Republican Jackass of the Week

We've endured a tsunami of Regressive Republican hypocrisy lately.

They shut down the government and then complain when government services, like maintaining war memorials, end -- and those memorials are closed.

They decry using military veterans as props while using them as props.

And now this latest gem.

A far rightwing Teabagger Republican running for Idaho's House of Representatives is running on a platform of shutting down all government programs including Medicaid.

Problem is, this Teabagger, and all 10 of his kids, are on Medicaid.

His name is Greg Collett (R), and he digs himself a few feet deeper by putting this on his website:

Let me set the record straight. Yes, I participate in government programs of which I adamantly oppose. Many of them, actually. Am I a hypocrite for participating in programs that I oppose?

Yes, Jackass, you are.

It's okay for me to be on Medicaid...

He goes on to awkwardly explain that just because he takes advantage of these programs, it doesn't necessarily mean he supports them. See? He's only trying to "stay out of jail, avoid fines and take care of his family, and these programs are the only practical choice."

Wow.

Greg Collett, Regressive Teabagger wannabe House member from Idaho: our Republican Jackass of the week.

Teabaggers Exploit Veterans

This week, the Million Vet March at the WWII Memorial in Washington DC was crashed and hijacked by racist Teabaggers. Original organizers simply wanted to make the point that war memorials and parks should be allowed to stay open during the shutdown.

As you know, the fringe Teabagger Republicans in the House have been planning on shutting down the US government for months; they have stated so and have been admittedly giddy since it began two weeks ago.

The government shutdown stops vital services for veterans, the elderly, and America's poor, but also furloughs workers who keep tourist attractions and parks open. This makes for a perfect, if not ironic, backdrop for Teabaggers to make a scene.

So the very people responsible for shutting down the government, including the war memorials, were the ones stomping around screaming about them being closed. And then they complained about using vets as pawns, while using them as pawns.

And the usual racist, Obama-hating rhetoric was spewed. We heard about "being Kenyan," "bowing down to Allah," and demands that the President "come out with his hands up." In addition, several Teabaggers/racists waved confederate flags outside the White House. This, you may recall, was the banner under which the slave-owning White Supremacists fought for the right to keep slaves. This is what was waved outside the home of America's first black president.

But they insist they're not racist. See?

Remind your Fox-watching, Teabagging relatives of this little incident the next time they pretend the Teabaggers are not, in reality, 21st Century Klansmen.

And of course, you can't have a racist, blame-Obama-for-the-problem-we-ourselves-created photo op without Canada's Ted Cruz, and America's Favorite Quitter -- the Half-Term Governor of Alaska, Failed Vice Presidential Candidate and Failed Reality Show Host -- running in front of cameras, now can you? That's right: The lovely Sarah Palin flew in from wherever Fox has been hiding her for the last six months to bash Obama.

You betcha.

From Addicting Info and Think Progress:

The trite hypocrisy and shear evil of the actions of the GOP’s Tea Party faction is more dangerous than many believe. It will incite violence. This weekend it wrapped itself in the military veil. The world saw Sarah Palin and the GOP exploiting military veterans. They did so as they attempted to project blame for the shutdown on President Obama.

Suffice it to say Americans are not buying it. Americans love their veterans and understand that a shutdown hurts them both economically and emotionally. Exploiting military veterans will backfire as others take notice and it brings more scrutiny. 

Apparently, the original organizers of the veterans’ march are displeased with the Tea Party’s co-opting of their protest. On the Million Vet March homepage, the organizers suggest a local organizer invited Tea Party and birther groups against the wishes of the veterans:

The political agenda put forth by a local organizer in Washington DC was not in alignment with our message. We feel disheartened that some would seek to hijack the narrative for political gain. The core principle is about all Americans honoring Veterans in a peaceful and apolitical manner.

MSNBC's Martin Bashir saw right through the charade.

Martin Bashir: We bring you an act of such brazen dishonesty and speciousness that it's hard to know where to begin.

Sarah Palin at Rally: Our vets have proven that they have not been timid. So we will not be timid in calling out any who world use our military, our vets as pawns in a political game.

Martin Bashir: Now, for most people, travelling three thousand five hundred miles from Alaska to the nation’s capital in order to grandstand at the Second World War Memorial, that your own political party has caused to close, would seem like a political game. … Keep in mind that it is the Republican Party that continues to shutdown the government, thereby curtailing veterans’ benefits. And it is the Republican Party whose sequester cuts have hammered the military. … The singular proof, that Sunday’s rally was solely about using the military as pawns in a political game.

Larry Klayman at Rally: We are now ruled quote unquote by a president who bows down to Allah. … and to demand that this president leave town, to get out, to put the Quran down, to get up off his knees, and to figuratively come out with his hands up.

Martin Bashir: This is the political game Mrs. Palin and her allies have been playing even before this president was inaugurated. For them this is what the shutdown is really about.

 A closed park is inconvenient. It however is not the most severe pain being felt by veterans at this time. If Palin and the GOP were not simply exploiting military veterans, they would know that.

This government shutdown is affecting the well-being of veteran families and ordinary families. This shutdown has affected the payments of death benefits to the families of veterans. This shutdown is affecting the backlog of veterans’ disability claims. In effect, Tea Party Right Wing Republicans applied a significant amount of pain to veterans and their families in order to satisfy an irrational hate of President Obama. That is the height of exploiting military veterans.

Republican Jackass of the Week

Congressman Randy Neugebaur (R, what else?) from Texas.

The congressman was one of the many Regressive Republicans in the House who voted for the government shutdown, and then visited the WWII memorial and actually told a park ranger she should be ashamed of herself for the closure of the memorial.

WTF?

Here's the story.

Here's what I put on the "good congressman's" Facebook page:

You and the rest of these rightwingers gleefully shut down govt, including these people whom you feel the need to berate, because you folks tried -- and failed -- 44 times to repeal a perfectly Constitutional law that you don't happen to like. Now you geniuses want to defund and delay it by tying it to something totally unrelated -- the funding of the US govt. 
So you have a temper tantrum because ObamaCare cannot and will not be repealed, shut down the government, and then have another temper tantrum in front of a government worker at a memorial YOU caused to close down.
You're an embarrassment. RESIGN NOW.

 

Here's the link to his Facebook page. Have at it.

Boehner's Latest Government Shutdown

A few facts:

About 900,000 people's jobs and paychecks are affected by this latest partial government shutdown.

There are 435 US House members. About 40 of them are the far rightwing fringe Teabaggers.

The Affordable Care Act, known as ObamaCare, was passed in 2010. It was approved by the US House, the US Senate, signed by the President of the US and deemed Constitutional by the US Supreme Court.

Sad, drunken clown

John Boehner, the least effective Speaker of the House in American history, knows he has more than enough Democratic and Republican House votes to pass the Senate's "clean" bill (one that doesn't contain add-ons to defund or repeal ObamaCare) and keep the US government funded.

Despite all this, the cowardly Speaker of the House has refused to allow the Senate bill to come to a vote in the House, where it would easily pass. Why? Because he's scared to death of the Teabaggers, who would revolt. He'd probably lose his job as ineffective Speaker and go back to just being another ineffective Congressman.

So he's putting 900,000 jobs and paychecks on the line to save his own. This guy is an embarrassment.

President Obama is right. Allowing this bunch of radicals to defund or delay ObamaCare for a year would mean that any rogue member of congress in the future would be able to pick any established law, and simply because he doesn't like it, hold the US hostage until his demands to defund, delay or repeal it are met.

Funny thing is, despite all the Regressive Republicans' worst efforts, and despite the partial government shutdown, today is the day ObamaCare opens to the public nonetheless. Today's the day you can go to healthcare.gov and begin sorting through all the affordable options available to you.

Republican Jackass of the Week

The Boner blinked.

"There should be no conversation on shutting government down," Regressive Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner said. "That's not the goal. There's no interest on our part on shutting the government down."

No wonder this man drinks so much.

That was then.

Now, after a closed-door meeting with his caucus, John Boehner has caved to the crazy, extreme, far rightwing fringe of his party, the Teabaggers, and agreed to hold a House vote on a measure that would keep the government funded, but only if Obamacare, the Affordable Care Act, is defunded.

"We are going to pass a resolution that will defund Obamacare."

As I've written before, Obamacare isn't going anywhere. The Teabaggers have led John around by his orange nose before, voting 41 times in a row to defund or repeal Obamacare. But that's not going to happen.

The Affordable Care Act passed the House and the Senate in 2010, was signed into law by the President of the United States, and has even gotten the rightwing Supreme Court's endorsement of its legality.

It's the law of the land and it's not going to be repealed. Funding Obamacare is mandatory.

But that won't stop these fanatical ideologues from holding a virtual gun to the head of America to get their way.

Never before in history has any congress attempted to extort an American president into succumbing to their political demands by holding the USA hostage, threatening to shut down the government -- which will stop payments to US troops, retirees, and close many government services -- as well as damage the full faith and credit of the US government by failing to pay our bills. These bills represent the money that congress itself has already spent.

It would be like you going on a wild spending spree with your own credit card and then refusing to pay when the bill arrives unless some totally unrelated demand is met.

Some have described the Republicans' demands as a Kamikaze mission, destroying themselves in the process, since everyone knows that if there's a government shutdown, they will be to blame. This is what happened in the '90s. Back then a similar Republican-led government shutdown resulted in one Newt Gingrich losing his speakership and the Republicans losing their congressional majority.

Will they go off the deep end again and destroy themselves? Or will they tell the Teabaggers enough is enough, sit down and shut up, and let the adults take over?

We'll find out by the end of the month.

Regressive Republican and Speaker of the House (for now), John Boehner. This week's Republican Jackass of the Week.

Bonus Republican Jackass of the Week

John Boehner and the Republican-run House of Representatives.

With only two weeks left before the government shuts down, taking with it a whole host of services as well as paychecks to retirees and American troops, what do you think Boehner and his gang did yesterday?

(A) Resumed negotiations that would keep the government running and increase the debt limit so the Treasury Department can borrow enough money to pay for the bills that Congress already racked up.

-- or --

(B) Wasted everybody's time and money, voting for the 41st time, to repeal Obamacare.

I don't even need to tell you what these idiots did.