Republicans Say the Darndest Things: Oh, Blessed Irony

For this Monday Quote day, I have several...

First, God told Heidi Cruz that Ted should run (a story Rafael the elder is only too happy to retell and retell and retell:

"We were on our knees for two hours seeking God's will.  At the end of that time, a word came through his wife, Heidi...  And I'll tell you, it was as if there was a cloud of the holy spirit filling that place.  Some of us were weeping, and Ted just looked up and said, 'Lord, here am I, use me.  I surrender to you, whatever you want.'  And he felt that was a green light to move forward."

Next we witnessed an entire year of Ted on the campaign trail boasting that God speaks to him, that the country is in dire need of a spiritual revival, and that his presidency will bring God back to Washington.

"(God) speaks to me.  Literally.  In my head." 

"Any president who doesn't begin every day on his knees isn't fit to be commander-in-chief of this nation."

Then last Tuesday, at CNN's Presidential Town Hall, Ted said this:

"Listen, with me, as with many people in America, my faith is an integral part of who I am.  I'm a Christian and I'm not embarrassed to say that.  I'm not going to hide that and treat it like it's something you can't admit publicly and acknowledge.  It's an important part of who you are. 

But I also think that those in politics have an obligation not to wear their faith on their sleeve. There have been far too many politicians that run around behaving like they're holier than thou.  And I'll tell you, my attitude as a voter, if some politician stands up and says 'I'm running because God told me to run,' my reaction as a voter is 'Great.  When God tells me to vote for you, we'll be on the same page.'"

what eye thynk:  No words.  None.  --  Okay, one word: Hypocrite.

Quote(s) for Monday, March 28

what eye thynk:  One Supreme Court seat, one nomination, one embarrassing flip-flop.

monday quote(s):

1997 - Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), speaking in support of Merrick Garland's nomination to the Court of Appeals, DC Circuit:  

"His intelligence and his scholarship cannot be questioned...His legal experience is equally impressive...Accordingly, I believe Mr. Garland is a fine nominee.  I know him personally, I know his integrity, I know his legal ability, I know his honesty, I know his acumen." 

2016, March 13 - Senator Orrin Hatch speaking at a Federalist Society lunch in Washington D.C.:

"The President told me several times he's going to name a moderate (to fill the court vacancy,) but I don't believe him.  (He) could easily name Merrick Garland, who is a fine man...He probably won't do that because this appointment is about the election."

2016, March 16, just three days later - The President nominated Merrick Garland.  One day after that, on March 17, Mr. Hatch spoke to the media.

"I remain convinced that the best way for the Senate to do its job is to conduct the confirmation process after this toxic Presidential election season is over."

The only conclusion I can draw is that Orrin Hatch LOVED Merrick Garland until President Obama loved him too.  When Mr. Hatch breezily called nominating Mr. Garland "easy," he was daring the President to nominate someone who would and should glide through the nomination process without a blip.  

His reaction to the nomination is not only a slap in the face to Judge Garland's "integrity," a quality Senator Hatch claimed to admire, but also paints a huge question mark on his own senatorial rectitude.   With his own words, Orrin Hatch has made himself look like a fool--one who thought he was being clever and then found out there was a true genius in the room.

Yes, this election season is "toxic," but the president isn't the one serving up the Wolfsbane.

Quote for Monday, March 21

Scott Brown (R) was elected to fill the late Ted Kennedy's Massachusetts Senate seat in a 2010 special election, and then went on to be soundly defeated for the same seat by Elizabeth Warren (D) in 2012 by a margin of 54% to 46%.  Recently, his name has popped up on Donald Trump's list of those he is considering for Vice President. 

At the South Boston St. Patrick's Day Breakfast on Saturday, Elizabeth Warren got this zinger in on the possible Republican match-up:

monday quote:

"Donald Trump is floating Scott Brown as a possible running mate.  I want you to think about that--it would be the perfect reality show match-up.  Celebrity Apprentice meets The Biggest Loser."

(Elizabeth Warren, U.S. Senator from Massachusetts, 1949 -    ) 

Quote for Monday, March 14

No matter the subject--religion, equality, science, education, the economy, the arts, human rights--this quote speaks to every single one of them; but especially to those politicians and their followers who "forgo their use" with impunity.

monday quote:

"I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use."

(Galileo Galilei, astronomer, physicist, engineer, philosopher, mathematician, 1564-1642)

Quote for Monday, March 7

This pretty much sums up how I feel about the 2016 presidential candidates, modern American politics, and maybe just people in general.

monday quote:

"The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence."

(Charles Bukowski, poet, novelist, 1920-1994) 

A Quote for Monday, February 22

An Op-ed piece, I Miss Barack Obama, published in the New York Times earlier this month highlighted what is often overlooked when judging President Obama and his time in the White House--the basic goodness he, his family, and his team exude. 

The fact that it was written by a conservative, Republican columnist makes it even more striking.  You can read his entire article here.

monday quote:

"Over the course of this campaign it feels as if there's been a decline in behavioral standards across the board.  Many of the traits of character and leadership that Obama possesses, and that maybe we have taken too much for granted, have suddenly gone missing or are in short supply...

...Obama radiates an ethos of integrity, humanity, good manners and elegance that I'm beginning to miss, and that I suspect we will all miss a bit, regardless of who replaces him." 

(David Brooks, New York Times writer, columnist, and commentator on PBS News Hour, 1961-    ) 

Quote for Monday, February 15

The death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia has raised political posturing to new heights in Washington D.C.  Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell thinks President Obama should just sit tight and do nothing because there are only 11 months left of his time in the White House. Ted Cruz said he would personally filibuster any attempt to confirm a nomination.  

Thankfully, the voice of reason still breathes despite the toxic Washington air.

monday quote:

"Article II Section 2 of the Constitution says the President of the United States nominates justices to the Supreme Court, with the advice and consent of the Senate.  I can't find a clause that says '...except when there's a year left in the term of a Democratic President.'"

"Senate Republicans took an oath just like Senate Democrats did.  Abandoning the duties they swore to uphold would threaten both the Constitution and our democracy itself.  It would also prove that all the Republican talk about loving the Constitution is just that--empty talk." 

(Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) 1949 -      ) 

A Quote for Monday, February 8

Presidential candidate Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) got called out on his rote messaging by Chris Christie on Saturday, repeated it again on ABC on Sunday, and is still repeating it in New Hampshire today.

Mr. Rubio's tendency to memorize-repeat-rinse-repeat-rinse-repeat is not a phenomenon born from the pressure of his presidential campaign.  Neither is it new.

monday quote:

"Do you get the feeling that 'Marco Rubio' is not an actual human being at all but some kind of computer program designed by the Republican Party?  Imagine they had the technical know-how to create a candidate like this.  What would they come up with?  They'd come up with Marco Rubio, a cinematically handsome Latino from Florida who hews to the Tea Party line while spitting out patriotic cliches that sound as if they were programmed by a computer... I'm not saying I'm sure Rubio is a robot.  I'm just saying that I want to watch him walk through a metal detector."

(Jonathan Chait, commentator and writer for New York magazine, from an article he wrote in 2011) 

Quote for Monday, January 25

As if there isn't enough for any sane person to dislike about Donald Trump, he has now gone the extra mile and, just when we could begin to hope she would fade away, put Sarah Palin back in the national spotlight.  Of course, on the good side, we'll be seeing more of Tina Fey.

That being said, can anyone argue with this?

monday quote:

"Palin's bonkers speech at Trump rally was like a bag of Scrabble tiles came to life."

(Trevor Noah, comedian and host of The Daily Show, 1984 - ) 

Quote for Monday, January 18

I try to find something meaningful for Monday Quote: but this week, I want to share something a little different.  

LaVoy Finicum is the self-appointed spokesperson for the Oregon/Bundy militia that has taken over the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.  

Recently, while he has been away from his ranch in Arizona in order to participate in the illegal occupation of the federal wildlife refuge in Oregon, several foster children were removed from his home as his wife watched.  Mr. Finicum readily admits that his ranch is a break-even business and that the $115,000/year he and his wife collect to care for foster children -is  was their main source of income--income they have now lost because Child Services doesn't leave children in the homes of lawbreakers.

Mr. Finicum wants the world to acknowledge his loss as he continues his participation in the Bundy land grab.  I, for one, do not find myself moved to tears.

monday quote:

"I hope people are seeing the sacrifices we're making here.  I want to show what my government is doing.  You need to understand the cost being paid by many people."

(LaVoy Finicum, illegal occupier of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge and former Arizona foster parent.) 

Quote for Monday, December 28

The truth--simple, clear, undeniable.

monday quote:

"If you want to understand any problem in America, you need to focus on who profits from that problem, not who suffers from the problem."

(Dr. Amos Wilson, psychologist, social theorist, author, 1941-1995)

Quotes for Monday, December 21

This is what it sounds like when someone without a brain speaks for someone without a moral compass...

monday quotes:

On Donald Trump's call for banning all Muslims from entering the U.S.:

"So what?  They're Muslim."

Explaining that it's unimportant if her boss is clueless about iur nuclear triad; he still knows what it's for:

"What good does it do to have a good nuclear triad if you're afraid to use it?"

(Katrina Pearson, Trump spokesperson, member Dallas Tea Party Steering Committee and the Texas Tea Party Caucus Advisory, also founder of Garland Tea Party)

Quote for Monday, December 14

In honor of the Paris Climate Agreement...

I'd say this is a legacy of which he can be proud.

monday quote:

"...If I'm lucky and I have enough years left--and I'm in no rush on this, but 20 years from now, let's say, and I'm still around, I've got some grandkids--I want to be able to take my little grandson or granddaughter on a walk to the park and know that the planet is in pretty good shape.  And I want to feel like I contributed to that.  And when I'm holding that little hand or pushing that kid on a swing and I look up at the sky and I know that it's okay--that little kid may not know that there was an alternative future there that could have been grim... And that's fine with me.  If he or she are able to enjoy the sunny day and feel good about it, and breathe clean air, and go swimming in an ocean, and I can watch them play--that will be a pretty good legacy.  I'll feel pretty good about that."

(Barack Obama, 44th President of the United States, 1961-     )

Quote for Monday, November 30

A cautionary tale:

monday quote:

"Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities."

(Voltaire, French author, 1694-1778) 

Quote for Monday, November 23

Thinking about all the noise coming from Republican governors and Republican presidential candidates about turning away Syrian refugees. Thinking about the Republican Party presidential primary front runner who sounds more and more like a card-carrying member of the Neo-Nazi Party every day.  Thinking about the people who are cheering them and him on.  And I'm thinking about what it says about the type of people they are.

monday quote:

"You are your choices."

(Jean-Paul Sartre, French philosopher, playwright, political activist, 1905-1980)

 

 

Quote for Monday, November 16

The New York Times has a regular Sunday feature where they ask famous people about their reading habits.  The final question is always: "If you could require the President to read one book, what would it be?"

A few Sundays ago, this was the response:

monday quote:

"It depends on who's President.  Based on the most recent group of candidates at the Republican debates, I'd just be happy if I knew they could read."

(Nathan Lane, Actor, 1956 -     ) 

Quote for Monday, November 9

I know I've focused a lot on Ben Carson lately, but let me put one more pin in my B.C. voodoo doll with this:

monday quote:

"With each passing day, Ben Carson reminds us that being the best in one field is no guarantee you'll be the best in another.  Many of us remember what happened when Michael Jordan tried to play baseball."

(Shawn Drury, Senior Editor for Blue Nation Review) 

Quote for Monday, November 2

Ben Carson is now polling ahead of Donald Trump.  

A doctor who hawks nutritional supplements and a rich white trash carnival barker who hawks himself are leading the race to be the Republican nominee for President of the United States.  

The only other Republican earning double digits in the latest poll is Ted Cruz, a man whose claim to fame is leading the charge to shut down the federal government.

How did our political system come to this?

monday quote:

"Because Carson's voice always sounds so moderate, responses that make no sense whatsoever can sound sort of thoughtful until you replay them in your head."

(Gail Collins, New York Times "Opinion" writer)

Quote for Monday, October 26

This week's quote speaks to everything that is wrong with the conservative movements--both political and religious--in this country.  Their refusal to listen to anyone who doesn't hold the same opinions as they do has resulted in a self-imposed state of isolationism that leaves them stagnating within the echo chamber of their common belief in their own superiority and unwilling to educate themselves beyond what is already "known."

And yet, they insist on standing on the ramparts of their cloistered demesne, day in and day out, to shout their message over the hum of a world that is moving on.

The question I would most like to ask a conservative: Why should we hear you when you refuse to hear us? 

monday quote:

"It's an universal law--intolerance is the first sign of an inadequate education.  An ill-educated person behaves with arrogant impatience, whereas truly profound education breeds humility."

(Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, novelist, historian, critic of USSR, 1918-2008) 

;  

Quote for Monday - October 19

Ann Coulter appeared on The View last week to promote her latest book in which she bemoans what she sees as fact: that immigrants are turning the U.S into "a Third World Hellhole."

She refused to back down on her opinion that immigration is permitted only because the rich need maids and Democrats need the votes.

Nicaraguan native Ana Navarro pointed out that, unless Ms. Coulter was claiming to be Native American, her ancestors were also immigrants.

Ms. Coulter replied:

monday quote:

"I am--I'm a settler.  I'm descended from settlers, not immigrants."

You just can't argue with this kind of stupid.