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From Do-Nothing to Know-Nothing
Author: BobR    Date: 2015-03-18 10:39:54

When was the last time you remembered a Republican statesman? Some might say Reagan... some might say Goldwater... some might say Eisenhower. I would agree with that last one. None of them would stand a chance in today's Republican party. From doing nothing in Congress for the last several years, to acting stupidly, the party faithful must really be feeling despair as they watch presidential hopes disappear every 4 years.

Presidential hopeful Ted Cruz is (R-TX) has been hitting the campaign trail. One of the principal tenets of campaigning is "Know Your Audience". If you're not in front of the usual rabid-foaming-at-the-mouth right-wing nut-jobs, you might want to tone down your rhetoric. Otherwise, your usual applause lines will be met with stoney silence:



The other Republicans in the Senate really stepped in it when they signed that absurd condescending inaccurate letter to Iran warning them not to trust any agreements we make with them. The Logan Act has been tossed around as a possibility for dealing with them (not likely to happen). Some Senators, however, are still considered military, and thus could face court martial - or worse. You'd think they'd know better:
I would use the word mutinous,” said [retired Major Gen. Paul D.] Eaton, whose long career includes training Iraqi forces from 2003 to 2004. He is now a senior adviser to VoteVets.org. “I do not believe these senators were trying to sell out America. I do believe they defied the chain of command in what could be construed as an illegal act.” Eaton certainly had stern words for Cotton.

“What Senator Cotton did is a gross breach of discipline, and especially as a veteran of the Army, he should know better,” Eaton told me. “I have no issue with Senator Cotton, or others, voicing their opinion in opposition to any deal to halt Iran’s nuclear progress. Speaking out on these issues is clearly part of his job. But to directly engage a foreign entity, in this way, undermining the strategy and work of our diplomats and our Commander in Chief, strains the very discipline and structure that our foreign relations depend on, to succeed.” The consequences of Cotton’s missive were plainly apparent to Eaton. “The breach of discipline is extremely dangerous, because undermining our diplomatic efforts, at this moment, brings us another step closer to a very costly and perilous war with Iran,” he said.
[...]
“I expect better from the men and women who wore the uniform,” Eaton said of Cotton.
(bold-face mine)

Finally, there is House Rep Aaron Shock (R-IL) who raised eyebrows when he got his office decorated to resemble Downton Abbey. He got the decorating "comped", but had to reimburse the decorator when it was pointed out that the FEC would consider it an illegal gift. He gets the Dumbass Award for thinking no one would notice him scamming the government when he sold a car:
Schock billed the federal government and his campaign for logging roughly 170,000 miles on his personal car from January 2010 through July 2014. But when he sold that Chevrolet Tahoe in July 2014, it had roughly 80,000 miles on the odometer, according to public records obtained by POLITICO under Illinois open records laws. The documents, in other words, indicate he was reimbursed for 90,000 miles more than his car was driven.

There's your bright future Republicans. Perhaps instead of courting the most radical regressive tire-biters you can find, you should find some smart, rational, and reserved stars. Chances are, though, if they are smart, they've already drifted over to the Democratic party.
 

24 comments (Latest Comment: 03/18/2015 18:50:55 by Raine)
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