Republican Hypocrisy category archive

The news today is full of stories about Bushie Department of Justice memos that were released yesterday.

TPM linked to some of them yesterday.

I particularly liked this one (PDF), from last October, which pretty much starts with “remember what Gonzo said seven years ago? Forget it.”

A clear case of covering their rear ends before the door hit them on the way out.

These memos add further evidence of what a lot of us have been saying for years.

The Bushies cared not for the Constitution of the United States of America; not for the rights and liberty of the people; not for the blood, sacrifices, and dreams of the Founders and of the American people as they have tried to bumble their way to a more perfect union for the last two centuries.

H/T Karen for the link to the Washington Post.

Addendum:

The title of Dick Polman’s commentary nails it. Follow the link and read the column:

Bush’s Secret Dictatorship

By the way, here’s part of my reply to Karen’s email telling me about the news story in the Post:

I was just hearing the report on NPR Morning Edition.

Wanted to make himself a bleedin’ dictator.

Skippy hops after the money to see who paid for the tea.

Addendum:

John Cole is skeptical.

Explained:

John Cole has more.

Maybe I’ll get out some of my Three Stooges CDs tonight in an effort to understand Republicanism.

Nah.

The Three Stooges couldn’t make this stuff up.

Some Republican CPAC attendee was on Marconi’s Magic Box talking about “intellectual honesty.”

Oxy Moron.

Addendum, 11:49:

The Booman and Steve have the crazy.

Persons who live with volcanos erupt.

All seriousness aside, Duncan summed it up here.

Moral: Republicans have no clue about what government is for.

For “bipartisan politics” to work, both (“bi” means two, after all) parties must be willing to participate.

I have addressed this before.

Contemporary Republicanism is not only morally, ideologically, and philosophically bankrupt–a demonstrably failed ideology (don’t believe me? Go here) which clouds its failures with the smokescreen of “family values” while concomitantly demonstrating a creepy fascination with the sexual behavior of others (why don’t they just a watch a porno, for heaven’s sake)–it is also so doctrinaire as to be incapable, not just of compromise, but of admitting any other points of view.

Members of the Democratic Party have repeatedly allowed themselves to think that, when Republicans spoke of “bipartisanship,” they meant “cooperation and compromise,” when they meant, instead, “our way or the highway.” My fellow members of Left Blogistan tend to go–how shall I put this?–off their nuts when the Democrats do this.

(It is difficult to keep from typing, “Democrats have dealt in good faith; Republicans have not.” Oops.)

This sums it up (emphasis added):

On the Republican side, Republican policies cannot give rise to bipartisan solutions. When the core philosophy of a party is that government cannot work and should do as little as possible, that philosophy benefits only those who have the resources necessary to sustain themselves regardless of whether the government is massive or whether it’s so small you can drown it in a bathtub. From the chant of tax cuts at any cost to the fanatical focus on depriving the neediest of resources under the banner of “entitlement reform,” Republican governance is aimed simply at helping those who need help the least.

The fundamental flaw in clamoring for a bipartisan process in light of the above is the erroneous belief that the fruit of any open-handed endeavor is necessarily a bipartisan (and universally acceptable) solution. One need only look in the rear view mirror to disprove such a naive notion. It has been the most bipartisan of processes that have sprung forth the most odious and partisan results.

There is no cooperation and compromise with those who will neither cooperate nor compromise.

It is to Mr. Obama’s credit that he tries. By doing so, he allows the Republican Party to reveal the divergence between its words and its deeds.

Oh, yeah, and there is a word for a “divergence between words and deeds.”

The lies do get tiresome after a while.

Whether they are lying to themselves or to others or, more likely, to both themselves and others, the lies, misrepresentations, and half-truths do still get tiresome.

Case in point.

From the Democratic Daily, on why President Obama’s attempt to foster bipartisan solutions hasn’t worked:

Because the Republicans have no interest in working contructively with Obama and the Democrats, because they’ve entrenched themselves, once more, behind extremist ideological lines, because they think they can score political points by being obstructionist.

Republicans have turned on Obama, as expected, but, in so doing, they have sided against the American people. They will end up paying dearly in the end.

One can hope.

Afterthought: The Republican Party lives in a phony world divorced from psychological, economic, or historical reality.

Being sincere about it (to the extent that they are) doesn’t make their world any less phony.

One measure of the sincerity of their beliefs, I reckon, is the extent to which they lie make stuff up.

Video via D-Day.

John Cole on the Republican Party and the stimulus bill (emphasis added):

It still upsets me that this bill of a couple hundred billion in tax cuts (when did Republicans start opposing tax cuts?) and $4-500 billion in spending, mostly as stopgaps for state budgets and infrastructure spending, is characterized as wild spending, when the only reason for it is the horrible economy and there just isn’t a ton of “pork” spending in it. Regardless, it is nice to see that at least some Republicans out there get it- their problem is they simply have no credibility after the past eight years even if this WAS a larded up bill full of pork.

Put another way, it isn’t just dishonest, it is offensive. Having the party of Bush lecture you about out of control spending is like having a heroin addict chide you for putting too much sugar in your coffee.

Blame the media for telling persons about it.

H/T Karen for the link.

One of the most amazing traits of the Republican Party is its ability to look a fact square in the face and, in chorus with Sgt. Schultz, say, “I see nuttink!”

I have spent a lot of time there, most of it in that fantasy called Southern California, a place that has no vegetation not imported from Florida and no water not stolen from Colorado.

SoCal was best described in Two Years before the Mast as a wasteland that no one would want to live in and where no one wanted to do real work.

It has since become a wasteland that many want to live in, thanks to Edison’s Magic Lantern. Real work, well, that’s another topic.

Now the California Republican Party is determined to destroy Cali before it drops into the sea.

Apparently, I don’t dislike California as much as its own resident Republicans do.

(Aside: Are all Republicans nutcases, or just most of them? No. Really. How can supposedly sentient beings be so Godforsakenly stupid?)

From D-Day, reflecting on the Unitarian Church shootings last summer.

. . . this (the church shootings-ed.) is the fruit of a conservative movement which wraps its attacks on Democrats and liberals all too frequently in the language of eliminationism, preying on resentment (“Liberals are taking your hard-earned money for nothing”) and fear of the other to cast the opposition party as an enemy to be fought, physically if necessary. With the economy sure to be on the skids for a while, it won’t be long until the anger from the right builds, and seeks blame in their opponents. And obviously, this can lead to the kind of incidents we see with Jim Adkisson, who specifically cited conservative media for giving him a road map to channel his anger.

Unspoken but clear is his concern of more violence from the Right.

What I find truly maddening is that many of these haters wrap themselves, not just in the American flag, but also in the Christian flag.

Doesn’t seem right. But it is Rightwing.

I’m not sure that “rip” is the right word. ThinkProgress:

Obama went on rip Republicans who now lecture about the need for fiscal responsibility. “It’s a little hard for me to take criticism from folks about this recovery package after they presided over a doubling of the national debt,” he said. “I’m not sure they have a lot of credibility when it comes to fiscal responsibility.”

Via Atrios.

Facebook Friend: [redacted] is dumbfounded at Sen. McConnell’s statement that the spending in the New Deal didn’t work. Are. You. Kidding. Me?

Me: Republicans lie. Get used to it.

Over at Techfun. Read the whole thing for context:

When it comes to the current stimulus package, Obama should learn from the words – if not the actions – of George W. Bush: “”I really don’t care what polls and focus groups say. What I care about is doing what I think is right.”

The Coyote’s Byte:

You’ve just got to love how the Republicans changed their tune once they were taken out of power. All the sudden they’re all about “fiscal responsibility” – nevermind the billions and billions of earmarks they doled out (esp. to firms like Halliburton and Blackwater) while they were the party in control.

And this surprises us how?

If you think my language is sometimes intemperate, read this:

Warning. Language.

Please read Mr. Cole’s observations.

Brendan sums it up:

But instead of actually DOING anything about it, these wealthy and out-of-touch fools are more concerned with playing political games, and clinging to their rigid ideologies.

And why not? after all, it’s only the little people who suffer.