The day after the election, conservatives issued marching orders to the Republican leadership which boil down to this: Repeal Obamacare, seal up the borders tight, and whatever you do, don't let the Kenyan usurper get anything done for the next two years.
They held this press conference at the National Press Club, but you didn't hear about it on the nightly news or anywhere else. If the public heard JennyBeth Martin get up there and say those things, they might regret not voting or casting a ballot for a Republican. We can't have that.
Instead, we heard about Mitch McConnell and Reince Preibus' claim that if Obama signed an executive order on immigration, it would 'poison the well.' Honey, the well is completely, totally dry. There's nothing there to drop arsenic in, but that didn't stop the press from going with the whole "ZOMG, if he signs that order he'll never get a tea partier on board with immigration reform!"
As if.
Any Republican who doesn't fall into lockstep with them will immediately be exiled to the land of primaries, where tea partiers are waiting in every church and street corner to take away their power. We know this, but your average voter who tapped the (R) candidate on their ballot Tuesday didn't have a clue.
However...
This little display of power and hubris right here? This is why we don't quit. This is why we won't quit. These authoritarian power junkies represent a very, very small minority of people in this country who wield an outsize amount of power. They're liars, they're cheats, and most of all, they're all handmaidens to their billionaires.
Attending Princess JennyBeth at this particular press conference: Richard Viguerie, Ken Blackwell, David Bossie, Brent Bozell, Marjorie Dannenfelser, and Tony Perkins. All the Koch billionaire factions, well represented.
Don't be fooled by Martin's big diss of the U.S. Chamber, either. ConservativeHQ.com's Vice Chair used to be the US Chamber's senior political affairs manager. There's no daylight between these people and the US Chamber, or the NRA, or the Family Research Council, or any of the so-called "tea party" groups. That comment was just smoke and mirrors to disguise the US Chamber's involvement for corporations that might be put off by the extreme positions they plan to take.
This is your Republican party, ladies and gentlemen. They are not just a faction. They are the movers and shakers. Ginni Thomas must have been standing in the back, giggling.
Most importantly, this is the reason that President Obama shouldn't hold back on his executive orders. It's time to make them show their ass for what it is, and to let the country know what extremists they just allowed to take over the reins of the Senate.
