Political Theatre category archive

Wading through the mudflats . . . .

But wait! There’s more!

As I said, she’s done.

The Booman on the rescue of Capt. Richard Phillips from the Somali Pirates. Further editorializing is not required:

(President Obama) didn’t call a press conference. He didn’t make bellicose threats. He didn’t even have a high-level meeting of his national security team. He discharged FBI negotiators and a Navy SEAL team. Once the FBI’s negotiations appeared to break down, he authorized the SEALS to use deadly force if the hostage was at all threatened. And when it was over, he didn’t pound his chest or attempt to classify it as a giant win in the war on terror. It was nothing more than a hostage rescue mission that was successfully applied.

Dave Neiwert fisks Glenn Beck. A nugget:

But a side remark Beck makes is fairly indicative of the problem with this whole enterprise — namely, it is a grossly blinkered version of history, revised and selectively edited to serve as a nice bedtime story for conservatives.

Actually, I’ve never seen a Paris, neither Paris, France, nor Paris, Texas.

I still might consider visiting Paris, France.

They. Walk. Again. By. Night. No matter what anyone does.

Reality and Wingnuttia. Hugh Jackson discussing Mr. Obama’s overseas trip in the Guardian:

Obama repeatedly acknowledged as much (the role of the United States in the current recession/depression/panic–ed.) during his trip abroad. Sometimes he did so gingerly, telling the press after the G20 meetings for instance that “it’s hard to deny that some of this contagion did start on Wall Street.”

Other times, Obama deployed refreshing candour, such as during the town hall gathering in Strasbourg when he acknowledged American “arrogance” and admitted the country “shares blame for what has happened” but also called Europe on its “anti-Americanism that is at once casual but can also be insidious.”

To America’s angry conservatives (bit of a redundancy there), Obama’s behavior abroad was nothing short of deplorable.

The Heritage Foundation blasted Obama for embracing “a ‘collective action’ that essentially demotes America as a world power.” Obama’s declaration in Istanbul that the US “is not and never will be at war with Islam” flabbergasted the conservative blogosphere (a curious development in that Obama’s predecessor on occasion said much the same thing). Newt Gingrich dismissed Obama’s call for nuclear arms reductions as a “fantasy foreign policy.” The former Speaker’s fellow Fox News personality Sean Hannity dubbed Obama’s trip the “new world order tour” while “Hannity’s headline” at the bottom of the screen during his show declared: “Obama Attacks America”. And of course during the entirety of Obama’s travels all the conservatives on the radio, television, in blogs and everywhere else were saying “socialism” over and over and over again – but not in a nice way.

Montel Williams calls out Gringrich’s militaristic fantasies:

So Brendan made another phone call.

Shorter version: By embracing Richard Nixon’s odious Southern Strategy four decades ago, the Republican Party finds itself today backed by historical reality into a corner where it is outnumbered and trapped.

Picking public faces of color, such as Michael Steele and Bobby Jindal, cannot erase a history of appeals to bigotry, prejudice, and nativism.

David Swerdlick at The Root:

Republicans have rolled out their rising stars of color—Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and Republican National Committee Chair Michael Steele—and so far, they have mostly demonstrated that they’re pretty much clueless about how to connect with people of color.

Republicans’ long-term problem isn’t Jindal’s recent decision to oppose the president by signing on to Rush Limbaugh’s “I hope he fails” mantra, or that Steele could face a premature vote of no confidence . . . .

The “elephant” in the room is post-Goldwater Republican reliance on antipathy toward minorities among the hallowed voter demographic known alternatively as Reagan Democrats or “real” Americans. And in the present-day reality of an Obama world, it takes more than a loquacious black dude or true-believing, Indian-American public policy whiz to bootstrap that party into the 21st century.

The Booman on Republican attempts to sweep the Bush maladministration under the rug. Read the whole thing:

Is it illegal to blow off a congressional subpoena if neither the courts nor the attorney general will enforce the law? Are ratified treaties considered legally binding if the President says they are not? Are statutes against torture enforceable if the Office of Legal Counsel redefines torture? What I learned from the Bush administration is that however strongly I may feel something is illegal, it isn’t unless someone with authority will declare it so and act accordingly.

Digby has more.

Addendum:

Noz says let them do their damndest:

besides, the republicans are already voting lock-step against most of obama’s proposals. i expect he’ll get just as little support from the GOP for his nominees no matter what he does with the torture memos.

Steve at ASZ:

The GOP filed a challenge to yesterday’s Congressional election in New York before the election was even finished, much less the votes counted. They will be appealing the 2012 Presidential election tommorrow.

Just so’s y’all remember what it’s all about:

Digby has more.

Here.

Via Eschaton.

The Guardian:

The Booman lays compares and contrasts.

Worth a read.

StevenD at the Booman Tribune.

Read all about it.

Via Karen.

Richard Blair at ASZ helps me count the ways.

There’s really nothing to add to what he said.

Via Skippy.

Noz:

pointing out that obama’s public pronouncements are better when he uses a teleprompter is like noting that a professional runner does better when he wears running shoes. it’s such an unremarkable observation it borders on ridiculous.

but what really seems to be going on here is that the right is trying to spread the idea that obama isn’t such a great communicator when he isn’t reading off a script. except that to most people that’s simply not true. . . .

(snip)

‘t get me wrong, i’m not saying that rightwingers are lying when they keep returning to this bad speaker idea. i just think that they can’t distinguish their own bullshit from other people’s reality anymore. no matter what obama actually does, they will see what they want to see. if you hate obama and keep telling yourself he’s a bad speaker without a teleprompter, every time you see him without one you will be able to convince yourself that he’s speaking terribly. but the real problem (for them) is not just that they have convinced themselves of their own reality, but also that they can’t seem to conceive that others see things completely differently.

Mad Kane has more.

Andrew Sullivan, here.