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CPUNK
Author: BobR    Date: 03/18/2013 13:02:28

The conservative gathering known as CPAC happened last week. The idea behind it is for conservatives to get together, exchange ideas, and layout a roadmap for the future. It is also a de facto Republican party convention. If they had hoped to gel around some concrete common ideals, it was not apparent there was any success from this outside view. What I see is sniping and litmus tests and general overall nastiness.

It's obvious they are an unhappy lot, unable to grasp why America has left them for the more progressive Democrats and liberals - even in traditionally Republican states. For this, they naturally blame the candidates for not being conservative enough. Both Mitt Romney and John McCain felt the wrath from presidential hopefuls Rand Paul and Marco Rubio (oh yeah - and Rick Perry). Ann Coulter - who previously supported NJ Governor Chris Christie took a shot at him making the ever-classy fat joke. Christie has fallen out of favor because he embraced President Obama in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy and was not invited this year. Considering what a nasti-fest this was, that is likely to his advantage.

One of the highlights of the event is the straw poll for presidential candidate. Supposedly Libertarian Rand Paul (what person can be truly libertarian if they support government interfering with a woman's private medical decisions?) won the straw poll, dooming him to permanent also-ran status. The last person to win it and go on to win the presidency was Dubya in 2000 (even though he was appointed). Before that it was Ronald Reagan in 1984, running as an incumbent. Close behind was Marco Rubio. I am unaware whether his water bottle was pegged as his potential running mate.

The queen bee of obnoxious (and perennial convention favorite) Sarah Palin, however, brought the crowd what they wanted: a cathartic dose of nasty:
“We don’t have leadership coming out of Washington. We have reality television. Except it’s really bad TV, and America tuned out a long time ago.”

On gun sales: “More background checks? Dandy idea, Mr. President. Shoulda started with yours.”

On Obama’s reelection: “You won. We get it. Now step away from the teleprompter and do your job.”

She said - while reading from a teleprompter...

She started her speech by coming out with a Big Gulp drink and said "Bloomberg's not around, our Big Gulp's safe". Once again - taking a pot-shot at a fellow Republican. Of course - very few people - left or right - agree with his ban on huge soft drink sizes, but that's irrelevant because somehow the idea will become twisted in the minds of the convention-goers that this was an idea created by and supported by Democrats.

But like all Republican and Tea Party politics, where it really gets nasty is at the state and local levels. At one the break-out sessions, the discussion was about attracting southern non-white voters. One of the attendees declared that slavery wasn't so bad. After all - the masters provided food and shelter, right?

And that gets right to the heart of it, doesn't it? The problem with the Republican party is that they have the stigma of supporting the business owner over the workers, of the rich over the poor, of the white males over everyone else. They live in a dog-eat-dog world, where nastiness, greed, and an unwillingness to forgive are virtues, where helping the poor is socialism, where guns are the solution, not the problem, where Muslims are trying to create Sharia Law, while legislating their Christian religion.

CPAC has shown that this is not something they plan on changing. The attendees don't want to change it. The most popular speakers reflect the zeitgeist of the party, and it is ugly indeed. No amount of marketing is going to wash away that stink.
 

62 comments (Latest Comment: 03/19/2013 01:00:25 by Will in Chicago)
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Comment by wickedpam on 03/18/2013 13:09:55
Morning

Isn't CPUNK a pro wrestler?

Comment by TriSec on 03/18/2013 13:13:32
Morning, comrades!

And how are we all in this glorious debt slave treadmill worker's paradise today?



Comment by wickedpam on 03/18/2013 13:17:33
can I just vent how sick and tired I am of hearing my teacher friends be so joyous that they get a day off for snow and gloat about it while the rest of us have to drive to work no matter what?

Comment by TriSec on 03/18/2013 13:30:47
Quote by wickedpam:
can I just vent how sick and tired I am of hearing my teacher friends be so joyous that they get a day off for snow and gloat about it while the rest of us have to drive to work no matter what?


Right, and next week they'll have an early release day for "professional development"

What the hell do they do on those days, anyway? Can't this be done during school vacation week?


Comment by Raine on 03/18/2013 13:39:47
Good morning!

Comment by wickedpam on 03/18/2013 13:47:06
Quote by TriSec:
Quote by wickedpam:
can I just vent how sick and tired I am of hearing my teacher friends be so joyous that they get a day off for snow and gloat about it while the rest of us have to drive to work no matter what?


Right, and next week they'll have an early release day for "professional development"

What the hell do they do on those days, anyway? Can't this be done during school vacation week?


There should be better planning of a school year for both students and teachers. But then I speak as a childless loser.


Comment by TriSec on 03/18/2013 13:56:32
Quote by wickedpam:


There should be better planning of a school year for both students and teachers. But then I speak as a childless loser.



This has been a platform plank of mine. Still deciding what to do this cycle.



Comment by Raine on 03/18/2013 13:56:43
I am so glad I didn't watch the coverage of the Steubenville rape conviction on CNN.

This is sickening.

Comment by BobR on 03/18/2013 14:02:19
blog is posted


Comment by Will in Chicago on 03/18/2013 14:05:58
Quote by Raine:
I am so glad I didn't watch the coverage of the Steubenville rape conviction on CNN.

This is sickening.



Good morning, bloggers!! I hope that everyone is well.

I did not watch the coverage, but having read about the coverage I have to ask what came of the much vaunted objectivity that I learned about in my journalism classes. Regardless of how a reporter feels, there should be objective reporting.

Comment by Will in Chicago on 03/18/2013 14:07:47
As for myself, I am home today helping to watch my great nephews. Their sister, Emily Rose, is having surgery on an obstruction spotted in her esophagus.

Raine, I fear that CPAC shows that the dominant wing of the GOP -- the Tea Party -- does not want to change and cannot reach out to others. I have to ask if it would be a great loss if they went the way of the Whigs. Then, perhaps, another party (probably the Libertarians) would emerge as a home for conservatives.

Comment by TriSec on 03/18/2013 14:13:55
Say, have I mentioned that I have now reacted badly to physical therapy?

My right foot has been painful and swollen for days; I have actually stopped my regimen. (I see them again tomorrow, this will be duly noted.)

And I checked with a longtime stoner and friend at the store, who is also a cancer survivor and had neuropathy for two years post-treatment. She says that "medicine" didn't help with that much, so maybe I'll skip that after all.


<-- TriSec slowly realizing this may be the "new normal".



Comment by Will in Chicago on 03/18/2013 14:31:50
Quote by TriSec:
Say, have I mentioned that I have now reacted badly to physical therapy?

My right foot has been painful and swollen for days; I have actually stopped my regimen. (I see them again tomorrow, this will be duly noted.)

And I checked with a longtime stoner and friend at the store, who is also a cancer survivor and had neuropathy for two years post-treatment. She says that "medicine" didn't help with that much, so maybe I'll skip that after all.


<-- TriSec slowly realizing this may be the "new normal".




I hope that it is not the new normal for you. I do mention you during the Mi Sheberiach prayer at Temple on Fridays.


The key thing is to see what can be done.

In some positive news, I am finding some good positions out East.

Comment by Mondobubba on 03/18/2013 14:36:23
Quote by Raine:
I am so glad I didn't watch the coverage of the Steubenville rape conviction on CNN.

This is sickening.



What the hell was all that boo-hoo-hooing over convicted rapists about?? I was appalled.

Comment by TriSec on 03/18/2013 14:37:28
Republicans are sure acting like the frogs in the boiling pot now, eh?

Change is passing them by. Like other dead-ends of evolution, if they can't change they are doomed to extinction. Oh, there will be a few around, but they'll be like those oddball little lizards and chameleons that didn't get the memo. Chris Christie, of course, would be a Komodo Dragon.

(slaps self, sorry for the gratuitous attack.)


Comment by Raine on 03/18/2013 14:43:26
That was a great Caller and conversation.

Comment by Raine on 03/18/2013 14:45:15
This is the group that puts on CPAC, btw

Comment by wickedpam on 03/18/2013 14:47:11
Quote by Raine:
That was a great Caller and conversation.


this is why I like when Hal guest hosts = he has some good conversations instead of kinda blowing off callers


Comment by clintster on 03/18/2013 14:52:22
Quote by wickedpam:
Morning

Isn't CPUNK a pro wrestler?


Just had a visual of CM Punk crashing the dais during Sarah Palin's speech. That could only have improved it.

Comment by Mondobubba on 03/18/2013 14:56:32
CPAC season it is my favorite time of the year. The conservative movement show America how truly repellent it really is.

Comment by clintster on 03/18/2013 15:13:27


Maybe he'll play younger Moses, and Jack Nicholson will play "leading the Israelites through the wilderness" Moses.

Comment by Mondobubba on 03/18/2013 15:18:55
Quote by clintster:


Maybe he'll play younger Moses, and Jack Nicholson will play "leading the Israelites through the wilderness" Moses.



I would pay hard earned money to see Jack Nicholson play Moses. The shades would be a hoot.

Comment by Raine on 03/18/2013 15:24:01
Comment by Mondobubba on 03/18/2013 15:27:16
Quote by Raine:
That's twice in 2 weeks.

Is the real Sirota back?



Don't count on it. I'm sure there will be an OBAMAISWORSETHANBUSHHERE'SWHY column coming soon.

Comment by Raine on 03/18/2013 15:29:17
For some reason, I thought she already was in support of Marriage equality.

Thank you Madame Secretary!

Comment by Raine on 03/18/2013 15:30:29
Quote by Mondobubba:
Quote by Raine:
That's twice in 2 weeks.

Is the real Sirota back?



Don't count on it. I'm sure there will be an OBAMAISWORSETHANBUSHHERE'SWHY column coming soon.
ERRMERGERD!

Yes.


Comment by Raine on 03/18/2013 15:37:53
California is doing this the right way.

RWGN will be having heads blown any minute now.
http://www.bloomberg.com/image/i6tRQitg4NJs.jpg

California Department of Justice police agents walk towards a house near Ontario, California on Tuesday, March 5, 2013. The agents, working for the only state-level program to confiscate illegal firearms from owners, targeted people who’d once legally purchased firearms and lost the right after being convicted of violent crimes, committed to mental institutions or hit with restraining orders.



Comment by clintster on 03/18/2013 15:43:50
Get ready to see this from your RWLM's on Facebook

Devil in "The Bible" miniseries looks like Obama

Comment by Mondobubba on 03/18/2013 15:46:36
Quote by clintster:
Get ready to see this from your RWLM's on Facebook

Devil in "The Bible" miniseries looks like Obama



Ugh.

Comment by livingonli on 03/18/2013 15:48:55
Good morning, folks. It seems the fact that the spokespeople for the right now are so bat-shit crazy probably explains why I've had difficulty talking with my righty friends of late because it seems like a lot of them just swallow what Fox News, right-wing talk radio and the "star" politicians on the right say without doing critical analysis. Things are OK as long as we don't talk politics.

Comment by TriSec on 03/18/2013 16:11:09
Kid's birthday party? Let's bring GUNS!!



Comment by Mondobubba on 03/18/2013 16:13:55
Moron, the files are attached like they would be on every other online form that supports file attachments that you have ever filled out in your entire life!




Comment by Raine on 03/18/2013 16:17:55
Quote by clintster:
Get ready to see this from your RWLM's on Facebook

Devil in "The Bible" miniseries looks like Obama

The damn history channel is now Fonzie.

Yes I think that should be a new meme. No more using the phrase "jumping the shark"

Just type Fonzie. I'm gonna start it now.

Comment by Raine on 03/18/2013 16:20:53
Quote by TriSec:
Kid's birthday party? Let's bring GUNS!!


Clickety click.. here's JESUS!

Comment by TriSec on 03/18/2013 16:21:46
Bugs on a bus.

Doesn't quite sound the same.



Comment by Raine on 03/18/2013 16:22:02
Quote by Raine:
Quote by TriSec:
Kid's birthday party? Let's bring GUNS!!


Clickety click.. here's JESUS!

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/03/18/article-2295082-18BFDB35000005DC-609_634x380.jpg


Comment by Raine on 03/18/2013 16:29:57
Sometimes I wonder who Ed is trying to convince about his show and the times change.

Comment by TriSec on 03/18/2013 16:30:12
A lengthy AAV bonus.

On this, the eve of the tenth anniversary of our invading Iraq.

"The war in Iraq won't truly be over until the last, tortured veteran dies screaming in his sleep perhaps 70 years from now."
- Rachel Maddow



Comment by Raine on 03/18/2013 16:30:45
Quote by TriSec:
Bugs on a bus.

Doesn't quite sound the same.


Gives a whole new meaning to Roach Coach....

Comment by wickedpam on 03/18/2013 16:31:35
Quote by Raine:
Quote by TriSec:
Kid's birthday party? Let's bring GUNS!!


Clickety click.. here's JESUS!


Jesus seems a bit fair skin for someone from Nazareth, if you ask me.


Comment by wickedpam on 03/18/2013 16:32:58
Quote by Raine:
Quote by TriSec:
Bugs on a bus.

Doesn't quite sound the same.


Gives a whole new meaning to Roach Coach....



:shudders: bugs


Comment by wickedpam on 03/18/2013 16:33:51
Quote by Raine:
Quote by Raine:
Quote by TriSec:
Kid's birthday party? Let's bring GUNS!!


Clickety click.. here's JESUS!

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/03/18/article-2295082-18BFDB35000005DC-609_634x380.jpg


so who produced this?


Comment by wickedpam on 03/18/2013 16:37:24
Caller on Ed just said Roma Downy, Jr produced the show - She used to be on Touched by and Angel, a show I kinda liked from time to time, mostly cause of Della Reese and Andrew Dye.

Comment by Mondobubba on 03/18/2013 17:06:26
Quote by Raine:
Quote by clintster:
Get ready to see this from your RWLM's on Facebook

Devil in "The Bible" miniseries looks like Obama

The damn history channel is now Fonzie.

Yes I think that should be a new meme. No more using the phrase "jumping the shark"

Just type Fonzie. I'm gonna start it now.


Don't be hating on the Fonz now!


Comment by Raine on 03/18/2013 17:27:27
Quote by wickedpam:
Quote by Raine:
Quote by Raine:
Quote by TriSec:
Kid's birthday party? Let's bring GUNS!!


Clickety click.. here's JESUS!

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/03/18/article-2295082-18BFDB35000005DC-609_634x380.jpg


so who produced this?

Mark Burnett....


(Of 'survivor' fame)

Comment by TriSec on 03/18/2013 17:44:21
Alright gang...heading back to MAH to see my gastroenterologist. I expect some faaaaaaantastic cocktails in my future.



Comment by livingonli on 03/18/2013 18:19:00
There seems to be some reports that whoever it is who's working on that Bible series is a Right-wing Christian Fundie which may explain a lot of things.

Comment by wickedpam on 03/18/2013 18:25:55
Quote by Raine:
Quote by wickedpam:
Quote by Raine:
Quote by Raine:
Quote by TriSec:
Kid's birthday party? Let's bring GUNS!!


Clickety click.. here's JESUS!

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/03/18/article-2295082-18BFDB35000005DC-609_634x380.jpg


so who produced this?

Mark Burnett....


(Of 'survivor' fame)


didn't realize he was such a Fundie