Political Theatre category archive

Leonard Pitts, Jr., looks at death penalty supporters through the lens of the Republican debate.

Full disclosure: I oppose the death penalty, not because I think it is morally wrong (I am convinced that some persons do deeds so heinous that they forfeit their right to be allowed in society), but because we get it wrong just too damned often.

It was a chilling moment, but also a clarifying one in that it validated the grimmest suspicions about at least some of those who support capital punishment. That support, after all, is often framed in terms of high morality, the argument being that only in taking an offender’s life can a society truly express its revulsion over certain heinous crimes.

But when the audience at a recent GOP presidential debate cheered the observation that Texas Gov. Rick Perry has overseen a record 234 executions, that fig leaf was swept away. You knew this was not about some profound question for philosophers and august men. No, this was downturned thumbs in a Roman arena, vengeance putting on airs of justice, the need to see someone die.

People dress that need up in rags of righteousness and ethicality, but occasionally, the disguise slips and it shows itself for what it is: the atavistic impulse of those for whom justice is synonymous with blood. If people really meant the arguments of high morality, you’d expect them to regard the death penalty with reverent sobriety. You would not expect them to cheer.

Mr. Pitts goes on to discuss one of the cases in which the chances are good that we got it wrong once more.

At least Mitt is consistently inconsistent. This cartoon is four years old.

Daniel Ruth of the St. Petersburg Times reports on his experiences observing the teabaggery at the recent CNN Republican candidates sideshow. A nugget:

But wait, it only gets more loopy.

At one point, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman suggested Texas Gov. Rick Perry was flirting with treason simply because Perry believes trying to build a 1,200-mile fence along the border is a crazy idea. Now Perry may very well possess the intellectual firepower of a Lhasa apso, but opposing a border fence for pragmatic reasons hardly rises to the level of becoming the Lord Haw Haw of the Rio Grande.

Later in the spin room, even Huntsman’s spinners were flummoxed over the treason allegation. When the best explanation your surrogates can come up with is “Beats me,” it might suggest the campaign is getting close to toe-tag status.

“Loopy” would seem to be an understatement.

Shaun Mullen could care less.

Via Bob Cesca’s Awesome Blog.

CLick for a larger image.

Via Bart Blog.

Mike Littwin looks at poll results (which are pretty meaningless this far out, but the create jobs for newsreaders), concluding that the seem favorable for the (dis)loyal opposition party.

Then he considers the field:

Of course not. Instead, if you’ve watched the recent Republican presidential debates — and I recommend you watch them all — you know the official Republican response is to make certain that independents would never vote for them.

. . . It’s the Ken Buck/Christine O’Donnell strategy writ large. As I’ve mentioned before, Rick Perry is the Ken Buck that Michael Bennet wanted to run against.

Read the whole thing.

Peter Bergman explains. Listen at least to the first five minutes.

Key quote:

Washington is rigged for big corporations that hire armies of lobbyists.

Via Balloon Juice.

Via Bob Cesca’s Awesome Blog.

My old boss on September 11, 2001:

It’s a good thing there’s a Texan in the White House.

Er, yeah.

He was a good boss, but a lousy prophet.

Tom Papantonio interviews Harry Shearer about what actually caused the devastation of New Orleans.

If you haven’t been following this story, watching this 11 minutes will change your beliefs about the Army Corps of Engineers.

Art Buck explains. A snippet:

The thing that tipped me over the edge was the Republican incandescent light bulb position. They say it is a Democratic police state that is forcing manufacturers to abandon Thomas Edison’s 19th century incandescent bulb and make only more efficient ones, which burn cooler and use less electricity.

I will overlook the fact that this law was passed in 2007 by a Republican Congress and signed into law by President Bush. It is clearly a Commie plot devised by Democrats. Can you spell “1984”?

Via Are We Paying Attention.

In the Chicago Trib, Dan Martin wonders, “How would Jesus vote?” and handicaps the candidates accordingly.

No excerpt or summary can do it justice.

Thom Hartmann explains:

Daniel Ruth discusses Eric Cantor’s posturing on FEMA and Irene:

Never missing a chance to politicize a tragedy, Cantor said why of course Congress would be more than happy to provide some supplemental funding for FEMA — just as long as the Obama administration came up with funding cuts to other programs to make up the difference.

This would be a bit like Cantor happening upon a car wreck and offering to help the bleeding victim just as soon as he sells his house to pay for the stitches.

There is much delightful more at the link.