Political Theatre category archive

Daniel Ruth thinks that Jeb Bush will run. A snippet:

It is the dead of winter in Iowa, and the Republican presidential wannabees are gathered for yet another dreary debate.

Up on the dais are Texas Sen. Ted Cruz looking like a used shark salesman, grumpy New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie foaming at the mouth, Sen. Marco Rubio playing jacks, sanctimonious former Sen. Rick Santorum showing everyone his stigmata, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal handing out beignets, Texas Gov. Rick Perry waxing about how great it is to be in Hawaii, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee trying to raise the dead, and Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan reciting Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged.

And thus Bush thinks to himself: “Holy cow, that’s not an assemblage of serious presidential candidates. It’s the campfire scene from Blazing Saddles . . . . Compared to these rubes I come off as Benjamin Disraeli meets the Founding Fathers. Yeah, I’m in.”

Via Bob Cesca’s Awesome Blog.

Via Juanita Jean.

Daniel Ruth compares the relative merits of Florida governor Lex Luthor Rick Scott, Attila the Hun, and Godzilla. He finds the choice difficult. Here’s a bit of his reasoning:

Mr. Godzilla also has some problematic concerns, such as temperament. And his retail political talents could certainly use some refinement. However, Scott is also known for speaking in an incomprehensible tongue.

Working to his advantage is Mr. Godzilla’s unfortunate overexposure to radiation. This might well suggest a Godzilla administration in Tallahassee would be far more sensitive to environmental concerns, which have languished during the Scott administration.

Timothy Egan wants to lead a tour.

Justice Anthony Kennedy doesn’t strike me as the kind of guy I’d want to share a beer and a brat with, or be stuck next to on a long flight. But I would like for the most influential swing voter on the Supreme Court to step away from his legal aerie and wade through some of the muck that he and four fellow justices have given us with the 2014 campaign.

How did we lose our democracy? Slowly at first, and then all at once.

Follow the link for a travelogue.

Via Kos.

Not just in Pennsylvania, folks.

Colbert takes on Pennsylvania Governor (and destroyer of public schools) Tom Corbett’s photoslop.

Below the fold in case it autoplays.

Read more »

The Roanoke Times editorial board calls out Bedford County Republicans’ decision that ideology trumps governance.

The actions of the Republicans are not surprising. In their world, ideology trumps reality every day of the week and twice on Sundays. A snippet from the editorial:

One of the worst crimes in the old Soviet Union was to commit what was called an “ideological error.”

Ilya Ehrenburg was a writer who won honors even under Stalin, and was considered the very model of a Soviet writer. But late in life, he spoke of how Soviet realism and Western art forms might be able to co-exist. Esoteric literary criticism? No! A “gross ideological error,” in the words of Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev.

(snip another example)

So what does any of this have to do with anything around here?

Just this: Last week, the Bedford County Republicans took the unusual act of voting to censure three Republicans on the county board of supervisors. Their offense? They had voted in favor of a tax increase back in April and had not come before the county’s Republican committee to explain why.

Will it never end?

The Sacramento Bee’s Jack Ohman releases another campaign ad.

It’s almost as bizarre as the ones I zip on my telly vision every day.

I need some of this stuff for my email inbox. If I get one more email with the subject line, “Please, Frank, I’m begging you,” I shall go mad(der).

“For political junkies who find themselves addicted to the endless death march of campaign marketing, all hope is not lost. You have come under the spell of Koch-o-miasis, or perhaps an equally virulent strain of Steyerelia, which was unleashed into the public by billions of dollars in tainted, often secret unaccounted for campaign contributions. Have you considered turning to Spamtix?

“Tell-tale signs you need immediate treatment include a gullible belief that the advertising depicting candidates as the walking dead is true. Other symptoms include a compulsive desire to DVR campaign advertising so it can be watched again and again, an insatiable urge to appear in a commercial as a willing shill for a candidate and a barely repressed yearning to stalk Sean Hannity.”

More miracle cures at the link.

John Oliver’s Supreme Court is going to the dogs.

Via the Daily Banter.

Bob Cesca tells of his experiences fighting those who were Palin pilin’ on his “fair use” of some video clips.

Jim Wright considers the freak-out about ebola. A snippet:

We’re addicted to it. Fear. We just can’t get enough of being afraid.

It’s the emotion that defines modern America, fear. Knee knocking, spine tingled, sphincter loosening, pants wetting fear.

That’s us.

When we don’t have something to be afraid of, we make something up.

Follow the link. You will be glad you did.

Via Job’s Anger.