Category: GOP

Rewriting Roosevelt.

“He who controls the present, controls the past. He who controls the past, controls the future.” Or is quoting Orwell too shrill? Well, you tell me — A coalition of women’s groups are blocked from holding a forum on Social Security at the FDR Library in Hyde Park because none of the attendees wanted to support Dubya’s ill-conceived privatization plan (Two Republican representatives were invited to speak — both declined.)

I’m just going to go out on a limb here and say that, despite the lies of Brit Hume and FOX News, ole FDR himself would probably have agreed that dismantling one of his most enduring achievements so that Dubya’s Wall Street cronies could pad their wallets is a lousy idea. (For what it’s worth, FDR’s grandson agrees.) At any rate, the new head of the National Archives, Allen Weinstein, is trying to mitigate the damage. And, well he should, for after all: “Weinstein has been on the job for six weeks. Several historical organizations opposed his selection, fearing he would politicize the archives. Bush removed the previous archivist without providing a reason to Congress.”

Send Bolton to the Blue.

“The case against Bolton, which has been made here a few times, rests not so much on his ultra-neoconservatism (an insufficient disqualification on its own) or on his past criticism of the United Nations (the organization merits criticism). Rather, it boils down to his long-standing attacks on the principles underlying the United Nations and to his wholesale rejection of the legitimacy, propriety, and even the political expediency of international law, which, after all, is the United Nations’ currency of enforcement.” With an editorial Hail Mary, Slate‘s Fred Kaplan pleads with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to vote down on John Bolton as UN Ambassador. We can only hope.

Frist gets the gist.

“I believe we have a fair and independent judiciary today…I respect that.” The Hammer may have already mouthed off about federal judges in the Schiavo case, but, Catkiller Frist, like Vice-President Cheney, is savvy enough to realize that the GOP have stepped into serious trouble, and has thus decided he wants nothing doing. (Not a hard call. — Their PR misplay here has gotten so obvious that even Harry Reid is calling ’em out.) Well, if the Republicans want to mitigate the damage, perhaps Cheney or Frist should have a word with Senator Jon Cornyn (R-TX), the latest conservative freakshow to go after federal judges. Update: The WP probes the GOP breach.

Don’t judge the judges.

Without naming names (*cough* DeLay), Vice-President Cheney wisely flees from the idea of “retribution” against Schiavo judges.

By the way, since I didn’t mention this earlier and probably should get it in writing — family, friends, loved ones, and any federal judges forced by right-wing hoopla to get involved — if at some point I fall into a persistent vegetative state with little-to-no hope of recovery, I would prefer to die with some sense of dignity, and not have the Republican Party use my prostrate body as a get-out-the-vote strategy for conservative crazies. Thanks much.

Also, please don’t play any Meatloaf or Celine Dion at my funeral, and try to launch my remains in a direction other than right at Genesis. In fact, a ship to Valinor would probably be preferable.

Everything in Moderation?

Christie Todd Whitman may refuse to name names, but Episcopal minister and former GOP Senator John Danforth got the general point across last Wednesday in the NYT: “By a series of recent initiatives, Republicans have transformed our party into the political arm of conservative Christians.” It’s gotten to the point where even Rick Santorum feels he may have to modulate his right-wing schtick in order to get re-elected in 2006.

A tip for Santorum: Being a moderate these days means occasionally taking tough stands against your own party, as Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is proving with his compromise Social Security plan. “Graham’s plan would raise Social Security taxes for high-income earners, and reduce their eventual retirement benefits.” So, naturally, “the free-market group Club for Growth, meanwhile, is running TV ads in South Carolina attacking Graham for proposing tax increases.”

Kenny’s with the Angels.

“In 22 minutes, Trey Parker and Matt Stone manage to hammer politicians, the media, religious hypocrisy and every other aspect of the madness that is the Schiavo case. How they were able to put this together so quickly is astounding — it’s more timely than ‘The Daily Show.'” Salon‘s Andrew Leonard sings the praises of the most recent South Park.

Let me Hammer them today…

“The time will come for the men responsible for this to answer for their behavior.” Did Boss DeLay really call for a hit on federal judges overseeing the Schiavo case? Senator Ted Kennedy, for one, seems to think so. If nothing else, his language seems remarkably intemperate for a Congressional leader…but, really, when it comes to the Hammer, what else is new? Update: DeLay tries to get the Judiciary Committee involved.

Wait ’til Next Year.

In a moment of clarity, House Speaker Dennis Hastert joins his GOP colleagues Frist and DeLay in declaring what now seems obvious, that Dubya’s Social Security privatization plan probably can’t pass this year. For their part, the White House immediately disagreed.

Of Books and Bears.

A couple of navel-gazing notes from the past few weeks:

* I’ve successfully defended my dissertation prospectus, currently and very drably titled “The Legacy of Reform: Progressive Persistence in National Politics, 1920-1928.” So, now I’m really ABD (All But Dissertation), and all systems are go for my upcoming writing year.

* Although it won’t be out until October, and will require some minor last-minute revisions right up until then (to account for new developments such as the Pope’s probable passing), I’ve spent the past fall and winter researching and editing — and have now finished up — a third collaboration with Democratic commentator Bill Press, entitled How the Republicans Stole Christmas: The Republican Party’s Declared Monopoly on Religion and What Democrats Can Do to Take it Back. In a nutshell (and as you probably guessed from the title), its very timely argument is “The Religious Right is neither religious nor right.” At any rate, since the book is basically in the can and the book cover has made it to Amazon, it seems as good a time as any to tell y’all about it.

* “If you go out in the woods today, you’re in for a big surprise…” Steve Belcher, a high school friend of mine who recently finished a stint at the NY Film Academy — he’s the fellow I was making a few short films with over the winter — has sent along “Sleeping In,” his first very short project, in fabulous Quicktime. Just goes to show, pretty much can anything happen in Central Park these days.

Expect DeLays.

Speaking of the GOP pyramid, and in a move that should leave principled conservatives aghast, the right-wing base begins to organize behind Boss DeLay. The more you tighten your grip around a corrupt and hypocritical goon like the Hammer, y’all, the more voters will slip through your fingers.