File This Under You Can’t Make This Stuff Up!

This will, I hope, be a weekly feature. Of course, all bets are off once I return to work.


“I hope he [Obama] fails!” – Rush Limbaugh

“That was a terrible thing to say. I mean, he's [Obama] the president of all the country. If he succeeds, the country succeeds. And if he doesn't, it hurts us all. Anybody who would pull against our president is not exactly thinking rationally.” – Pat Robertson

Well now I’ve heard everything. It truly is the end of the world, cats and dogs sleeping together, etc… What does it say about your mindset when Pat Robertson calls you out? That’s exactly what happened yesterday when the conservative evangelical spoke out against Limbaugh in a U.S. News & World Report interview. I’ll say this for Robertson; he has more guts than the entire Republican Congress.

Now before you get carried away, Robertson is hardly a fan of the new president. Earlier in the interview, Robertson also said,

“He hasn't been as skillful in a number of areas. I think he's showing partisanship. What I said on CNN is that if he's not partisan and doesn't swing out at the left, he has the potential to be a great president. But look at his cabinet appointments. And the stimulus package is a disaster. He let [House Speaker] Nancy Pelosi write the bill. He should have exerted more leadership about what went into the stimulus package. It's not over, but I still want to give him the benefit of every doubt, and I definitely hope he succeeds. It wouldn't be good for Americans for him not to. We don't want a president who fails at domestic and foreign policy.”

Still, given what we have come to expect from Robertson in the past, this amounted to a virtual act of contrition for past sins. I’m not holding my breath, mind you. Considering Robertson’s volatile nature and propensity for embarrassing himself – he’s kind of the conservative version of Joe Biden – who knows what future comments may exit his lips? For now I’m choosing to enjoy the moment. If nothing else it shows that, despite the rhetoric of the Right, not everyone is drinking the Kool Aid. And you thought that hope was dead!

In other hypocritical news, House Minority Whip Eric Cantor is having quite a week. First Cantor got in trouble for using the Aerosmith song “Back in the Saddle” to boast in an ad that “The House GOP is Back” due to its unanimous opposition to the stimulus bill. Seems that Stage Three Music, which owns the rights to the song, claimed copyright infringement. Ooops! Cantor was forced to take down the ad.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, it was revealed that New York Private Bank and Trust received $267 million in TARP aid last year. The problem? Diane Cantor runs a Virginia-based subsidiary of the bank in question. Diane Cantor’s husband is Eric Cantor, who just happened to vote for the $700 billion TARP plan. Double oops! As Curly Howard would say, “I’m a victim of soicumstance!”

Three things come to mind here. 1. Cantor really should know copyright law well enough to be able to tell whether he can or can’t use a song; 2. Cantor should’ve at least played the song before tabbing it as the poster child for the GOP. Had he done so, he would’ve found out what every Aerosmith fan has known since 1976: that it was a song about having sex with a whore!; and 3. Cantor ought to know who his wife’s employer is before signing his name to a bill that ends up depositing taxpayer money into that employer’s coffers.

And now from the sublime to the ridiculous. Good Old Michele Bachmann, or as we so affectionately call her the gift that keeps on giving, went above and beyond in her seeming endless attempts at embarrassing herself. Her latest Kodak moment came during a radio interview with one of her minions over the weekend and she was in rare form. The entire interview lasted 13 minutes and I have included it here. I have also included a segment of “Countdown with Keith Olbermann” which deals specifically with the interview in a more concise manner. I should warn you before hand, it is strongly suggested that you be seated while listening.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/17/michele-bachmann-were-run_n_167650.html

http://minnesotaindependent.com/26946/the-craziest-interview-in-american-politics-michele-bachmann

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rGYXJihvOg

The “highlights” are as follows:

1. The Democrats locked the door, posted guards and wouldn’t let any Republicans in to have a voice in the stimulus bill (false). At one point she actually slips up and says, “This is the most non-partisan bill you’ve ever seen.” Oh, really, Michele?
2. Acorn is under federal indictment (false) and gets $5 billion in the stim bill (again false). Acorn is never mentioned in the bill.
3. Members of Congress have a real aversion to capitalism. (I’m sure Michele will start another witch hunt the minute she gets back to her office.)
4. The stimulus bill contains a measure to create a “national rationing board” for health care, and after the bill becomes law, "your doctor will no longer be able to make your healthcare decisions with you." (Beyond belief). This is the same crap Betsy McCaughey, former lieutenant governor of New York, was peddling earlier. Nothing in the stim bill prohibits your right to discuss and make healthcare decisions with your doctor.
5. Obama, the "Community-Organizer-in-Chief," is also orchestrating a conspiracy involving the Census Bureau, which the president will use to redraw congressional lines to keep Democrats in power for up to "40 years." When the host reminded her that congressional district lines are drawn at the state level, Bachmann said Obama's non-existent plan is an "anti-constitutional move." (Stupid.)
6. The recovery package is part of a Democratic conspiracy to "direct" funding away from Republican districts, so Democratic districts can "suck up" all federal funds. (This is false and Bachmann knows it. Her Congressional district will actually be getting the most stimulus funds in her state.)

What else can you expect from a woman who truly believes that “God called me to run for Congress.” As a Christian I have only one question left to ask, Why is it that only the lunatics bother to mention their conversations with God? Aren’t there any sane people out there who converse with the Almighty?