Redstate, This is Exactly Why You Keep Losing

This is redstate.com's quote of the day on Tuesday:

“Most of the legislature is elected by a collection of enviro-twits, trust-funders, crybabies, welfare garbage and nudists.”

That's a front page post by Skanderbeg.

The fact is, the people they are talking about are what we call voters. They are mostly average people. The conservatives absurd love for "America" is only trumped by their yet more absurd hatred for the American people. This disdain has become increasingly blatant. Whether it be condescension directed towards common working men, especially union workers, or the hateful comments about anyone living near a major city, conservatives have demonstrated their belief that only rich, white, men are capable of intelligence and sound work ethics.

I say, keep it up. On a day when your blog was littered with stories about driving a Senator into the Democratic party's arms, you displayed exactly the reason for us to find easily.

Republicans Now Support Torture Prosecutions

Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-Wis.):

What's at stake here is the rule of law. Even the president of the United States has no right to break the law. If the House votes down this inquiry... the result will be a return to the imperial presidency of the Nixon era, where the White House felt that the laws did not apply to them, since they never would be punished. That would be a national tragedy of immense consequences.

Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.):

The president is a citizen with the same duty to follow the laws as all other citizens. The world marvels that our president is not above the law, and my vote today helps assure that this rule continues. With a commitment to the principles of the rule of law which makes this country the beacon of hope for political refugees like myself throughout the world, I cast my vote in favor of the resolution to undertake an... inquiry of the conduct of the president of the United States.

Rep. Bob Inglis (R-S.C.):

Of course, we do want to move along to important issues facing the country. We do want to restore freedom in health care. We do want to secure the future of Medicare and Social Security, and we do want to continue the progress toward balancing the budget. All of those things we want to do.

But I would ask my colleagues to consider this: Really, this is the crucial business of the country. This is the crucial business. As we go into the next century, the question is does the truth even matter?

Now, some would say just move along. It doesn't matter. Just move along. But if you move along, what you're leaving aside is serious allegations of serious crimes.

Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Tex.):

I believe that this nation sits at a crossroads. One direction points to the higher road of the rule of law. Sometimes hard, sometimes unpleasant, this path relies on truth, justice and the rigorous application of the principle that no man is above the law.

Now, the other road is the path of least resistance. This is where we start making exceptions to our laws based on poll numbers and spin control. This is when we pitch the law completely overboard when the mood fits us, when we ignore the facts in order to cover up the truth.

Shall we follow the rule of law and do our constitutional duty no matter unpleasant, or shall we follow the path of least resistance, close our eyes to the potential lawbreaking, forgive and forget, move on and tear an unfixable hole in our legal system? No man is above the law, and no man is below the law. That's the principle that we all hold very dear in this country.

The president has many responsibilities and many privileges. His chief responsibility is to uphold the laws of this land. He does not have the privilege to break the law.

Rep. Vito Fossella (R-N.Y.):

Earlier today, one of my colleagues said that this would be the most divisive issue since the Vietnam War. While he may believe that to be true, I take strong exception with that, and I'll tell you why. Men and women were sent overseas like every other war or military conflict since our nation's birth, to defend the rule of law, the notions of personal freedom and individual liberty.

And in the case before us today, we're asking a simple question: "Did the president of the United States violate any of those rules of law that we cherish and that so many men and women have died for and are willing to die for at every point around the globe?"

I don't want to be here today, like so many of my colleagues. But the generations of Americans yet unborn must look back on this day in this matter, in this situation, and see this as our finest hour.

Bush's First 100 Days: "A Surplus Unending", Another Stupid (Yet Moral) War, Hypocrisy, Hypocrisy, Hypocrisy

Let us take a glance to the past and examine President George W. Bush's first 100 days in office:

Item #1: PBS

MARK SHIELDS: The president's mantra is: we have a surplus unending. If we can afford a $1.6 trillion tax cut, then my goodness we can afford $50 billion more for AIDS research; we can afford a billion more for children's literacy. That's the fight he is going to fight. It isn't just - he's going to find out it isn't just Democrats versus Republicans; it's Republicans and Democrats and all bets are off because there is a surplus and there is no deficit.

And then there's this:

PAUL GIGOT: The surplus has been a disaster for believers in small government, there's no question about that. It makes it very hard to make-- you have to make the case against spending on a philosophical basis and there are not a lot of politicians who are really prepared to do that. They say, well, we can't spend because of the deficit; that was the great --

That really puts into perspective the recent chest-thumping cries about spending coming from our Republican friends. Apparently, it is only politically worth it to decry spending after you have managed to destroy a surplus.

Funny quote about Vietnam:

PAUL GIGOT: The right -- on the other hand -- said, "It wasn't executed well but it was a morally right effort on our behalf."

Funny how they end up saying that every time we say, "This is a stupid war, I'm against it." (I realized I should explain why this quote is in here. It came up in the discussion about Sen Kerrey)

On Bush's bipartisan cred, we present Item #2: CNN

"You could call him 'Wedge' for the way he has been driving Democrats and Republicans apart on an issue as important as the budget," Tom Daschle

And here's a quote from Bush that really makes you think about the latter part in relation to Republican's killing pandemic flue funding:

"Politics in Washington has been divided between those who wanted Big Government without regard to cost and those who wanted Small Government without regard to need."

And on to Karl Rove, with Item #3: CNN. First, his guess, after Bush's first 100 days, on how the world will judge President Bush:

ROVE: Over the long haul they are going to see this administration as one is that committed to using new technology and new innovative approaches to clean the air, clean the water and clean the land.

Remember that "clean the air, clean the water and clean the land" means to take absolutely no steps, whatsoever, to actually do that. Let the market take care of it!

On President Cheney, oops, VP Cheney's back room energy deals in comparison to the Clinton's health care efforts:

ROVE: Well, there's no comparison, Wolf. Mrs. Clinton's task force involved hundreds of experts who met for months and months and months and months and months to produce a series of proposals for President Clinton. This is a small group of Cabinet-level officials, who are meeting to discuss a recommendation that they're going to propose to the president for a comprehensive energy policy.

Shock!!!! How dare the Clintons involve "experts who met for months..." Good thing Bush's energy policies were made by a small cabal of politicians and oil executives and not "experts." Only Rove can use the term "experts" as an insult without his head exploding.

Then there's this, on President Bush's travels across the country:

ROVE: The American people like to see their president out among the people explaining their agenda, visiting with them, hearing what's going on around the country, and it's a useful exercise.

Contrast that with his remarks on President Obama's travels:

ROVE: He's been around the country, getting on the television, doing events to draw attention to himself -- there is a danger of being overexposed, particularly if it sounds like he is saying the same thing.

Ooooooo, Item #4: FOX: this is a pretty hilarious quote from Matt Lewis:

First of all, think of the hypocrisy here. If George W. Bush had, in the middle of a crisis like this, gone on Jay Leno, or Letterman, or any show, liberals, and probably everybody would have been outraged.

Yes, President Bush's mid-crisis management was impeccable:


That's Bush and McCain during the Katrina disaster.


And that's Bush being told, literally, "America is under attack." You will recall he then spent the next several minutes attempting to appear calm, rather then leaving immediately to handle the crisis.

Oh, and the next time someone chastises President Obama for not having more bipartisan success, ask them about President Bush's first budget, which only one Democrat would support.