Blog Credo

The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.

H.L. Mencken

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Is Popcorn Good For A Cold?


I am sick, because of course I am.  I have a ton of work to do, a wrestling meet to lose tomorrow, exams to prepare, review sessions to plan, comments to write, exams to grade, children to monitor.  Of course I feel like warmed over poo.

I had a nice bowl of soup at lunch.  Chicken, of course.  So good for the back of my throat which has been worked over with a cheese grater.

But I have to say watching the GOP crack up is the Christmas gift that keeps on giving.

Everyone who works or knows Newt Gingrich is agog at his recent ascendency.  Lindsey Graham, who was the Brutus to Newt's Caesar, is now trying to patch things up, because Newt's probably more popular in SC than Huckleberry is at the moment.

Meanwhile, the GOP congressional leadership has been so gobsmacked by his rise, that they haven't noticed that - oh, yeah - we have to pass a budget.  What could be a better monument to the resurrection of Newt Gingrich than a full-on governmental shutdown?  The Crazy Caucus wants to attach all sorts of riders to defund ACORN and abolish the Department of Education, but then they won't vote for it anyway, because it doesn't have exemption from criminal prosecution for people who shoot abortion doctors in their churches.

So, Boehner knows he needs Democratic votes for a bill that his crazier members are loading up with crap.

Meanwhile, the GOP seems unwilling to extend the payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits because... well, I guess because it's offset with a surtax on the 1%, but really it's because they are now literally incapable of doing ANYTHING that resembles governing.

So, within a month, we could see A) Newt Gingrich win Iowa with Mitt Romney finishing third.  B) The GOP shutting down the government for Christmas, C) The GOP cutting off UI and raising taxes on the middle class.

Golly gee willikers!

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