For the Koch Brothers, There's No Such Thing as Good Publicity

Harry Reid made headlines two days ago when he called the Koch Brothers “un-American” and condemned them for using their inherited billions to “buy America.”  He said:

“When you make billions of dollars a year you can be as immoral and dishonest as your money will allow you to be.  It's too bad that they're trying to buy America, and it's time that the American people spoke out against this terrible dishonesty of these two brothers who are about as un-American as anyone that I can imagine.”

I think it's an understatement, but he's on the right track.

Tim Phillips, president of the Koch front group Americans For Prosperity, has already come to his puppet-masters' defense by by blasting Reid.  Harry Reid hates Freedom, wants the terrorists to win, yada yada.  Other rightwing useful idiots are sure to jump on the bandwagon.

Good.  Bring it on.

The Koch Brothers have always kept a low profile, doing all of their bribing and election-rigging behind the scenes and staying off the public radar.  Those days are over.

Every time a politician or pundit condemns Charles and David Koch — and every time a rightwing spokesperson comes to their defense — the Koch Brothers are being dragged further and further into the spotlight.

The man behind the curtain no longer has a curtain to hide behind.

Harry Reid Threatens Nuclear Option against Republican Filibusters

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has threatened to start using the Nuclear Option if Republicans keep filibustering judicial nominees.

On Nevada Public Radio, he announced:

“All within the sound of my voice, including my Democratic senators and the Republican senators who I serve with, should understand that we as a body have the power on any given day to change the rules with a simple majority, and I will do that if necessary.”

As you know, the Nuclear Option means (temporarily) squelching the filibuster.  As a result, the president’s nominees have to be approved or disapproved by a simple majority vote.  Majority rules — what a concept.

Reid continued:

“I’m a very patient man... If the Republicans in the Senate don’t start approving some judges and don’t start helping get some of these nominations done, then we’re going to have to take more action.”

Too patient IMHO.  The highly publicized filibuster “reform” last January was either nonexistent, or incomprehensible to anyone without a Ph.D. in Legalese.  I hope Harry Reid actually carries out this threat.  Enough is enough.

We are all affected by the huge backlog of federal court cases.  This backlog is the result of dangerously understaffed courts, which are the result of almost every one of Obama’s judicial nominees being filibustered by Republicans.

Go Nuclear!  Give ‘em Hell Harry.  Tell those corporate GOP prostitutes to Make Your Day.

Rightwing Douchebag of the Week: Dan Riehl

With so many rightwing shitwads to choose from, this is usually a tight contest. But this week we have a clear winner.

I don’t pay much attention to rightwing pundits, or a lot of the big-name liberal pundits either, for that matter. I first heard of Dan Riehl when an inbred (and unlinked) rightwing blogger was swooning over him a week or two ago.

Oh OK, you twisted my arm. Here he is. Do NOT comment at this site; your comment will be edited/reworded into something you won’t like.

Anyway, back to Dan “My Daddy Married His Sister” Riehl. Who else but a deranged rightwing pukebag would make sick jokes about Harry Reid’s wife being critically injured in a car accident?

Yes I get his “joke,” that since those evil liberals don’t worship fetuses, then why in tarnation would they get all worked up over some 69-year-old woman with a broken back and broken neck? Teeheeheeheehee.

The sack of putrid also quipped that Harry Reid shouldn’t bill the taxpayers for a full day’s work on Friday, March 12th, since he spent most of that day at his wife’s hospital bedside.

Harry Reid may be old, but he’s a former Golden Gloves. He should pay Dan Riehl a visit.

Congressional Democrats: Do Something or Get the F#$&#$#! Out

E.J. Dionne has a blunt message for our Democratic “leaders” in Congress. He also has some sympathy for their self-created dilemma. Yes, it’s hell to be a spineless boneless jellyfish.

As he puts it: “Republicans chortle as they block Democratic initiatives — and accuse the majority of being unable to govern. Rank-and-filers are furious their leaders can't end the Iraq war.”

The Democrats can't pass any legislation because Republicans keep stalling their bills with one parliamentary move after another. This fact by itself should be a PR advantage for the Democrats. But as usual, they just lie back and let the Republican Spin Machine paint them into a corner. “Tax and spend,” “they don’t support our troops,” “nanny state,” yada yada yada.

Republicans seem to know zillions of obscure parliamentary rules that can be invoked on every possible occasion. “It’s Tuesday and we haven’t had lunch yet. Section 37D Paragraph 24 clearly states…”

So why can't the Democrats do this? Congressional Republicans had Clinton practically paralyzed during the last six years of his presidency. What do they know that the Democrats don’t know? Or maybe they have spines and the Democrats don’t.

Dionne says: “In an ideal world, Democrats would pass a lot of legislation that Bush would either have to sign or veto. The president would have to take responsibility for his choices.”

Fortunately for Dumbya, his Congressional drones are protecting him from any personal responsibility. Since they keep most legislation from even getting to his desk, he can just sit there spilling whiskey and learning songs about Condi. (Bonus Question: Name the Tom Waits song alluded to in the previous sentence.)

And the Democrats’ razor-thin majority in the Senate isn't helped when Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Chris Dodd and Barack Obama are too busy running for president to be bothered with their mundane jobs in the Senate.

No wonder people are fed up with the two party system. Oh, there're some differences between the two. On the right we have a bunch of stormtroopers marching in lockstep. On the left, a bunch of spineless blobs call out “how high sir?” whenever the stormtroopers say “Jump!” And jumping without a spine ain't easy.

Do the Democrats stand a chance in 2008? According to Dionne, this is what they have to do:

“House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid should ...use the Christmas break to come up with a joint program for 2008. They could start with the best ideas from their presidential candidates in areas such as health care, education, cures for the ailing economy and poverty-reduction. Agree to bring the same bills to a vote in both houses. Try one more time to change the direction of Iraq policy. If Bush and the Republicans block their efforts, bring all these issues into the campaign. Let the voters break the gridlock.”

cross-posted at Bring It On!

Dick Cheney: Crawl Back Into Your Hole and Stay There

This past Tuesday must have been Bash Dick Cheney Day. Our illustrious leader probably wishes he had never poked his head out of his cubbyhole. That’s probably what everybody wishes.

During an argument in the Senate about continued funding for Iraqmire, Cheney accused Senator Harry Reid of “defeatism.” Reid fired back with "I'm not going to get into a name-calling match with somebody that has 9 percent approval ratings." Pow! Give ‘em Hell Harry!

On the same day, George McGovern had a column responding to Cheney’s recent attacks on him. Some of the highlights include:

“In the war of my youth, World War II, I volunteered for military service at the age of 19 and flew 35 combat missions, winning the Distinguished Flying Cross as the pilot of a B-24 bomber. By contrast, in the war of his youth, the Vietnam War, Cheney got five deferments and has never seen a day of combat — a record matched by President Bush.”

“We, of course, already know that when Cheney endorses a war, he exempts himself from participation. On second thought, maybe it's wise to keep Cheney off the battlefield — he might end up shooting his comrades rather than the enemy.”

Cheney, McGovern and Reid are scheduled to go quail hunting next (to be continued)