Sotomayor

President Obama's nominee to the Supreme Court, Judge Sonia Sotomayor, appears to be a home run. Despite a few stumbles (Daschle, Bill Richardson), the Obama team has put forth a solid string of nominees for top positions. I'm still taking a wait-and-see approach on Treasury Secretary Geithner, but can't think of another pick that I've been disappointed in.

It's kind of funny seeing the Republicans try and muster up a rational argument for opposing Judge Sotomayor. President Bush the Elder first nominated her to be a federal judge and she's been approved twice by the Senate. Maybe they will come up with something really witty, like the Hispanic equivalent of Magic Negro....Rush, our eyes turn to you.

Sarah Palin: Conservatism's most "articulate" voice?

I'm still not quite sure what to make of Rush Limbaugh's comment today that Sarah Palin has been one of conservatism's most articulate voices. Part of me thinks its just another in a long line of Rush making comments that make zero sense whatsover. But part of me thinks maybe she really was one of their more articulate voices, which explains why the Republican party and the conservative movement are at a political and intellectual nadir.

Well, you judge for yourself on Ms. Articulate ....



My favorite though was when she couldn't name one newspaper she reads. I mean the question isn't even really "name a newspaper you actually read", which should be simple enough. In basic political terms the question is really "just name a newspaper" - its not like they are going to fingerprint newspapers to make sure you really read them. Then she complained about "gotcha" journalism, when its hard to think of an easier question than what newspaper do you read.

Assorted Polling: Good news for Obama

A host of recent polls have been very positive - both for Obama himself and for progressive policies in general.

A Pew poll shows Obama at 61% approval with only 26% disapproval ratings, with 60% agreeing that the government needs to do more to regulate the financial sector (with only 31% opposed), and by a 54% to 36% margin Americans feel Obama's economic plan will reduce the deficit in the long term.

A recent CNN poll revealed that only 26% of America agrees with Dick Cheney's recent claim that Obama's policies have increased the chances of a terrorist attack against the United States, while a resounding 72% disagree. That 26% pretty well tracks Cheney's normal personal approval numbers, and the percentage of Americans who agree with almost any of his policies. But its a bad sign for the GOP - when they can't sell America on fear, they have a tough time winning elections.

Heck, more Americans polled feel their taxes are fair rather than too high. This as we watch the Fox News promoted "tea parties", where small groups of right wingers protested Obama's tax policies (even though all of them making less than $250,000 were getting tax cuts) and the expansion of the federal deficit in general (although strangely most of them were silent while Bush was running up deficit records).

Obama is also the most trusted current political figure, and 71% specifically trust him to fix our economy.

Much of this is the early support of a popular new President, elected with a clear mandate, who has been following through on his campaign promises. But part of it also has to be attributed to the comically poor nature of the opposition party. Following its massive defeats in the 2006 and 2008 elections, the GOP is still staggering about aimlessly, trying to find leaders and a message (one different than their usual stale platform that has been soundly rejected at the ballot box). When your public face consists of such crazies, has-beens, and not ready for prime time players as Michael Steele, Newt Gingrich, Bobby Jindal, Glenn Beck, Michele Bachmann, and Rush Limbaugh - something has gone very wrong. Ironically, many Republicans tried to convince themselves that their party's political ills were all due to Bush's low personal approval ratings. Yet compared to that group, he looks like the most sane, reasonable, well liked leader they have going for them.

Jon Stewart on Rush and O'Reilly

Another Daily Show classic....

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

A Party in Limbaugh

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things With Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Joke of the Day

The Steele-Rush duel

Obama's plan to make Rush Limbaugh the public face of today's GOP is looking more and more brilliant all the time. In an Obama vs. Rush debate, the American people will choose Obama every single time, and you can see that in all the recent polling. Now the actual RNC leader, Michael Steele, is pushing back. But I'm not sure how much better Steele is than Rush when it comes to the public face of a political party. All in all, I think every day the GOP spends deciding who officially represents them between Rush Limbaugh and Michael Steele is a day the Democrats won.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/03/02/gop.steele.limbaugh/index.html

"Steele, chairman of the Republican National Committee, said in an interview with CNN that he, rather than Limbaugh, is "the de facto leader of the Republican Party." And Steele described Limbaugh as a performer. "Rush Limbaugh is an entertainer. Rush Limbaugh's whole thing is entertainment," Steele said. "Yes, it is incendiary. Yes, it is ugly.""

Rush is the star of CPAC

Mitt Romney may have won the straw poll, but there is little doubt that Rush Limbaugh was the star of the conference. One of the reasons that Rush is popular with the right wing is that he clearly states what he believes. He doesn't water-down his dislike for President Obama- Rush admits he is rooting for Obama to fail. Compared to the gobbly-gook that Bobby Jindal was spouting, I'm sure that is welcome to GOP listeners.

Salon has a good take on his appearance at CPAC and his standing in the party.

" Limbaugh exhorted conservatives to stay upbeat, blasted the alleged socialist agenda of the "Democrat Party," and called out the new president, the one he hopes will fail. "President Obama: Your agenda is not new, it's not change, and it's not hope," Limbaugh thundered, to wild applause in the Omni Shoreham's packed Regency Ballroom, as overflow crowds in three of the hotel's other convention rooms watched by live feed."

Even though I can't stand Rush, he is more authentic than this guy:

Joe the Plumber running for office?

Good to see Joe the Plumber (who is actually neither a licensed plumber, nor named Joe) still in the news, this time at the Conservative Political Action Committee giving quotes about the state of the Republican party and how he may run for office someday.

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/02/26/1812082.aspx

Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin, Bobby Jindal, Michael Steele, and Joe the Plumber. It's quite a crew the GOP have over there as their public face. I feel like its almost a waste to be using a political superstar like Barack Obama during this era. Kind of like trotting out Kobe Bryant for your office hoops game. Heck, even Walter Mondale is looking at these guys and thinking to himself "I'd get at least 300 electoral votes".