Where the Wild Things Most Certainly Are*

* fine rendition of the book but a bit dark.

Josef Goebbels' children ,who live in Arizona, might disown the Republicans. It's One Big Lie, not thousands.

The Senate Republicans have descended to the lowest level, according to Washington etiquette. They are calling in question the integrity of the Parliamentarian Alan Frumin--a 33-year veteran of the Senate. The man was appointed by Trent Lott and has served without complaint from both sides of the aisle all these years. The parliamentarian is one of those great wonks you want to make sure the process works smoothly. Senate Republicans darkly hint he is under the influence of the majority leader and another anonymous 'senior GOP official" leaked to Politico that "most people don't trust him", something I have never,ever heard all these years in D.C. This is a pre-emptive attack on the man before he has even been asked to rule with coded warnings about how he is being pressured by Democrats.

Of course, the real target of this unseemingly assault are House Democrats. The message is that the Senate Democrats may guarantee certain elements in the health care package but they can't deliver if the procedure doesn't go their way. And we Senate Republicans will muscle and threaten the neutral parliamentarian to get what we want. It's sick but also stupid. The President of the Senate is Joe Biden and if he doesn't like a ruling from the parliamentarian he can overrule it--that's his right.

But this kind of slime attack has never happened in my memory. It's like assaulting an ump before the game. it's just not done.

Further the pond scum sweepstakes is Liz Cheney and her Keep America Safe front organization. They ran a video attacking the Obama Department of Justice for having as part of its personnel 6--we aren't up to Joe McCarthy's 24 yet--lawyers who defended terrorist suspects. The DOJ refused to release the names of the lawyers because a.) they don't work on terrorist cases; and b.) they want to spare them political harassment. By late yesterday afternoon Fox News obtained a list of the lawyers' names, which they promptly posted. The Democrats so far have wussed out but at least someone has come forth to defend these lawyers, the Chief Prosecutor at Gitmo from 2005-2007, who declared they were some of the most patriotic people he has ever met or worked with. As the Cheney crew failed to mention was that because the military commissions were not established, the Supreme Court ordered that the detainees had rights to attorneys. These six were lawyers assigned to these cases as per the order of the subversive institution the Supreme Court and they worked pro bono.

Next up is the absolute rubbish being spread concerning the reconciliation process. Mitch McConnell told the press the process was only used for bipartisan legislation. False. It's almost always used for straight party line votes, as the record indicates going back to the 1970s. The other whopper was from Orrin Hatch, who claimed it was not used on things as big financially as health care. The Bush tax cuts for the rich, where Dick Cheney cast the deciding vote, cost the American government over $1.7 trillion in revenues, the 2003 Bush tax cuts another $600 billion and the Medicare Plan B commitments of some $5 trillion. That's substantial. The Health Care bill will net between $300-800 billion at the end of the day. So the Republicans were all for reconciliation to run up some $7.3 trillion in deficits but against it for making some money.
OK.

Yesterday, someone in the RNC leaked their fund-raising power point presentation to the press. If you don't have the White House, the Senate or the House, what do you sell? According to the powerpoint, Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid are the 'evil empire" and you must fund Republicans to prevent the President's "socialist agenda". The power point has the President as the Joker and makes certain nasty cracks about potential donors and their gullibility. I remember the last time they made this argument. It was the election of Saxbe Chambliss to the Senate in 2008--"Elect Chambliss because he'll prevent socialism". It sold in the South and that is where the base of the party is. Whoever leaked the power-point is one of those with the knives out for Michael Steele, who has been spending money on himself like a drunken sailor.

Within 12 hours, Mitt Romney praised President Obama's Afghanistan policy and then blasted it. What's amazing is that this is in the era of YouTube and it doesn't phase the Republicans a bit. It's clear from his Letterman appearance Romney has hired joke writers. I guess these people have to since they lack any inherent sense of humor. Sarah Palin is negotiating for her own reality show. Isn't she already her own reality show?

Today is Code Red Day--named after the old terrorist alert color scheme. The Republicans will be robocalling vulnerable Democrats to try and muscle them to vote "no" against the healthcare plan.

In a primary debate here in Virginia, two Republicans were asked, "What is the greatest threat to national security?" One answered," The Obama Administration"; the other "all those who voted for Barack Obama". That's a tough war to declare --against 70 million Americans.

Senate Republicans have introduced a bill calling for the Obama Administration to support democratic forces within a Middle East country. The whole aim is to embarrass the Administration because it already is supporting these people covertly because of the sensitivity of the issue.