Mavericks, Or Just Idiots?
We took Lindsey Grahamnesty, the wildly gesticulating evil Keebler elf from South Carolina, back behind the barn again for another stiff thrashing the other day over his latest offering of the verbal immigration trots on the Sunday shows.
My finisher for the 1-2-3 was this passage:
Just in case you thought I was just venting (about the early retirement crack), guess again (via Allahpundit):
It rains....stuff gets wet. You chug a six pack, you have to pee. You push an illegal immigration amnesty that is detested by better than three out of every four of your constituents in the most obnoxious, insufferable, arrogant manner humanly conceivable, your approval ratings - and re-election chances in 2008 - spiral down the crapper.
It couldn't happen to a bigger asshole.
At least, not until the 2010 election cycle, when our old friend Trent "Boss Hogg" Lott floats to the top of the septic tank for re-flushing. Here's his latest sound bite offering:
{stunned silence}
{*sigh*} Y'know, I remember all too well Senator Lott's Strom Thurmond birthday party "scandal" when he tried to make a dying old man feel good by complimenting Lindsey Grahamnesty's predecessor's 1948 segregationist Dixiecrat presidential run, and was boneheaded enough to do so near an open microphone. There was quite a divide in center-right ranks over whether to stand by Lott or throw him overboard from his newly-regained Majority Leader's post. That divide bisected the Republican Forum as well, where my colleague and friend Tom Boyce and I went toe-to-toe, with Tom defending Lott and me wielding the long knife.
In our case, though, the issue wasn't the birthday party comments. They weren't any big deal, and certainly didn't reveal Lott as a closet Klansman, as the Dems (who have their own uncloseted Klansman sitting proudly in their Senate caucus) ludicrously claimed. They were, however, an opportunity that came along at the right time to remove from the Senate GOP leadership a weak, vain, conceited, maladroit boob that had led his caucus straight into minority status once and was certain to do it again. A removal that was a long time in coming and couldn't happen soon enough. If the catalyst had to be a phony, trumped up "controversy" - not unlike impeachment for Bill Clinton's many high crimes and misdemeanors on everything from the coverups of Whitewater, Filegate, Travelgate, to the ChiComm funny money scandal being triggered by one sloppy and slimeily ridiculous adulterous romp out of hundreds - so be it, as long as the big picture goal was attained.
You can imagine my dismay, then, when the Trentster bobbed to the GOP leadership surface after the 2006 election debacle like the aforementioned turd that won't flush, or a really bad omen like sudden intestinal cramps when you're half a mile past the last exit and the next rest stop is two states away. Or Jim Geraghty's, minus the scatalogical subtext:
Okay, so J-Ger did say "caca." Sort of. The point is, Lott's reascension sent every bad message possible about why the Republicans lost the Senate and that they had learned none of those lessons. It was itself a thumb in the eye and a knee to the groin of a GOP base that was already angry and disgruntled. And, in that sense, it was a gift guaranteed to keep on giving.
And now the, um, #2 Republican in the United States Senate has publicly equated illegal aliens to "goats". But it's opponents of another illegal immigration amnesty who are the "bigots". Really, just ask Darth Queeg's probable 2008 "independent" cabana boy. He's probably changed his Depends by now.
My finisher for the 1-2-3 was this passage:
GRAHAMNESTY: If we're afraid for the next election and we govern this country on the basis of the next election, we're going to fall apart as a people.
ME: Well, obviously you don't give a [poop] about the next election, Senator. Hope you enjoy your early retirement. 'Tis a pity we can't deport you as well for poetically just good measure.
Just in case you thought I was just venting (about the early retirement crack), guess again (via Allahpundit):
Senator Lindsey Graham’s (R-SC) approval rating is taking a pounding in his home state as a result of his strong support for a bipartisan immigration reform bill, a new poll showed Friday.
Graham’s approval rating has sunk to 31% and he has a 40% disapproval rating, according to a poll released Friday by Atlanta-based InsiderAdvantage. The new poll points to Graham’s support for the Senate immigration bill, which includes a path to citizenship, as a likely reason for his apparent unpopularity.
His disapproval among Republicans is higher — 46% — than among Democrats — 30%. Both give him an approval rating in the low 30s.
Only 21% of respondents approved of the immigration bill, while 63% disapproved. When asked whether they approved of Graham’s “efforts to reach a consensus among his colleagues” to pass the bill, 24% approved and 51% disapproved, including 57% of Republicans…
It rains....stuff gets wet. You chug a six pack, you have to pee. You push an illegal immigration amnesty that is detested by better than three out of every four of your constituents in the most obnoxious, insufferable, arrogant manner humanly conceivable, your approval ratings - and re-election chances in 2008 - spiral down the crapper.
It couldn't happen to a bigger asshole.
At least, not until the 2010 election cycle, when our old friend Trent "Boss Hogg" Lott floats to the top of the septic tank for re-flushing. Here's his latest sound bite offering:
Senate Minority Whip Trent Lott, R-MI, was talking to reporters Wednesday about the immigration bill, when he said, “If the answer is ‘build a fence’ I’ve got two goats on my place in Mississippi. There ain’t no fence big enough, high enough, strong enough, that you can keep those goats in that fence.”
“Now people are at least as smart as goats,” Lott continued. “Maybe not as agile. Build a fence. We should have a virtual fence. Now one of the ways I keep those goats in the fence is I electrified them. Once they got popped a couple of times they quit trying to jump it.”
“I’m not proposing an electrified goat fence,” Lott added quickly, “I’m just trying, there’s an analogy there.”
{stunned silence}
{*sigh*} Y'know, I remember all too well Senator Lott's Strom Thurmond birthday party "scandal" when he tried to make a dying old man feel good by complimenting Lindsey Grahamnesty's predecessor's 1948 segregationist Dixiecrat presidential run, and was boneheaded enough to do so near an open microphone. There was quite a divide in center-right ranks over whether to stand by Lott or throw him overboard from his newly-regained Majority Leader's post. That divide bisected the Republican Forum as well, where my colleague and friend Tom Boyce and I went toe-to-toe, with Tom defending Lott and me wielding the long knife.
In our case, though, the issue wasn't the birthday party comments. They weren't any big deal, and certainly didn't reveal Lott as a closet Klansman, as the Dems (who have their own uncloseted Klansman sitting proudly in their Senate caucus) ludicrously claimed. They were, however, an opportunity that came along at the right time to remove from the Senate GOP leadership a weak, vain, conceited, maladroit boob that had led his caucus straight into minority status once and was certain to do it again. A removal that was a long time in coming and couldn't happen soon enough. If the catalyst had to be a phony, trumped up "controversy" - not unlike impeachment for Bill Clinton's many high crimes and misdemeanors on everything from the coverups of Whitewater, Filegate, Travelgate, to the ChiComm funny money scandal being triggered by one sloppy and slimeily ridiculous adulterous romp out of hundreds - so be it, as long as the big picture goal was attained.
You can imagine my dismay, then, when the Trentster bobbed to the GOP leadership surface after the 2006 election debacle like the aforementioned turd that won't flush, or a really bad omen like sudden intestinal cramps when you're half a mile past the last exit and the next rest stop is two states away. Or Jim Geraghty's, minus the scatalogical subtext:
And if you think the sole fallout from Trent Lott’s reappearance in the Senate GOP leadership is going to be just “a few bad headlines and a little disgust” … well, I think the word “macaca” can refute that notion...
I don’t say this as a huge fan of Lamar Alexander, but simply to note that he doesn’t come into the job with enormous amounts of baggage that a hostile media and political opponents will utilize at every opportunity. In a media environment such as this, you don’t give your opponent a stick to beat you over the head with.
Okay, so J-Ger did say "caca." Sort of. The point is, Lott's reascension sent every bad message possible about why the Republicans lost the Senate and that they had learned none of those lessons. It was itself a thumb in the eye and a knee to the groin of a GOP base that was already angry and disgruntled. And, in that sense, it was a gift guaranteed to keep on giving.
And now the, um, #2 Republican in the United States Senate has publicly equated illegal aliens to "goats". But it's opponents of another illegal immigration amnesty who are the "bigots". Really, just ask Darth Queeg's probable 2008 "independent" cabana boy. He's probably changed his Depends by now.
posted by JASmius at 9:28 PM
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