On The Republicans

By Big Tent Democrat, Section Obama Administration
Posted on Wed Feb 25, 2009 at 08:32:04 AM EST
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I did not watch much of Governor Bobby Jindal's response last night and frankly, have not paid much attention to what Republicans have been saying about much of anything lately. There is a reason for this - Democrats hold the Presidency and the Congress. Unless the Roberts Court decides to become the Lochner Court, the policies and solutions to our current crisis is in the hands of the Democratic President and Congress. There will be no sharing of the credit or the blame now.

All of the critiques of the Republicans, such as this one from David Brooks, are irrelevant in my view:

JIM LEHRER: Now that, of course, was Gov. Bobby Jindal, the governor of Louisiana, making the Republican response. David, how well do you think he did?

DAVID BROOKS: Uh, not so well. You know, I think Bobby Jindal is a very promising politician, and I oppose the stimulus because I thought it was poorly drafted. But to come up at this moment in history with a stale "government is the problem," "we can't trust the federal government" - it's just a disaster for the Republican Party. The country is in a panic right now. They may not like the way the Democrats have passed the stimulus bill, but that idea that we're just gonna - that government is going to have no role, the federal government has no role in this, that - In a moment when only the federal government is actually big enough to do stuff, to just ignore all that and just say "government is the problem, corruption, earmarks, wasteful spending," it's just a form of nihilism. It's just not where the country is, it's not where the future of the country is. There's an intra-Republican debate. Some people say the Republican Party lost its way because they got too moderate. Some people say they got too weird or too conservative. He thinks they got too moderate, and so he's making that case. I think it's insane, and I just think it's a disaster for the party. I just think it's unfortunate right now.

My own view is that if anyone believes that the developments of the next few years will create a judgment on Republican ideas, they are nuts. It will be Democratic ideas that are judged. If they are found wanting, Democrats will be voted out and Republicans will be voted in. It is that simple.

Speaking for me only

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On The Republicans | 20 comments (20 topical)

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This morning, on MSNBC, (5.00 / 3) (#1)
by joanneleon on Wed Feb 25, 2009 at 09:05:23 AM EST

Joe Scarborough said that a conservative friend of his "twittered" him during the Jindal speech with the message:
"Mayday. Mayday."

Without comment on the whole deal he made about "twittering," I thought this was hysterical.

I like your comments about not paying too much attention to the Republican response and their message in general right now. It's good, practical advice for this particular situation. Jindal and his response largely a non-issue. After a few paragraphs, I can't even tell you what the man said. The biggest reason I paid attention was because he's touted as the GOP's rising star and the dissonance of that, and of the comparison between the tax refusing Jindal and the Republican response Jindal was so astounding.

On the whole, I think we do need to pay attention to the Republicans' messaging though. Listening to C-SPAN callers, looking at poll numbers, and watching the audience reaction meters last night makes me realize that there are still a lot of people listening closely to them and at times, believing what they are saying.

: I agree with your last paragraph especially (5.00 / 1) (#4)
by magster on Wed Feb 25, 2009 at 09:21:49 AM EST

The Republicans were very much worth paying attention to in Clinton's first two years, and its important to guage whether their messaging is gaining traction. After Jindal's speech, there may be more patience with Obama than two years or even four years.

for the love of god (5.00 / 5) (#7)
by ruffian on Wed Feb 25, 2009 at 09:25:20 AM EST

Jindal didn't say anything Republicans have not been saying for the last 30 years, and now Brooks thinks it is insane?

I hate the media.

This reminds me of an article in (5.00 / 2) (#8)
by Baal on Wed Feb 25, 2009 at 09:28:40 AM EST

the Chronicle for Higher Education, something I read for professional reasons, even though I find it increasingly useless. They seemed frightened because Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa -- a typical curmudgeonly GOP fool who wants EVERYONE off his lawn -- was complaining about the salaries paid to college presidents. (They make less on average than one-tenth the salaries of CEOs of comparably sized organizations in the private sector but I digress).

The point is, why does anyone care at all what Chuck Grassley thinks about anything? Last I heard, his team had 41 votes which is only enough to fillibuster assuming that you can get everyone to agree, and not enough to initiate much of anything. So who cares? I would love for someone to ask him that question directly. It could go something like "Senator Grassley, I understand that you claim the power to decide what everybody ought to be paid, but really, we can all divide 100 by 2 and understand that 41 is not that close to the result. So why are you wasting time and money grandstanding in front of the cameras? Isn't it time for you to retire? Or perhaps we should examine large federal subsidies and environmental issues surrounding large industrial corn farming in the upper midwest?"

: Watching the GOP take an (none / 0) (#20)
by hairspray on Wed Feb 25, 2009 at 12:48:59 PM EST

issue that most people dislike and beat it to death (Bill O'Reilly) is a clever ploy. They milk grievances for a reason. It helps them stay relevant and it fosters a comaraderie of like minded people. Its not blather. Didn't you get the memo?

I wish Reid and Obama (5.00 / 2) (#9)
by ruffian on Wed Feb 25, 2009 at 09:30:51 AM EST

thought Republicans and their ideas were as irrelevant as BTD does. When Reid and Obama appropriate Republican ideas in a vain attempt at PPU, they make Dems take the blame for Republican policies.

I could include Pelosi in that, but she is not the problem at the moment.

In summary (5.00 / 4) (#10)
by eric on Wed Feb 25, 2009 at 09:31:07 AM EST

Jindal said:

America can do anything, and they have lots of stuff on the store shelves. That is what I took away from it, anyway.

: Heh (none / 0) (#11)
by Big Tent Democrat on Wed Feb 25, 2009 at 09:32:44 AM EST

Republican self-immolation. . . (5.00 / 2) (#13)
by LarryInNYC on Wed Feb 25, 2009 at 09:44:18 AM EST

is always important and, even if it's not important, it's certainly gratifying.

I don't think we've reached the tipping point in public opinion yet (when the public is hungry for a genuinely different set of policies). A Republican Party bereft of ideas can only help us get there.

I just need to vent for a minute (5.00 / 1) (#14)
by Militarytracy on Wed Feb 25, 2009 at 09:48:36 AM EST

This a.m. some repub pundit on the tube said that Nancy Pelosi was jumping around during the address like a cheerleader. This was said using a tone insinuating that it was a bad thing ...this jumping cheerleaderish Pelosi. I have spent most of my life in Conservative enclaves and there are few greater aspirations for young girls in these areas than becoming an acknowledged cheerleader. It is serious business too I'll have you know. It is more serious than vying for queen of the Peanut festival around here, and few things make your parents more proud either unless you grow into an Auburn, or Alabama, or Florida cheerleader.....if that happens you have hit the girly dreams motherlode. How can Conservatives attempt to make fun of Nancy for acting so Conservative? Aren't they making fun of themselves in the end? I don't get it

If Jindal is the best the repugs can do then they (5.00 / 2) (#15)
by Angel on Wed Feb 25, 2009 at 09:56:00 AM EST

are in deeper trouble than I thought. The guy was downright awful. I had a hard time understanding what he was saying, and I was extremely distracted by his eye and facial movements. I think he was not comfortable using the teleprompter. All that aside, what he did say was laughable. What is it with these people? Their guy drove us over the cliff yet they don't want our guy to get us back on the road. Unbelievable.

Critiques of the Republicans are never irrelevant (5.00 / 3) (#16)
by Tom Hilton on Wed Feb 25, 2009 at 09:57:37 AM EST

Until the very last Republican dies in captivity or renounces Satan or just plain gives up, it will always be necessary to attack them. They're out there spreading their disinformation and spin, doing everything they possibly can to obstruct a positive agenda, and they can still do a hell of a lot of damage if we just ignore them. Countering their dishonesty is still an essential task--far more essential, IMO, than picking nits with the Democrats.

Speaking for myself only, of course.

Yes, but BTD (5.00 / 0) (#18)
by gyrfalcon on Wed Feb 25, 2009 at 11:02:24 AM EST

Jindal was so incredibly entertaining!

And watching the great new hope of the Republican Party crash and burn so spectacularly is very, very gratifying.

It's not even so much what he said (although that was breath-takingly stupid in purely political terms) but the fact that he was flat-out ridiculous.

I watched only (5.00 / 1) (#19)
by cal1942 on Wed Feb 25, 2009 at 11:52:29 AM EST

a brief moment of Jindal's speech and then read a few excerpts.

There was no need to watch or read even a fragment of that speech.

It was standard right-wing hack fare, entirely predicatable.

A Rush Limbaugh listener could have given the same speech.

I didn't watch Jindal (none / 0) (#2)
by Militarytracy on Wed Feb 25, 2009 at 09:09:57 AM EST

Had nothing to do with knowing about what matters either :) I had a third grader needing help with his vocabulary and a kitchen full of puppies. I can't find a link to watch Jindal either and I would like to this morning. Where can I watch this Mayday alerting diatribe :)?

lots of places (5.00 / 2) (#3)
by DFLer on Wed Feb 25, 2009 at 09:19:12 AM EST

but here's one


: Everything I could find (5.00 / 2) (#6)
by Militarytracy on Wed Feb 25, 2009 at 09:22:19 AM EST

was video of other people freaking out about it :) Thanks, I'm listening to it as I type. He sounds like he watched a lot of Mr. Rogers :)

Jindal Video (5.00 / 1) (#5)
by CoralGables on Wed Feb 25, 2009 at 09:22:06 AM EST

Jindal's third grade address. Based on this performance, it's hard to believe he was a Rhodes Scholar.

Video


: Whew, that wasn't anything like I was (none / 0) (#12)
by Militarytracy on Wed Feb 25, 2009 at 09:36:00 AM EST

expecting it to be. I can't even begin to analyze for myself but I do come away ready to take a sweet nap wrapped in a deep security because we did defeat the Soviet menace :) Maybe he saw too many boobs yesterday.

Brooks is becoming a Democrat. (none / 0) (#17)
by coigue on Wed Feb 25, 2009 at 10:12:55 AM EST

The process has been a long time coming. He has to say things like this:"I oppose the stimulus because I thought it was poorly drafted" to stay on the GOP side, but if it had been a GOP president with the same plan...he would have supported it.