Looking for the dark side—and finding it within

Read the story here.

What should I think of the House Freedom Caucus?

Nine right-wing representatives have formed the above-named caucus to move on issues important to them. Like, you know, futilely trying to repeal Obamacare for the 56th time. So I loved this quote from a senior GOP staffer on the group:

"They're not legislators, they're just assholes."

What makes Oregon unique?

Oregon has reliably rejected a Republican governor and senators for some time now, including during the last round of elections. Is it because the state is reliably liberal?

Not really. Oregon's almost equally split between urban liberals and rural conservatives. But it seems that people here can see the GOP for what it is—vile.

Take Art Robinson, the Oregon Republican Party chairman. He who tried for a seat in Congress last month and failed. Why? The Portland Tribune explains:

• Robinson circulated a petition that claimed reducing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere would harm the environment.
• He suggested we could get rid of nuclear waste by sprinkling it over the ocean.
• Robinson stated that the residents of one of Oregon's most impoverished counties be tested with urine samples.
• And he called public schools the most devastating form of child abuse in the U.S.

In short, the leader of the state's GOP party is bonkers. And folks here just sort of picked up on it.

Jon Stewart nails GOP "bipartisanship"

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If there were a Hell, it'd have a special place for Oregon's GOP

Oregon's GOP really is a piece of work. Take its latest "gun raffle" idea. The GOP recently announced a dinner to honor Martin Luther King and Abraham Lincoln. And said party will award an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle to the lucky gun raffle winner.

Er, but weren’t Martin Luther King and Abraham Lincoln both killed by assassins using guns? Yes, they were, huh? Anne Marie Gurney, the GOP party's vice-chair, explains: 

"Every time we do this we get asked if we are trying to be provocative, and honestly we are not."

According to the Oregonian, Gurney “said it didn't even occur to the county party leaders that King and Lincoln had been killed by guns.  It's simply the time of year that the legacy of the two leaders is celebrated, she added.”

So we have two possibilities: either the GOP leaders are morons or lying morons.

But after a heap of negative attention, the gun raffle was called off! Now here’s my favorite part—get a load of the GOP’s “apology” for this boondoggle:

In our enthusiasm for celebrating Martin Luther King and Abraham Lincoln and the U.S. Constitution, our Multnomah Republican Party issued a press release that was unfortunately easily misunderstood. The GOP stands for individual liberty, lower taxes, smaller government and individual responsibility. We apologize if people were hurt by the message being marred by insufficient wording and/or cynical misinterpretations by those who disagree with us politically.

Words Fail Me

The Republican Party's official Twitter account co-opted Rosa Parks for propaganda purposes? Oh God. (Also? Racism is over. Done with. Kaput. So stop talking about racism.)

This is a fictionalized version of how Republicans typify Obamacare.

And THIS is the actual version.

I was reminded of this propaganda/idiocy while reading the New York Times investigation "G.O.P. Maps Out Waves of Attacks Over Health Law."

The gist? Republicans will mount anecdotal evidence and fictional numbers attacking Obamacare. Then when the opposition refutes the G.O.P., they simply pivot to a different wave of attacks. Here's a sample:

Republicans have gone to the floor of the House and the Senate to tell constituent stories of soaring premiums or yawning new deductibles. But on Wednesday, the White House Council of Economic Advisers released a report showing that health care spending had grown by 1.3 percent since 2010, the year the health care law passed. That is the lowest rate on record for any three-year period and less than a third of the average since 1965, according to the White House.

In short, those are some lying motherfuckers.

Tom Dickinson points out how a fringe party cheats like a motherfucker

"National Republicans have waged an unrelenting campaign to exploit every weakness and anachronism in our electoral system. Through a combination of hyperpartisan redistricting of the House, unprecedented obstructionism in the Senate and racist voter suppression in the states, today's GOP has locked in political power that it could never have secured on a level playing field."

—From Dickinson's Rolling Stone article, "How Republicans Rig the Game"

Five Ways the Republican Party Sucks

Kevin Drum points out some simple truths about the current government shutdown. Here are five of his points about the GOP effort to deny affordable health care to American citizens:

1. Democrats have already agreed to fund the government at Republican levels. 

2. Democrats in the Senate have begged the House to negotiate over the budget for the past six months, but Republicans wanted to wait until they had either a government shutdown or a debt ceiling breach as leverage, something they were very clear about all along. 

3. Republicans talk about compromise, but have offered nothing in return except to keep the government intact if they get their way. 

4. The public is very strongly opposed to using a government shutdown to stop Obamacare. 

5. A government shutdown is likely to seriously hurt economic growth.