Tag: Conservative Agenda
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The Rubio Water Bottle Moment
No wonder this move by Sen. Marco Rubio (GOP/Tea – Fla.) blew up Twitter, and according to Buzzfeed’s Andrew Kaczynski has inspired 15 parody accounts, and counting. Seriously, what the heck was that all about?
From the Twitter:
- @Mediaite – Historic Thirst: Marco Rubio Becomes His Own State Of The Union Drinking Game
- @BeachPeanuts – #Rubio’s SOTU Rebuttal Tough To Swallow
- @JimmyFavors – Fun fact: Lying makes you thirsty.
- @politico – Marco Rubio’s drinking problem
- @ryanaclarke – Stay thirsty, my friends.
- @ProgressFlorida – Tonight’s biggest loser? Zephyrhills bottled water, dissed by their own senator for a Maine brand.
- @rudepundit – ha I thought he was going to pull Ted Nugent up on stage
- @LOLGOP – I’m been more impressed if Marco Rubio kept talking as Jeb Bush sipped water.
And finally, the tweet that really mattered:
@NickKristof – Marco Rubio could make a more credible response to Obama if he hadn’t voted today against Violence Against Women Act.
Super Bowl Flashback: It Really Was Halftime in America
As the country gathers tonight to watch the big game — and the million dollar ads — let’s not forget this little gritty little ditty from only one year ago.
The ad was widely misinterpreted as Clint Eastwood endorsing the Obama administration’s decision to bail out Chrysler (and GM), despite many Republicans, including eventual presidential nominee Mitt Romney, saying we should let the biggest manufacturing sector in America, and about one million jobs, liquidate.
Eastwood denied that he supported Obama and backed up that assertion last summer, when he gave arguably the strangest performance of his career at the Republican National Convention. Eastwood rambled through an improvised exchange with a chair that he pretended was the president, and which he fantasized was arguing with him and threatening him.
Maybe Eastwood should have embraced the ad’s original interpretation because it turns out it really was halftime in America, and the majority of voters were better players than Eastwood or Romney.
Tea Bagger U.S. Rep. Says Immigrants Want the Free Stuff
But the small amount of information I received is that [Obama] criticized what Sen. Rubio and some of his colleagues did, because he said they had all these enforcement provisions, and the president doesn’t want that. He basically wants to move in to legalization and citizenship immediately. That’s not something that I would support. It’s also not something that I think we can afford. Because once you’re a legal American citizen, you’re going to have access to the new health care subsidies, you’re going to have access to the welfare state.
— U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis (GOP/Tea), one of Florida’s new Congress members, explaining to constituents at a town hall meeting how he differs with the president on immigration. DeSantis seems to assume that people want to become Americans for the easy money.
Same GOP Chair and Members Reach Same GOP Conclusions
We’ve heard it before. “Compassionate conservatism” springs to mind. But the GOP’s search for reasons behind the trouncing it took in the 2012 elections will continue to prove fruitless as long as the party keeps coming up with the reassuring but false answer that they just need to improve their talking points.
Steve Benen, on the Maddow Blog:
RNC Chairman Reince Priebus declared, “It’s not the platform of the party that’s the issue. In many cases, it’s how we communicate about it. It is a couple dumb things that people have said.”
Benen: GOP officials took a long look in the mirror and decided… they’re awesome just the way they are!An RNC member from West Virginia added, “We don’t need a new pair of shoes; we just need to shine our shoes.”
I see. So a few months after a national election in which President Obama won re-election fairly easily, Senate Democrats unexpectedly expanded their majority, and House Democrats received well over 1 million more votes than House Republicans, GOP officials took a long look in the mirror and decided … they’re awesome just the way they are.
[…]
Pro-Life, Pro-Guns?
I think we should stick to our guns.
Rick Santorum, former senator and failed Republican presidential candidate, sharing his opinion on how gun advocates should respond to efforts to control gun violence. Santorum was known in the Senate for his almost obsessive objection to abortion and contraception because of his belief in the sanctity of life, at least up to the moment of birth.
Good Thing It’s So Easy for Responsible Gun Owners to Avoid Unintended Shootings
5
Number of shootings during Gun Appreciation Day, all by “responsible gun owners.” The highest toll was at a gun show in North Carolina, where three people were shot when a man removed his 12-gauge shotgun from its case. In Ohio, a man was shot by a 9-mm semi-automatic handgun held by his business partner, and another in Indiana shot himself as he loaded his .45-caliber semi-automatic. There were no shootings reported that day from music, food, or cultural festivals, reinforcing the notion that the very presence of guns makes people less safe.
The Answer to Too Many Guns is Always More Guns
NRA: “The only way to reduce the kinds of casualties seen at gun shows across the country today is more guns” #GunAppreciationDay
— @TheDailyEdge, a humor site, tweeting about the rash of negligent accidental shootings by “responsible gun owners” as they bought and sold guns on a day dreamed up by the gun lobby and rightwing extremists.
Slow Learner? No – Obama Shows He Doesn’t Have to Make the Same Mistake Twice
John Aravosis at AmericaBlog applauds the announcement from the Obama Inauguration Committee that a Christian pastor who has preached that homosexuality is a “malfunction” that can be cured (cue Macklemore) has been pulled from the roster of the day’s events. Aravosis:
This statement makes it sound more like Giglio was asked to leave, rather than his having parted ways amicably:
Below is a statement from the Presidential Inaugural Committee on Rev. Giglio’s decision to withdraw from the Inaugural Ceremony:
“We were not aware of Pastor Giglio’s past comments at the time of his selection and they don’t reflect our desire to celebrate the strength and diversity of our country at this Inaugural. Pastor Giglio was asked to deliver the benediction in large part for his leadership in combating human trafficking around the world. As we now work to select someone to deliver the benediction, we will ensure their beliefs reflect this administration’s vision of inclusion and acceptance for all Americans.“ – Addie Whisenant, PIC Spokesperson
That is a GREAT statement. It’s exactly what we could have asked for. Yes, I’d have preferred that this snafu didn’t happen in the first place. But they fixed it perfectly, directly, head-on with no waffling. I didn’t expect this.
