SoonerBlue

It should've been a piece of cake for Tea Party candidate Doug Hoffman to win NY-23...but he lost in a district that has voted GOP for 138 years. What happened?

Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh were pushing hard for Hoffman...who also had Sarah Palin's mavericky support. How did the Tea Partiers turn an otherwise easy victory into defeat? What happened?

You say that the loss of two Dem governorships is a 'stinging rebuke' to the White House.

But you say nothing about how your hero Hoffman's loss is NOT a 'stinging rebuke' to extremist wingnut politics?

So much for the anti-Democratic Congress/White House Teabagger movement -- because Democrats GAINED seats in the House. Seats that can vote.

So, was Tuesday's election a wake-up call for Dems...or reality check for Repubs?

Righties are saying that President Obama has lost his mojo because NJ and VA elected GOP governors.

Let me get this straight -- two state elections losses by Democrats are a 'stinging rebuke' to the Democrats in the federal government...while two Democratic victories in federal elections don’t mean a thing?

The GOP lost both Congressional races the other night, including one in a district they'd held since the days of the Civil War. A 'stinging rebuke' to Obama, no doubt...

Lefties are saying that the state election results don't have as much national significance as the Congressional results, because state elections focus mostly on local issues and state issues.

Let's talk about the significance of state races. How about in November '01, when GWBush's approval ratings were in the 80s, and Democrats went on to win gubernatorial races in NJ and VA? That was certainly no portent of things to come -- the 2002 mid-terms didn't go very well for Dems.

Governorships have NEVER been a reliable barometer of national politics.

Incumbents also usually get kicked out in the mid-terms....and an especially bad time to be an incumbent is during an economic catastrophe.

A lot of people are saying that there's not much of a lesson to be learned from a bunch of low turn-out races in an odd year...except for, um, it's the economy stupid.

New Rule: Netflix must stop renting to Orangutans. Or whatever you're doing with the DVD before you get it to me. Look, I love a good mystery involving a grisly, violent, spattered crime scene, but that should be in the movie, not on the envelope, okay.

New Rule: If you Nobel people want to keep your prize legit, don't have Toby Keith perform at your awards concert.

It's true. The entertainment for this year's Nobel Prize gala includes, yes, "Cletis McF*cknuts." And his "gee-tar." That's like saying, "Welcome, smart people. And now for an opposing view."

New Rule: God needs to inspire better artists. You know, the Lord used to inspire people like Michelangelo and Rembrandt. Now, he inspires cheeseballs like Jon McNaughton, whose latest masterpiece depicts Jesus handing America the Constitution as a bunch of dead patriots look on. It's like "Where's Waldo?" for wingnuts.

New Rule: Stop bringing me the phone book! The last time anyone ever needed a phone book was 1988! And that was a cop using it to beat a suspect! If you're dropping a bag off on my porch, it had better be full of weed.

And finally, New Rule: Everyone deserves equal rights. That's why they're called "equal" and "rights." President Obama will speak before a gay rights group, and on Sunday, there will be a massive gay rally in Washington. Or, as I call it, the "Million Mo March." Which makes this weekend the perfect time for the president to announce he's repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," a policy that never made sense to begin with. A policy that basically said, "Here in the Army, we're all about honor and trusting the man next to you. Now, lie to my face about your sexuality, Johnson, or I'll report you behind your back."

But, forget all the good arguments for appeal, like, because it's the right thing to do, or because it was promised in the campaign, or because it gets lonely on a submarine. Do it because it will make Rush Limbaugh explode like a bag full of meat dropped from a helicopter.

Do it because it'll make Sarah Palin "go rogue" in her pants.

Because, here's the thing about today's conservatives. They're not bright. They can't keep a lot of ideas in their head at once. And, by "a lot," I mean two. If we can get them all worked up about fighting the gay menace, it will siphon away all that crazy town hall energy from the healthcare debate.

You see, the "teabaggers" don't know what the word "socialism" means, but they do know what the word "gay" means because their hairdresser explained it to them once, and they don't like it. They will be drawn to this like a moth to a flamer.

These people are homophobic. They have an image of one gay couple moving into the neighborhood, and the next day, waking up to guys rollerblading down Main Street in nothing but a Speedo and a nun's habit. With a sparkler in one hand and a penis popsicle in the other. Yes, that was a nice day.

No, what I mean to say is that the Democrats should take advantage that the rage of the "teabaggers" can be so easily redirected. Sometimes I wonder if Rush doesn't just spin a giant "wheel of hate" every morning to come up with whatever he's going to get the faithful all worked up about: "Mexicans! Rrrr!" "Socialism! Rrrr!" "Van Jones? I don't know who he is, but Rrrr!"

And "gay" is the best "Rrrr!" of all. Healthcare and the environment, they're complicated. But, it's not hard to keep track of the places that God allows you to put your pee-pee. I mean, you can count those places on one hand. And that hand isn't something you should be using either.

So, Obama should fight fire with Fire Island. Not only should he revoke "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," he should also change our military slogan to "An Army of Buns."

And, starting next year, a new policy: Gay Bussing. Yes, if there aren't any gay families in your community, we'll bring them to you.

[From HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher]

Boy, you know the wingnut base of the GOP is becoming more radical when they boo and hiss Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and call him a RINO -- Republican In Name Only.

I mean, he's one of the most conservative senators around. If he ever strays from the hard right position on a vote it's because it doesn't matter. Like Sotomayor was going to be confirmed anyway, so his vote didn't matter. But next time it does matter he can vote the hard right position, then point to Sotomayor as proof that he's willing to be open-minded.

So if Graham strays from conservative dogma, it's pure strategy...he is no "front man for the Democrats."

That's why it was odd when Graham encountered an angry crowd of wingnut teabaggers at a townhall meeting a couple of days ago. They kept interrupting him with cries of - 'You're a country club Republican'...'Sotomayor!'...'You lie.' Outside people carried signs -- 'Unconstitutional Anti-Christ Socialist Federal Deficit Spending Programs"... "Democrat in Drag" and "RINO."

Looks like Graham has suddenly become the new target of tea party activists. In fact, "Beckerheads" started to turn on him about a week after he publicly spoke against TV crazy Glenn Beck.

I have news for you Lindsey, it wasn't Ron Paul who hijacked your party...it was Limbaugh, Hannity, Beck, Coulter, Malkin, Bachman, Kristol, Dick and Liz Cheney, Karl Rove, etc., etc., etc....

Read about the townhall ruckus here: (CNN) – South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham has always enjoyed a little back-and-forth with belligerent audiences.

The Republicans have a big problem if their crazies endorse only hard right candidates...some might make it through the primaries, but if their candidate gets to the national election they will lose. This great country is so much larger than a small pocket of only white angry people.

Thank goodness the wingnuts are on the wrong side of both demographics and history. The Angry White Guy Party can make some noise, the mainstream media will report its every move...but in the end they will wither and die.

If you look at every single poll that asks people their beliefs and policy positions, a huge majority of people express views that are the exact opposite of what the teabaggers believe. It's just a fact.

Republicans have their rightie whities in a wad because they think the Obama administration wants to reinstate the Fairness Doctrine.

There is no evidence that Obama wants to do any such thing.

Personally - I don't think we need the Fairness Doctrine. Maybe we did back in the day of only three TV stations, one radio station and no Internet...but not now. There's plenty of media to go around, whether you're liberal, conservative, moderate, communist, socialist, libertarian, bircher, birther or whatever...no reason for the government to monitor our air time with stopwatches, etc.

See, Ronald Reagan repealed the Fairness Doctrine (which had required broadcasters to give equal air time to both sides of an issue)...which led to the flourishing of conservative talk radio, which the Republicans have dominated for the past 25 years.

President Obama nominated Julius Genachowski to chair the FCC. At his confirmation hearings, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R-Tex) came right out and asked his opinion about the Fairness Doctrine. Here is the video of him saying he opposes its renewal:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4sJ0xxqis8

But that doesn't make the righties happy. Nooo, they're all over the blogosphere saying he's lying, like all liberals, or has found some other way to destroy free speech (Limbaugh's hate radio).

On second thought, maybe we did come up with another way...called "give 'em enough rope"...

I guess I can understand why they are so afraid of something like the Fairness Doctrine. It would destroy their carefully crafted alternate reality. And I have to snicker every time angry white guys (Limbaugh's demographic) wail about being victims under the oppression of Obama's administration. It just goes to show how privileged they've always felt in our society.

Another good snicker - right now Republicans are moaning because ABC invited President Obama to be on TV and are not allowing Republicans equal time.

Huh? Wouldn't that be whining that ABC is not adhering to the Fairness Doctrine?