The OxyContin Party and the broken press corps that enables it
Dark Lord Cheney, a faithful defender of regular white folks against those "elitist" Democrats, told an audience at the National Press Club that he discovered that he had Cheney ancestors among both his paternal and maternal ancestors. "So I had Cheneys on both sides of the family and we don't even live in West Virginia," the Dark Lord said. (Dick Cheney's Incest Joke Irks West Virginian Lawmakers by Mary Ann Akers Washington Post Online 06/02/08).
The Dark Lord apologized. Which I suppose is a bit better than when he shot that guy in the face, and the guy he shot apologized to Cheney! (I've always wondered what kind of phone call preceded that event.) But you've got to wonder, what does an apology mean coming from a guy with no conscience? But at least he's not one of those elitist Democrats acting "snootily", to use George Will's word.
Rush Limbaugh, the famous liar, drug addict and bigot, is one of most popular commentators among the Republican base. A big pal of Bush and Cheney, too. Cheney was planning to observe the first anniversary of the 9/11 attacks by appearing on Rush's show. Here's how Mr. OxyContin himself expresses the Christian love that overflows from today's sanctified Republican Party:
On the June 2 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio program, while discussing Sen. Barack Obama's presidential candidacy, Rush Limbaugh asserted that the Democratic Party was "go[ing] with a veritable rookie whose only chance of winning is that he's black." As Media Matters for America noted, Limbaugh said on his May 21 broadcast that "Barack Obama is an affirmative action candidate" and asserted during his May 14 broadcast that "[i]f Barack Obama were Caucasian, they would have taken this guy out on the basis of pure ignorance long ago."
Also during the June 2 broadcast, while referencing a May 26 column written by John Lott Jr., Limbaugh stated, "John Lott Jr. has this theory. He's done some research and found out that the growth of government can be traced to when women got the vote." Limbaugh later asserted, "The one observation you can make about this whole business, because he proved it. I mean, it's -- the growth of government started like crazy when women got the right to vote. Which just proves: Size does matter to 'em." (Media Matters, Limbaugh on Obama: His "only chance of winning is that he's black" 06/02/08
Yuk! Yuk! That Rush shore is funny, ain't he? You just cain't beat ole Rush for "political humor"! And size matters, git it? Haw! Haw!
We'll be getting this by the bucketload between now and the November election. The formula of course is to find "clever" ways to say, "Obama's black! Did you know he's black? He's even got a black wife? Did you know they are black?" There'll be much worse, of course. Already is. Rush the dope fiend just gives us the respectable mainstream Republican variety.
That will have limited direct pull among swing voters, I'm guessing. Where it will have traction is that race is likely to make some white swing voters more ready to have doubts Obama due to wild tales about his politics, his religion, his transvestite ex-con Sikh boyfriend, and whatever other lunatic tales the Republican Swiftboaters come up with. Which will be faithfully told and retold and retold again by our sad excuse for a press corps.
Of course, St. McCain the 21st century Crusader has repudiated his former buddy John Hagee. But former Democrat Joe Lieberman, who recently has become somehow attached to McCain at the hip, it seems, is still tight with Rev. Hagee. He's scheduled to be the keynote speaker at an upcoming confab of Hagee's Christians United for Israel (CUFI) group that is dedicated to promoting war with Iran. Max Blumenthal - who's Sid Blumenthal's son, by the way, doing a good job carrying on the family tradition - has some info, with an assist from another video from Bruce Wilson, in Pastor Hagee: The Antichrist Is Gay, "Partially Jewish, As Was Adolph Hitler" (Paging Joe Lieberman!)Huffington Post 06/02/08.
I'm glad to see this kind of thing is getting more attention than in the past. It's not that there's anything terribly different about Hagee's brand of Christianism than what the Republican Party has been eagerly embracing in 1980 or so. A lot of the leaders of what is called the Christian Right promote just the kind of cracker bigotry that Hagee does. It's just that our lazy, intimidated press corps have been largely tippy-toing around them for decades now.
Say what you like about Bill or Hillary Clinton. (Shoot, everybody does anyway!) But they're both liberal Democrats. And they fight. The Democrats need that kind of willingness to fight if they're going to get the Republicans out of the White House.
For all my fondness for economic and class explanations, I still can't help but believe that there's something just wildly irrational about the press corps' weird, genuinely weird obsessions about both Clintons, which carried over to Al Gore, as well. Geez, people (i.e, Chris Matthews, Tucker Carlson, Maureen Dowd, 90% or so of the rest of the press corps), if you feel like making up sex stories, just write a porno novel! Or go visit a hooker, whatever. Do you have to dump the tawdriest, trashiest products of your troubled minds on us? Good grief! Try investigating Dick Cheney's torture program. There's enough sexual perversion there to shock the Marquis de Sade. At least you would be doing something constructive by exposing that.
Dark Lord Cheney, a faithful defender of regular white folks against those "elitist" Democrats, told an audience at the National Press Club that he discovered that he had Cheney ancestors among both his paternal and maternal ancestors. "So I had Cheneys on both sides of the family and we don't even live in West Virginia," the Dark Lord said. (Dick Cheney's Incest Joke Irks West Virginian Lawmakers by Mary Ann Akers Washington Post Online 06/02/08).
