Tea Party Cancer?

Sabotage?

A critical moment for any spontaneously successful movement is the formation of a governing structure.  Red  State's  Erick Erickson says the upcoming Tea Party convention " looks scammy," and I agree. My first thought: GOP hardliners are involved. My second thought: Merde  merde merde !

A fine whine

Revelations: a Democrat Staffer's  Epiphanic Moment

Not as delicious as  John L. Jackley's Hill Rat, but good enough for gummint work

“ The worst is that I can't help but feel like the main emotion people in the caucus are feeling is relief at this turn of events. Now they have a ready excuse for not getting anything done. While I always thought we had the better ideas but the weaker messaging, it feels like somewhere along the line Members internalized a belief that we actually have weaker ideas. They're afraid to actually implement them and face the judgement of the voters. That's the scariest dynamic and what makes me think this will all come crashing down around us in November. [TPM Full] ”

You are getting hungry ... you are get -

Today's Random Burger

Testing New Year resolves since Jan 2nd.

Wanted -Under New Management Sign

Unshackle That Elephant!

I clipped this from Insta-Pundit's post election summary yesterday. Of course, what the GOP apparat does is less important nowadays than it was. As I noted before, there’s a whole lot of disintermediation going on here — Scott Brown got money and volunteers via the Internet and the Tea Party movement, to a much greater degree than he got them from the RNC. Smart candidates will realize that, too. And lies don’t work as well as they used to. Obama promised transparency and pragmatic good government, but delivered closed-door meetings and outrageous special-interest payoffs. This made people angry. If Republicans promise honesty and less-intrusive government, but go back to their old ways, the likelihood that the Tea Party will become a full-fledged third party is much greater. Are the Republicans smart enough to realize this? I don’t know. The Democrats weren’t smart enough to look at Virginia and New Jersey and realize that what they were doing was a mistake that would backfire. And on the third-party front, the Tea Party enthusiasm for Scott Brown bespeaks considerable pragmatism. Republicans who are seen as sellouts may face third-party challenges — or primary challenges, or both — but support for Brown indicates that people aren’t in a “take your marbles and go home” mode yet. Throwing a monkey-wrench into the ObamaCare works was seen as more important than getting the perfect candidate in, and that was a very wise move. I suspect that we’ll see similar pragmatism between now and November, but the GOP should also remember — as was shown in NY-23 — that making an example to encourage the others can be pragmatic, too. ” I'm in no way hinting at an ideo-parallel between the GOP apparat and the commie pigs from Animal Farm, but .. I do obviously think of  Michael Steele's Napoleon,  hiding under the bed until the battle is over, then giving himself a medal after a surprising victory.   The only way the GOP can regain it's vitality IMO, is to give Sarah Palin (sorry, but I can't think of anyone else I'd trust) the job of restructuring the party from the top down.   Restructuring means replacing the apparat with Tea Party veterans.  Axe-chop-whack.  Alear gets to stay. Newt doesn't. Dunderhead

auf Wiedersehen Barry

wtf

Caption

Better late than ...

SUPREME COURT READS FIRST AMT! *  WISE LATINA VOTES AGAINST IT. Court rules against corporate campaign spending curbs

Justice Kennedy, writing for the majority: When word concerning the plot of the movie "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" reached the circles of Government, some officials sought, by persuasion, to discourage its distribution...  Under Austin, though, officials could have done more than discourage its distribution—they could have banned the film.  - ”   St. Anne had this on her site, sans story link

Getting Even

Conan Blows $1.5 Million on 60-Second Comedy Bit to Waste NBC’s Money

Juice

Pelosi Shot Down

Pelosi: I Don't Have the Votes to Pass the Senate Bill 2 days ago "Let’s remove all doubt. We will have health care one way or another.”

"We're not in a big rush," Pelosi said. "Pause, reflect."

A Coakley Laff-off

okely coakely

The Chicagoboyz are challenging readers to come up with Election Haikus.  I'm a limerick kind of guy, so take your  pick and give it a try. Chicago Boyz Barn Army Early and often Is no longer adequate. Will Dems move rightward? —- Barack Obama! Double down, you clever guy. We need more Scott Browns. —- Scourge of Amiraults, Martha was unappealing. (The best they could do?) There once was a man from Boston Who had very big balls, and he tossed 'em Into the ring Where he risked everything But it was worth all the money it cost him There once was a man from Nantucket Who gave Martha Coakley a bucket He said with a grin It's for you puking in 'Cause I'll kick you from here to Pawtucket

Spectacular

What a spectacle

A real spctacle! Stuart Haygarth turns discarded eye glasses into a gorgeously green glowing chandelier. Spectacle is an optical chandelier assembled from 1020 pairs of discarded prescription glasses, with a smaller size constructed from 620 pairs. The refracted light from the lenses makes fluid shadows that play across walls creating an aqueous lighting effect that shimmers as much as it delights. That would be about the number of prescription glasses I've lost.

Easy Money

In Passing

In passing

here's  everything you need to know at the water cooler

“ Krugman- He Wasn’t The One We’ve Been Waiting For Libs eating their dead Matthews, Dean Call Each Other Crazy Dean was floating the absurd argument that by choosing Scott Brown over Martha Coakley, voters were sending a secret coded message that they really wanted a health care bill . . . more liberal than the current Obamacare version.  In case you missed it: Terrorists are out to get us I’ve been tracking attempted terrorists attacks on the United States after 9/11... because it seemed no one else was. [via Cheryl Jones tweet] Earmarks for Donations in No. Va.   Before new-speak, Rep Jim Moran would be called the bribee Aside: check out  his Wikipedia entry for a look at Moran’s fisticuffical tendencies. System Failure There is one reason that White House should be thrilled about the Massachusetts Senate race. It crowded out news that came out of the stunning testimony of Obama administration officials Wednesday on the Christmas Day terrorist attack. [more ... Who Made the Decision on Abdulmutallab?] FPI Analysis: President Obama's Foreign Policy, Year One During Obama’s first year in the White House, the President has repeatedly sought to strike out on a new, more humble course for American foreign policy. But, aside from that Mike ... You crazy sons-of-bitches, you right-wingers. Do you not understand that the people you hold up as heroes bombed your goddamn country? Do you not understand that Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly are as complicit of the September 11, 2001 terror attack as any one of those dumb-ass fifteen who came from Saudi Arabia? Don’t you get that? The Fall of the House of Kennedy In 1962, President John F. Kennedy planted the seeds that grew the modern Democratic Party. That year, JFK signed executive order 10988 allowing the unionization of the federal work force. This changed everything in the American political system. (Audio version) I know you hate my guts, but marry me, and you'll learn to put up with me David Axelrod told the Washington Post that the health care bill has been such a drag that the only thing the party can do is to pass it and then hope it becomes more popular: Huntley man accused of illegally recording ex-girlfriend in the shower Talk about criminalizing a whole society.   Right?  Not me, of course. ”