SoonerBlue

Yes, yes, I know -- the Democrats will probably lose gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia tomorrow, and 'they' think the results will serve as clues to how everyone will vote in 2010 and 2012. This Democrat is not thrilled, but not all that worried...a lot can happen in even six months...not to mention two years. 

The special congressional election in New York is the one that really fascinates most political junkies. Frank Rich of the NYTimes says:

"BARACK OBAMA’S most devilish political move since the 2008 campaign was to appoint a Republican congressman from upstate New York as secretary of the Army. This week’s election to fill that vacant seat has set off nothing less than a riotous and bloody national G.O.P. civil war. No matter what the results in that race on Tuesday, the Republicans are the sure losers. This could be a gift that keeps on giving to the Democrats through 2010, and perhaps beyond.[...]"

The teabaggers already ran off the moderate Republican, Dede Scozzafava. She withdrew from "NY 23" this weekend (and then endorsed the Democrat) The teabaggers also raised enough money and noise to push their Conservative Party nominee Doug Hoffman to the brink of victory in a district he doesn’t even live in.

If the teabagger candidate wins in NY tomorrow, look for radical righties to be emboldened to go hunting for 'moderate' GOP scalps in other districts. Their angry, energized base will take on more party establishment-approved candidates who don't toe their ideological line.

This surely won't go over well with the majority of Republicans...or with the rest of the country either. Thank goodness the teabaggers and birthers are a small minority of our 300 million citizens.

And, you know something is seriously wrong within the GOP when the wingnuts turn on Newt Gingrich - long thought to have great conservative ideas. Seems the teabaggers think Newt is too moderate...they don't like how he's trying to pull the Republican Party from the radical right to the more mainstream center.

A week ago Newt appeared on several Sunday talk shows flirting with the idea of running for president in 2012. Radical rightie pundits quickly shot ol' Newt down.

Yeah, the guy who led the GOP to a 1994 revival is now being dissed as a RINO -- Republican In Name Only -- just like they did the very conservative, Sen. Lindsey Graham.

The teabaggers were also pissed because Newt endorsed moderate Dede Scozzafava, and urged Republicans not to support the more conservative third-party candidate Doug Hoffman. And they probably still remember when Newt eased out Sarah Palin as speaker at a big GOP do...he didn't want her there out-shining everybody.

Like I said, we Democrats are not all that worried. The Republican Party has lost several recent elections, and has seen its 'brand' sink to 17 percent of Americans who identify themselves as Republicans, so it doesn't bode well for the GOP if they continue to divide the party and toss centrists out of the tent. The party needs to run moderate contenders if it wants to survive and maybe win a  national election or two.

Looks like they'll have to let this little Surge of the Teabaggers play out...and learn the hard way. There's just not enough of them.

Or. maybe we'll split into a 3 party system -- Democrats, the crazed wingnut teabaggers Conservative Party, and moderate to semi-crazed Republicans. Blue Dog Democrats should switch to the moderate/semi-crazed Republican party...it's where they belong, and I hope they don't forget to take Lieberman and Specter.

Anyway...more popcorn and on with the show!

Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) recently took to the Senate floor and compared President Obama's pushback against Fox News to Richard Nixon's paranoid "enemies list."

How crazy is that? While Lamar's speech has given Fox pundits hours of happy speculation and entertainment... that doesn't make it any less silly.

Obama’s team only made a few very mild attacks...all justified. Remember that Fox fired the first shot. Nixon took revenge on his enemies by directing federal prosecutors to investigate journalists, spy on them, dig through their tax returns and break into their psychiatrists' offices to steal medical records, etc.

While Nixon used the power of his office to try and destroy his adversaries, all Obama has done is point out a little bias...then said the WH would start treating Fox News more like an opponent and less like a news channel.

Look, Republicans have been complaining about "liberal media bias" since Nixon's time...even when there was little evidence of it.

Now it's Obama's turn...his administration is simply pointing out the obvious fact that Fox News is conservatively biased. That's hardly a "war"...even though one of the benefits of this strategy is putting the shrinking, weakened and more radical Republican party in the same corner with the guys who are slandering him.

The same Republican party who started out calling him the anti-Christ...then he was a secret Muslim supporter of Osama bin Laden...then they called him Hitler and Stalin in the same breath, then they said he wasn't an American...and Fox gave them all the air time they needed.

They must be running low on insults...they've gone from Hitler to Stalin to Nixon...

Murdoch's Fox News isn't broadcast journalism anymore than the National Inquirer is print journalism. Any thinking reasonable person can see that Fox has, at the very very least, a strong leaning toward Republicans.

A news channel helping to organize and promote political protests, where teabaggers and birthers yell about socialism and say the President is Hitler? Puh-lease! Murrow and Cronkite are spinning in their graves.

One thing for sure, Obama makes it very uncomfortable for true journalists -- because they either have to acknowledge Fox News' blatant bias, or deny it and sacrifice their own credibility. It's been interesting watching them.

I learned a new term: 'Astroturf'...artificial grassroots movement.

Everyone knows that the Townhall Taliban and their thuggery intimidation tactics are being sponsored and funded by the insurance industry and GOP astroturfers. I saw one of their busses on the news, and everybody was boarding - birthers, right-to-lifers, tea-baggers, bible thumpers - anybody who is mad enough to shout people down.

A reporter from Fox, no less, attended a townhall meeting and found that ‘Some Attendees Admit They Don’t Live In The District.'

Their tactics: Rep. Frank Kratovil [D-MD] was hung in effigy.

Sen. Chris Dodd [D-CT] was told to go kill himself.

Rep. Brad Miller [D-NC] received a death threat from a caller who said Miller "could lose his life over this."

Rep. Tim Bishop [D-NY] had to be escorted through an angry mob to his car by police.

Rep. Gerry Connolly [D-VA] revealed that "at least one freshman Democrat" has already been "physically assaulted at a local event."

"When you look at the fervor of some of these people who are all being whipped up by the right-wing talking heads on Fox, to me, you’re crossing a line,’ Connolly said. ‘They’re inciting people to riot with just total distortions of facts. They think we’re going to euthanize Grandma and the government is going to take over."

And now we have this yesterday: A Town Hall turned violent:

"What was intended to be a town hall discussion on President Barack Obama’s health care reform proposal dissolved into a shouting match with shoving and scuffles in Ybor City on Thursday night.

The event brought home to Tampa the recent phenomenon of angry opponents of Obama’s proposal disrupting town hall meetings by Democratic members of Congress during August’s recess.

This meeting was organized by Democratic state Rep. Betty Reed but was to include comments on the proposal by U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor of Tampa, a strong supporter.

Castor tried to speak for nearly 15 minutes, but the crowd drowned her out, chanting, "You work for us." "Tyranny. Tyranny." And, "Read the bill." She ultimately left the meeting early, further angering some attendees."

Here's the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yX4F_cb9AXk

Translation: "The only way we can win is with violence."

This is being spurred on by angry people who want to prevent a normal debate, rather than a spirited discussion where all sides get to speak and ask questions.

Notice that the majority of them are frothing white folks, protesters showing anger and frustration toward President Obama...period.

That's the real message here. Their anger is not really with healthcare reform...it's with their inability to admit that they just don't like that Negro as president.

Just think about it. When you watch those videos of them screaming and crying at meetings about "how they want their country back"...they aren't talking about health care costs or single payer options.

New York Times’ columinist Paul Krugman agrees with me:

'[..] But they’re [the protesters] probably reacting less to what Mr. Obama is doing, or even to what they’ve heard about what he’s doing, than to who he is.

That is, the driving force behind the town hall mobs is probably the same cultural and racial anxiety that’s behind the "birther" movement, which denies Mr. Obama’s citizenship. Senator Dick Durbin has suggested that the birthers and the health care protesters are one and the same....[..]"

Mark my word, the violence at these townhall meetings across the country will backfire against the Republican party. I hope no one gets seriously hurt. To me, it does show the blatant hypocrisy of the right-wing.

It's time for more Democrats to start attending these townhalls to counteract the brownshirt screamers...if they don't want them to spread their lies about healthcare reform and completely dominate the events.

But first, tell your representatives and the media about it...to show that the majority of people in this country want real reform and want it yesterday. Don't let the ranters and chanters change the subject...don't let them shut down democracy.

We could whip them easy in a properly managed townhall meeting - with monitors to make sure everyone gets to tell their story and ask questions, with security cops to keep order and eject screamers - because they're so confused they shout out things like - "Keep the government out of my Medicare!"