2012 GOP Presidential Campaign -- "This individual's going to accuse me of an affair for an extended period of time."

there's something wrong with this country when gays can serve openly in the military but our kids can't openly celebrate christmas

omg

he's at .7% on intrade right now...that's a pretty decent gamble.

... who said our kids can't openly celebrate Christmas

I mean, the stores certainly seem to be encouraging the celebration of everything

It's the War On Christmas all over again! Will this horror never end?

but our kids can't openly celebrate christmas

LOL, this reminds me of ppl who misrepresent the 1st Amendment

Sully linked to this:

Rick Perry opposes the swift and meaningful U.S. responses to human rights abuses of LGBT persons abroad. And he would never ever engage International Organizations in the fight against LGBT discrimination. Again, Perry sympathies with the abuser, not the victim.

Ideologically, it’s difficult to conceptualize a greater enemy to gay people. Santorum, perhaps. But never has there ever been in modern times a President who held the level of personal animosity that Rick Perry has for you. Not Eisenhower, not Nixon, not Johnson, not Reagan, and neither Bush. It is inconceivable that Perry could have the personal gay friendships of Reagan, the gay appointments of the Bushes, and certainly not the supportive views of Carter, Clinton, Ford, or Obama. None of the other credible GOP candidates, Romney, Gingrich, or even Bachmann would be worse.

We very seldom use the term “hate” to categorize a politicians views. It seldom is accurate. But I concur with Jim completely: Rick Perry hates you. Deeply.

re: that video, man what a prick

Apt metaphor.

I think open celebration of Christmas is appalling. I would, perhaps, sign on to a don't-ask-don't-tell policy with regards to the celebration of Christmas.

just how awful do you want to be while you stroll up a hill in a jacket we can all relate to, what an asshole. i feel like the particular field of misrepresenting positions in ads & debates is its own little corridor of human awfulness

the day after he's sworn in for his second term, pres. obama will sign two executive order, banning christmas celebrations -- anywhere -- and outlawing christianity -- everywhere. it is written in the stars.

Sad Erick Erickson is sad. (Keep in mind that for all his apparently heartfelt blather this is a guy who seems to use his Christianity as a get-out-of-jail-free/'we're all bad and I confess this every week at church!' card when he calls people goatfuckers on Twitter so if anything he should be sympathetic to Newt, really.)

And by the way DARK HORSE.

In all honesty and candor and recognizing we all fall short of the glory of God, I do not know that I can support a man who is on his third wife having cheated on his two prior wives. It is very much more the adultery than the marriages. Many of my friends have marriages that do not work out.

lol @ the pining for Jeb Bush btw

The chatter about potential new entrants include former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, businessman Donald Trump, Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin and South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint.

lol strong candidates here.

but i like the jeb bush idea!

the idea that the nation as a whole is not completely soured on the Bush family is hilarious

what about mark sanford? he only cheated on one wife

but Romney cheated on a movement!

I dunno, Shakey. I think Neil might have fit in nicely with some of the recent Pres candidates.

the nation as a whole is soured on the Bush family

oh i know

Maybe I'm wrong, but are they not past the point of no return as far as getting in now goes?

Remember: the nation as a whole soured on the GOP in 2009, heralding a new rebirth of liberalism.

that Snagglepuss image is the first decent thing on these GOPobsessive hen party threads.

Attacking Rev Wright (that was his name?) was not PERSONAL, cuz as Bill Maher pointed out Obama is too smart to REALLY be a Christian. /mattarmstrong

pfffff, u.s. is a hard-right nation in all but the broadest sense, and nothing in 2009 changed that. it's basically GOP-controlled except when there's a severe recession (bush I or II) or some huge nat'l disgrace (watergate)

The U.S. isn't left, right, or anything nation other than what socioeconomic forces dictate at that moment.

GOP has controlled the presidency for 20 of the last 30 years, with the only breaks being, as i say, post watergate and during recessions.

or, put it a different way: when times are good, we say "hands off, gov't." when times are bad, we say, "help us!, gov't."

It's cyclical -- Democrats controlled every branch of government from 1932 through the eighties.

I won't take credit for this Burke quote: "Every political question I have ever known has had so much of the pro and con in it that nothing but the success could decide which proposition was to have been adopted."

well, that's fair, but at 30 years now, i think we can say this has been a long rightward drift, with some bursts of progressivism along the way.

Sully's all hard at the though of his wee Eddie Burke's apposite aphorism

but at 30 years now

I think it's fair to say that the WASPs have moved farther to the right as their predominance has waned but they're losing more and more battles and as they get older, they're more and more dogmatic though less in a principled way than a mostly nostalgic emotional one.

As to economics, we conceivably know more than we did 30 years ago but then so do the masters of the universe wrt to evading controls/exerting political influence

Our system is intrinsically conservative; it's designed to occlude all but the faintest of seismic shifts. That's how the Framers intended it.

"Conservative" in this sense has nothing to do with left- or right-wing.

^^^ OTM

that's also true, but doesn't detract from my point.

You know, for all the knob-slobbering this country engages in wrt the founding fathers and the way they rigged our republic up to not fall prey to the demagoguery and dictatorships of past republics, the conservative nature of our government (in Milord Sotosyn's sense) may have prevented the wild slides and coups of many other modern republics (Africa and the rest of the Americas come to mind) but perhaps the coup has just been a long, slow one. From a part Libertarian, part Liberal perspective, Eisenhower's military-industrial complex alongside some other important industries like high finance have essentially taken over. Is that different than the industrial barons and the slaveholding plantation owners of the 19th century? I'm not sure.

GOP has controlled the presidency for 20 of the last 30 years, with the only breaks being, as i say, post watergate and during recessions.
― Daniel, Esq., Wednesday, December 7, 2011 4:27 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Permalink

Without the judicial coup in 2000 it could easily have been 16 of the last 30 for the Dems. Maybe 20.

probably 20, actually.

CNN polls today:

Iowa -- 33-20, Gingrich
New Hampshire (Romney's bulwark) -- now 35-26, Romney
South Carolina -- 43-20, Gingrich
Florida -- 48-25, Gingrich

This is no dream, etc. (I hope--may as well enjoy the moment, in any event.)

http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lhrtxd2rdX1qhpsoyo1_400.jpg

lol

i think the real debate now is whether it would be worth having president gingrich in return for how awesome it would be to have nominee gingrich, & to this i say yes, yes it would, for real it so would

YES HE CAN

i want to hear gingrich general-election campaign slogans

"Fundamentally, Newt's the One!"

David Frum had an interesting point tonight (when asked how he'd advise Romney at this point): ask Republican voters if they want 2012 to be a referendum on the Clinton presidency. A subtle point that probably wouldn't get Mitt very far.

i want to hear gingrich general-election campaign slogans

GettINGRICH

Did Frum intend a defense of the Clinton presidency? About time -- it was the most successful Republican presidency of the last thirty years.

newt today:

"On my first day in office," he said, "I will move our embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem." Massive applause. "And I will ask John Bolton to serve as secretary of state." Even bigger applause -- standing ovation, biggest applause he's gotten.

the whole john bolton thing is so weird

Blolton

heh, larison pointed out that its technically illegal to promise appointments