This campaign season can be summed up by one interview on conservative talk radio last August. It was with Iowa Straw Poll-sweeper Congresswoman, Michele Bachmann, in which she proclaimed: “What people recognize is that there’s a fear that the United States is in an unstoppable decline. They see the rise of China, the rise of India, the rise of the Soviet Union and our loss militarily going forward.”

Yes, Bachmann warned us of a foreign boogieman rising … one that’s been dead for over 20 years.

Boo!

But warning of a zombie nation feasting on the metaphorical brains of the U.S. is consistent with a party now completely untethered from basic American history, science or any other evidence-based practice: The GOP is now a party standing proudly on a pro-fiction platform.

Yes, in their party, as an aide to Senator Jon Kyl put it last year, whatever they say is “not intended to be a factual statement” but to illustrate a point.

For example, this week Mitt Romney brought a Michigan tea party audience to tears recalling the 50th anniversary of the American automobile event he attended as a child … even though it took place months before he was born.

Former Senator Rick Santorum asserts public schools are an “anachronism” of the industrialized era as the reason they should be privatized. He said at the CNN debate last week: “Not only do I believe the federal government should get out of the education business, I think the state government should start to get out of the education business and put it back to the local and into the community.” Just when millions of Americans have lost their homes comes a candidate in favor of home schooling.

Public schools are arguably what made us a country. The colonies had one of the highest literacy rates in the world at the time. In James D. Hart’s “The Popular Book: A History of America’s Literary Taste” published in 1950, he notes that in 1650 New England there were laws requiring “reading and writing schools.” Education was thought to thwart Satan at that time (note to Santorum there). Hart goes on to include a popular ditty of the era: “From public schools shall general knowledge flow, For ‘tis the people’s sacred right to know.”

Also, the principal writer of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson, was (gasp) publically educated.

Santorum, as a pro-fiction candidate, also dismisses colleges as “indoctrination mills.” One man’s indoctrination is another man’s accreditation to work in the sciences.

The four candidates still vying for the nomination are pro-fiction to the core: Somehow the President who okayed the assassination of Osama bin Laden, sent drone attacks into Libya and kept Gitmo open is an apologetic pansy – soft on our enemies. Obama has deported more illegal immigrants and spent more money protecting the border than any of his predecessors – but he’s ignoring the issue of illegal immigration. Romney keeps on promising if elected he’ll make the military so powerful no other country would dare attack us even though we have the biggest military in the world. Gingrich who says if given any power he’ll send U.S. Marshalls to compel radical judges to explain their rulings, deems “the pill” to be the epitome of radical government overreach. Taxes? Too high even though they’re historically low (especially during war time). Tax cuts? A pay-for-themselves panacea even though the Bush Tax Cuts didn’t pan out.

Challenge their narrative and brace for the ad hominem attacks. You only believe this because you’re at least one of the following: liberal, socialist, unemployed, commie sympathizer, elite, dupe, European, journalist, gun hater, Muslim, Obama-bot, or (my favorite from my inbox) silly little girl.

Because in fiction you must create an enemy or there’s no story.

The pro-fiction party will tell you their ideas will lower gas prices, cut the deficit, end poverty, cut the size of government and make everybody super free by allowing the states to decide which rights to take away.

No matter how completely impossible – no matter how divorced from evidence or precedence – the GOP will continue to make claims not to be factual – but just to illustrate a point. Possibly that you should vote for them.

The Soviet Union must be watching this race right now and just laughing their heads off.

DOWNLOADS: (185)

PLAYS: (692)

Embed

Photos by Craig Hudson. A big thanks to Karoli for making them into a video.

Charleston, South Carolina is filled with beautiful people. When strangers walk past each other on the sidewalk they say hello. Men hold doors for women. At a crowded Starbucks the two most common words were "please" and "excuse me."

But that Southern decorum is contrasted by Charleston’s dark side. This is where at Fort Sumter the Civil War started. Even today, it can resemble a segregated city.

This dichotomy makes it a fitting place for a Republican party to showcase candidates as they struggle to find one that is presentable to the general public on the outside, but not too sinister on the inside.

On Friday, every contender for the Republican presidential nomination made a speech near Charleston, South Carolina. They’re competing for the state that has picked the eventual Republican nominee since 1980.

On Friday morning, Newt Gingrich was holding a slim lead over Mitt Romney. He had fought hard in the debate on Thursday to overcome allegations he had asked his second wife for an open marriage. And Romney’s decision not to release his tax returns until April gave even Rick Santorum and Ron Paul the feeling they had an opportunity to win South Carolina.

At 10 am on Friday at a large, hangar at the Charleston airport, Ron Paul came out from behind a curtain to a young woman’s cheer of “You’re the greatest!” The small crowd made the space feel empty.

“Quite frankly I feel pretty good about last night,” said Paul, on his debate performance. During his speech he bashed entitlement programs, promised a trillion in cuts to the federal budget and proclaimed the current government is “murdering our civil liberties.”

As he was leaving I asked him why he wasn’t running as a Libertarian, as he did in 1988, he snarled, “I’m a Republican.”

I left the hangar and headed downtown for the Stephen Colbert and Herman Cain rally at the College of Charleston. Colbert is a native son of Charleston.

A crowd of over 1,000 people had turned out to the shady courtyard dotted with oaks covered in Spanish moss. Colbert had a marching band and a gospel choir introduce him.

“It’s good to be back home,” said Colbert, “I hope this doesn’t turn into an occupation, but if it does, you’ll all be pepper sprayed very politely. We are in Charleston.”

He welcomed “the most beautiful people in the world” and then Herman Cain, “the man we’ve all gathered here to introduce me.” Cain was in top form. He has become a character of the character he created. He quoted Pokemon, sang, and endorsed we the people for president.

Colbert said to vote for Cain, because “Cain is me.”

After the rally, Dominique Awis, a College of Charleston student, said she was helping to mobilize students to vote for Cain tomorrow. She said most of the people she knew were going to vote for Cain.

Colbert drew easily the largest crowd of the day. He brought Cain because Cain will be on the ballot, while Colbert missed the window to register as a candidate.

“He’s making a whole mockery of the system,” said Ryan “The Bull” Johnson, a Charleston resident. “No one cares about the actual process, but throw a celebrity in and people want to be a part of it.”

Continue reading »

Tonight is the Big Republican Debate on Fox News. Candidates appearing are Ron Paul, Tim Pawlenty, Rick Santorum, Mitt Romney, Herman Cain, Jon Huntsman and Newt Gingrich. And of course, ever present in this debate will be the corporate "persons."

Fox will be livestreaming it here, or you can follow my live-tweets on Twitter.
Discuss. :)

I may chime in on Twitter @JohnAmato

DOWNLOADS: (828)

PLAYS: (1921)

Embed

Rick Santorum is very concerned that President Obama is not handling the "Muslim threat" well enough and is considering a run in 2012. He was asked if Palin was qualified to be president some day and he told the press that Sarah Palin has some 'splainin' to do.

Asked if he thinks former Gov. Sarah Palin, R-Alaska, is qualified to be president, Santorum demurred:

"No, I'll let the people decide that," he said. "I think, you know, she's done a lot to draw attention to herself that's positive. She's done some things that, you know, certainly are going to cause her to have to do some explaining if she runs for president. But right now I think she's on a roll, she's having a good time, she's having an impact, which look -- if you're sitting here out of office, the thing you want to do is have an impact on the direction of the country right now, if you're not governing things. And she's having an impact."

Palin is so entertaining for Man-Dog Rick. What a joker that Sarah is. He says that he'll be of great help in the 2010 midterms and he wants to weigh in on the important matters. You see, conservatives like Santorum destroyed the country for eight years and want another crack at finishing us off.

Man-Dog speaks:

Though Santorum has publicly sidestepped questions about his intentions, his friend and political adviser, Deal Hudson, told me that Santorum has informed his closest associates that he is very likely to declare his candidacy.

“[Santorum] said he was not considering running a few months ago,” Hudson said, “but he has grown so concerned about the direction [President Barack] Obama is taking the country that he told me he wants to get involved.” Santorum “believes that Obama is weak on the Muslim threat and he is convinced that it’s going to turn around and bite him badly,” said Hudson.

Hudson, who has advised President George W. Bush and Republican presidential nominee Senator John McCain on Catholic issues, and who maintains close ties to leaders of the evangelical right, told me Santorum has become preoccupied with issues of national security. “He believes that Obama is weak on the Muslim threat and he is convinced that it’s going to turn around and bite him badly,” Hudson said.

No doubt Santorum will bring to a 2012 national race the same kind of success he had as a Senator from Pennsylvania in 2006.

Republicans are already deluded enough as it is. Santorum's on another level, where someone who was recently turned out by voters and currently holds no office can convince themselves they'll be attractive to voters on a national scale.

DOWNLOADS: (3618)

PLAYS: (7374)

Embed

Both in his Talking Points Memo segment and later on in "Policing the Net," Bill O'Reilly is shocked, shocked that those dirty-minded liberals at that competing network actually had a little fun with the "Tea Bag" protests.

In the later segment, O'Reilly brings on Amanda Carpenter, who can't bring herself to openly reference "teabagging," and the Gallant Sir O'Reilly won't let her go there. Of course these scumsucking perverts earn nothing but contempt from him for their dirty-mindedness and low sexual mores.

So sayeth the author of Those Who Trespass:

"Say baby, put down that pipe and get my pipe up."

"I would like you to unhook your bra and let it slide down your arms. You can keep your shirt on."

"Cup your hands under your breasts and hold them for ten seconds."

Funny thing: I always thought it was liberals who lacked a sense of humor.

We can only hope they don't decide to hold any Bareback Parties, or Fudgepacking Parties. Or even worse, Santorum Parties. It will drive us all insane with suppressed laughter.

Meanwhile, I'm sure Amanda and Bill will be appalled, but I had to share this shot from a lonely liberal who showed up too early yesterday (like me) at Seattle's Tea Bag party site:

Jack & Jill Politics: An important message from Rick Santorum

Words of Power: We live in a nation that has lost touch with reality.

Obsidian Wings: It just should not be possible for our government to kidnap someone, ship him off to Syria knowing that he will be tortured, and then have no one be in any way accountable.

Petrelis Files: That reporters must give up some basic rights if they're denied, or even receive, credentials makes me queasy about how the national debates for presidential candidates will be conducted.

The Washington Independent: Look who's back...

Threat Level: Experts accuse the Bush administration of foot-dragging on DNS security hole

Josh Marshall highlighted the good news: the Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week from last October -- featuring "heavily subsidized and poorly attended events on campuses around the country" -- has spawned a sequel.

Of course, it's tempting to ignore David Horowitz's Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week because it's just too silly to bother. On the other hand, it's also tempting to marvel at the occasion and offer a reminder of just how far gone today's conservative movement really is. It's probably more fun to go with the latter.

Here's Horowitz's pitch:

The purpose of this week and the campaign leading up to it will be: 1) To highlight the genocidal agendas of the Islamo-fascist crusade; and 2) To make the public aware of the "soft jihad" -- the domestic networks that fund and provide political support for the agendas of the jihad, including its armies of terror.

Ron Chusid's take from October is still spot on: "It's just getting harder to keep track of all those holidays. I mean, is Sweetest Day, which just occurred, a real holiday, or just an excuse to sell more candies and cards? Now I learn that this is Islamo-Fascism Awarness Week. Is this a real holiday, or just an excuse to sell more right wing paranoia?"

All evidence points to the latter, though I don't think Horowitz & Co. are "selling" claptrap so much as they're peddling it for free, hoping no one notices how nonsensical their materials really are.

At a minimum, we should get some good quotes out of the events. Last fall, in one of my personal favorites, Rick Santorum told a Penn State audience, "Islam, unlike Christianity, is an all-encompassing ideology. It is not just something you do on Sunday."

If anyone sees similarly illuminating remarks at this week's events, be sure to let me know.

Will Bunch:

Well, I knew from the start that this would be problematic -- that in starting a Rick Santorum rebuttal column I would have to begin on the most snark-free week of the year, Thanksgiving...read on

This should give you an indication of the type of column Santorum wrote:

I am not surprised at the response from the Republicans. Let's be honest: How much credit do Republicans get for helping the poor? Let me tell you from firsthand knowledge - none, in terms of votes.

Start the laugh track please....You can email the "man on dog" here: rsantorum@phillynews.com

Hey all! Actor212 here, and it's my last day of guest-blogging Mike's Round Up. I want to thank John, Nicole, Blue Gal and the rest of the crew here for making me welcome and helping me get this thing right for you, and of course, you for reading my pieces. I've had a blast. You guys have made it feel like the old days...
And a special thank you to Mike for tossing me the keys. Thanks, Mike!

Let's get right to this, then...

- Quick administrative note: The Pepper Farm tells us that Rick Santorum is scheduled to pay a visit to the University of Virginia on Monday, so if you're in the area, stop by and give him our regards. Bring a dog. Redjalapeno hopes the work load will lift enough that a report can be posted of this event. Sounds like fun!

- Bush is Hitler? No! Try Vlad The Impaler.

- James Wolcott on the right wing views of torture. Believe it or not, someone thinks we DON'T torture enough! Wolcott's always a hoot...which I suppose is in its own right "torture" to right wingers.

- Ho-hum...another terror alert...and just in time for Christmas! To periphrase Thers, maybe we could start a rumour that Al Qaeda will give a pass to any store that says Happy Holidays. I wonder if that would get the Keyboard Kommandos off their butts and standing a post?

- Nevermind Republicans, aren't Americans supposed to be moral? Badtux compares Iraq to My Lai, and wonders where the outrage went.

- Over at Bill's Big Rant, Bill asks, "Will the Presidential power grab end in 2009?"

- Now here's a room with a view that would make me pause: Lydia Cornell talks to Elizabeth Kucinich.

It is my great honor and great pleasure to introduce next week's guest blogger here. A woman who's blog is a go-to for any progressive, a woman of great renown, not only in Blogtopia (thanks, Skippy!), but in the real world.

Ladies and gentleman, please welcome Shakespeare's Sister!

Please mail all Round Up tips to shakespeares_sister at comcast spot net

OK, as Percy Dovetonsils would say "That's thirty, as they say in the biz, and that means it's time for me to leave...

...oh, Bruce, you know I like my martinis chilled!"

I noticed that Oliver Willis wrote last night, "National Review's Kathryn Jean Lopez has a Rick Santorum moment and says the reason a bestiality case happened in Massachusetts is because of gay marriage."

I thought he was kidding. He wasn't. Under a headline that read "Slippery Slope?" Lopez, wrote:

Just a coincidence that this happened in Massachusetts?

Sherborn teen charged with bestiality

(And no I'm not equating men and dogs.)

No, she was equating gay marriage with bestiality. Lopez has since apologized, but what kind of worldview leads someone to draw such a conclusion in the first place?