi**ed she’s a b*tch.
Normal
June 28th, 2009
11:03 am
MIKE: The only difference is that Limbaugh is successful.
———————–
What’s your defination of “successful”?
mike
June 28th, 2009
11:03 am
Look at how tolerant liberals are to those 9 Democrat Senators who do not support the public option:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102×3942425#3942439
I’d copy some of the comments, but most of them are so filled with vulgarities that they would blow the filter.
Looks like the Democrats have their own Basij who brand all who do not share the party line as traitors. Again, if Jay wasn’t so intellectually dishonest, he would publish their comments and call them names too. But of course, nobody ever accused Jay of being that.
mike
June 28th, 2009
11:05 am
Normal –
“What’s your defination of “successful”?”
Well, most rigid pundits who stoke the flames of partisanship want to be rich and influential. Limbaugh is. Jay is not.
DoggoneGA
June 28th, 2009
11:05 am
“The votes of less than one-third of the eligible voters hardly constitutes a “landslide.””
Eligible voters don’t matter…it’s the people who actually vote that matter. So what was the percentage of VOTERS?
Kamchak
June 28th, 2009
11:05 am
josef
“Tr-8-tors” isn’t over the top? As Jay pointed out the opposition party carried 7 out of the 8 districts of these Republicans. I always believed that a rep’s first obligation was to the constituents of his district, not toeing the party line. These reps didn’t betray their constituents.