Political Theatre category archive

Rachel Maddow rounds up a few whack-a-doodles of the right wing:

I am hardly a fan of Oprah, but that has more to do with her unleashing Dr. Phil on an unsuspecting world than with a belief that she is a tool of the Devil.

Via Bob Cesca’s Awesome Blog.

Via Balloon Juice.

Via Bart Cop.

Via BartBlog.

Update: Thanks to Joe Vecchio for pointing out that I misplet “Grayson” as “Simpson.”

Representative Grayson repeatedly fails to fall for the misdirection play.

Watch the interviewer totally miss and twist the point, while portraying a philosophy of “I’ve got mine” that is rather staggering:

Via The Richmonder.

What Jason330 said: Bush Beyond Thunderdome.

Harold Meyerson comments on the Republican Party’s intransigence and sees an unlikely parallel with another movement for which ideology trumped reality.

A snippet (emphasis added):

What we have here is an extreme world view — let’s call it Norquistism — that ensures impasse, paralysis or perverse outcomes whenever control of government is divided. It’s the doctrine preached by GOP activist and lobbyist Grover Norquist, who trots around the country collecting pledges from GOP candidates and elected officials that commit them to never, ever raise taxes, no matter what they may be offered in return.

(snip)

When zeal runs amok, the sense of proportion suffers. Today’s Republicans remind me of some leaders of the American Communist Party whom I got to know decades ago, after they’d left the fold. “We believed in the party line, in its infallibility, so completely,” one ex-commie told me, “that we’d forget the larger strategy for the momentary tactic.” So it was with Communists of yore; so it is with Republicans today.

In which Boo + Hoo = 171,274.

Political twits. Peter Funt comments at the Boston Globe. A nugget:

Anything that serves to curb politicians’ natural tendency toward long-windedness is welcome, but a Twitter debate risks turning complex issues into a parlor game.

Quibble: The parlor game is already here. Colonel Bluster in the Youtube with a misquote.

Three minutes of Mitt, followed by facts.

Gertrude Stein anticipated Mitt: There’s no there there.

Alto, Texas, lays off its police department in a move of true Galtian genius, pushing all enforcement off to the county sheriff, whose officers take at least twice as long to respond because, natch, they have a whole county to patrol:

“We had to do something drastic,” Councilman Jerry Flowers explained to Forbes. “The police department being a non-money-making entity, was the easiest to get rid of while we catch our breath and build up some cash.”

For some strange reason, crime seems to be reaching new alto-tudes.

In the Randian paradise, there is no such thing as the public good.

If it doesn’t make a profit, it should not exist.

Michael Smerconish (who is often on target when he’s considering the human condition and not actually taking positions on political issues) reviews the problems Republicans have with campaign songs, namely, their tendency to use songs whose songwriters promptly tell them to stop using the songs because the songwriter’s find the Republicans’ positions pernicious and because the candidates failed to get permission to use them.

He proposes that this problem could be avoided by having a neutral third party (i. e., Smerconish) select their songs for them and suggests appropriate ditties for Mr. Obama and the Republican field. A sampling:

Mitt Romney: The GOP front-runner has a tough choice. Given his various positions on abortion and gay rights, he can go with either Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now” or David Bowie’s “Changes.”

Sarah Palin: C’mon, let’s face it. The race will get interesting when she dukes it out with Michele Bachmann. So put the needle down on Ted Nugent’s “Cat Scratch Fever.”

It’s a cute little column.

TSA Power Grab Division.

This is silly and scary at the same time. It is eerily not inconceivable that the same reasoning could lead to everyone’s being required to carry GPS devices at all times to report their positions to the TSA, because God forbid that TSA doesn’t know where you are.

Not then.

Now.

This summer, it doesn’t take much for the wind to kick up sand in western Kansas.

A 10 to 15 mph wind will cause the horizon to dim; at 30 to 40 mph, it darkens the sky and visibility is less than a 100 feet.

Much of Morton County is in an exceptional drought, the driest rating, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Already it is drier than the driest years of the Dust Bowl.

Since last September — 10 months ago — Morton County near Elkhart has received 2.99 inches of moisture. The normal average rainfall for that corner of Kansas is about 19 inches.

The Kansas agricultural economy is withering, like the heat.

No doubt laying off more teachers will bring rain.

After all, that seems to be the magical mystical solution these days.

Dan Rodick of the Baltimore Sun has a modest proposal. A snippet:

. . . if, indeed, you’d like to see them (undocumented immigrants–ed.) all deported — then you should not buy the apples and peaches they pick. Stay away from the fresh produce unless it comes with a stamp: “This cucumber picked by an American citizen.” Stay away from apple juice and apple sauce, the canned fruit cocktail that contains the fruit that illegals pick. You should avoid buying and eating vegetables, too, unless they’re locally grown and picked by naturalized or native citizens. (And stay away from Big Macs, with that lettuce, onions and pickles.)

Via Bob Cesca.

Bill Maher on choosing the right experts:

New Rule: Stop asking Miss USA contestants if they believe in evolution. It’s not their field. It’s like asking Stephen Hawking if he believes in hair scrunchies. Here’s what they know about: spray tans, fake boobs and baton twirling. Here’s what they don’t know about: everything else. If I cared about the uninformed opinions of some ditsy beauty queen, I’d join the Tea Party.

Via Bob Cesca’s Awesome Blog.