McCain v. Gohmert? Popcorn, please

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Hee!

On Wednesday, McCain said Gohmert had “no intelligence” in response to Gohmert’s charge that McCain is an al-Qaeda supporter.

“Sometimes comments like that are made out of malice, but if someone has no intelligence I don’t feel it as being a malicious statement,” McCain said on NBC News. “But yes, there’s polarization here, and there’s a lack of civility.”

I repeat, hee!

Given that Charlie Pierce once called Gohmert “perhaps the dumbest mammal to enter a legislative chamber since Caligula’s horse,” I’m not giving McCain a lot of credit for grasping the obvious, but this is still an amusing tiff.

South Carolina’s at it again

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Today in a committee hearing on Capitol Hill Terry Gowdy, a Republican from South Carolina, kept demanding to know why the Director of the National Parks Service shut down the national parks during a government shutdown. Jonathan Jarvis, the Director, explained

that D.C. parks and memorials must close during a shutdown under the Anti-deficiency Act, which prohibits federal employees from spending money that has not been authorized by Congress.

But Gowdy continued to ask for a specific statute that required the government to close memorials during a government shutdown.

Jarvis has more patience than I; I’d have said “What part of ‘Anti-Deficiency Act’ do you not understand, Rep. Gowdy?”

It really does prove once again what South Carolina State Representative James Petigru said about the state on the occasion of its vote to secede from the Union: “South Carolina is too small for a republic and too large for an insane asylum.”

Oh, c’mon, Speaker Boehner

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I used to think John Boehner was a modern political version of George Babbitt, a successful climber

prosperous but worried, wanting – passionately – to seize something more than motor cars and a house before it’s too late.

Substitute Speakership for the cars and the house, then add “well-remembered” to it, and that’s what I thought Boehner aspired to.

His behavior in this shutdown/debt ceiling crisis is forcing me to change my mind. Now I think he wants — passionately — merely to hold onto the Speakership, no matter how history may regard him. Why else would he continue to allow the rump Tea Party portion of his caucus to block what he must know is the right thing to do — bring the Senate’s continuing resolution and debt ceiling legislation to the floor for a vote.? Those bills would pass in a very short time with primarily Democratic votes in favor, if only Boehner could bring himself to allow it to happen. But he’s is still hoping for some kind of miracle, one which causes Senate Democrats and the President to reverse all their public statements about the debt ceiling and their signature piece of legislation from three years ago, or perhaps one in which the brilliance of House Republican arguments suddenly carry the day and the Senate and the President bow before superior intellect.

Not gonna happen, John. Bring the Senate bill to the floor.

Class warfare, v. 22.1

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A nice wealthy ($8M or so in his personal fortune) Congressman, Steve Pearce (R-NM), suggests that furloughed workers just go get short-term loans if they need cash for bills or living expenses.

“If you are a furloughed government employee, we encourage you to reach out to your financial institution as soon as you worry you may miss a paycheck,” read the post. “Don’t wait until you are behind on a bill; call now and explore your options.”

Right. When you have no income at all your local bank (probably a branch of a big Wall Street one anyway, and we know how sensitive they are to their customers’ requirements) is certainly likely to offer you a loan.

Loan officer: “How do you expect to pay this back?”

Borrower: “Out of my federal pay.”

Loan officer: “But aren’t you furloughed?”

Borrower: “Yes.”

Loan officer: “Then you have no federal pay.”

Borrower: “No. But I will!”

Loan officer: “Come back when you do.”

Republican crack-up continues

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Hee! Erick Erickson, a prominent jerk conservative blogger, just announced he’d work to elect Speaker Boehner’s and Senate Minority Leader McConnell’s primary opponents because he thinks they’re not fighting the ACA strongly enough.

“Republican leaders in Washington, DC are signaling they will cave on the fight against Obamacare,” Erickson wrote. “GOP Leaders, by caving, are signaling they want us to primary them.”

Now, Erickson is a lot more important in his own mind than he is in national politics, but he does speak for a whole bunch of clowns and contributors at the conservative Redstate.com website, so this is indicative of the rage and frustration simmering on that side of the political divide.

Damned shame. Couldn’t happen to a nastier bunch of people.

Nose, face, stupidity

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Toward the end of this story on All Things Considered the reporter from the Tyler Morning Telegraph in Tyler, Texas answered a question from Melissa Block about the Affordable Care Act. He told of a restaurant owner in town who had closed his business rather than pay his (potential) obligations under “Obamacare.”

That kind of stupidity may explain just how it is that Louis Gohmert got elected from that district.

Boehner: Dunce or Sneaky?

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I’m trying to understand whether Speaker Boehner is really as foolish as he seems in this battle, or if he’s got a cunning plan.

Given today’s remarks, I’m leaning toward option one.

“What the president said today was if there’s unconditional surrender by Republicans, he will sit down and talk to us.”

John, John, John. Every demand you’ve made of the Democrats and the President amount to just exactly that from the Democrats. Y’all issued these demands a week or so ago and offered up no concessions at all from your side:

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You Republicans would have to win about three elections in a row in order to get all that, and you want it without giving up a thing? President Obama and Harry Reid are too polite to publicly say this, but I will. Buzz off, you miserable jerk.