Stupid is as stupid does

Politico chief political analyst Roger Simon reports that the Republican National Committee is holding a special session next week so they can vote on -- and approve -- a resolution renaming the Democratic Party. After next week, according to the RNC, it will be called the Democrat Socialist Party.

Simon doesn't talk about that, though. His article is about Michael Steele, the black guy the RNC put in charge to make it look like they aren't a bunch of racist assholes but whom they don't give a shit about and regularly kick in the teeth. Steele opposed the special session, which will include passing a couple more idiotic resolutions, and opposes the renaming resolution too, although he does agree that the Democrats “are indeed marching America toward European-style socialism.”

Referring to the Democrats officially as the Democat Socialist Party "will accomplish little than to give the media and our opponents the opportunity to mischaracterize Republicans."

Now there's an understatement. And that's really about all that needs to be said about Steele, but Simon goes on for two pages about how the Republicans don't like him and all. If you'd like to see what he said, click here. Or stick around and let's talk about the real issue.

Simon quotes an RNC member saying the Steele "has a tin ear when it comes to the building (i.e., the RNC staff), the RNC and the party,” but don't you really think it's the GOP that has the tin ear when it comes to the American people?

So, they may be winning on the torture debate, for now. But what else? Those teabaggeries went over like the proverbial lead balloons. Their nemesis, Barack Obama, is still polling unwaveringly high, meaning that folks are kinda liking the president with the funny name. They're latest Big Issue is whether Wanda Sykes went too far at the White House Correspondents dinner, about as big an issue for the average American as the price of a loaf of bread in a London food market. And if Darth Cheney running all over the place bitching about Obama wasn't enough, now his little girl Liz is out doing the same, most recently saying the president is siding with terrorists or some such nonsense.

Somehow, I'm not expecting the Other Daughter, the Lesbian One Mary, to follow Liz's footsteps. I think she's got a Cheney grandchild to be worrying about right now.

Meanwhile, the GOP's still sticking to extremist social issues and name-calling as it's big strategy. GW and John Boehner and Tom Delay and all those truly stalwart individuals have been using "Democrat party" when they should be using "Democratic Party" for some time. It's a perjorative thing, you see, that actually got started more than 100 years ago and comes and goes, depending on how little leg the Republicans have to stand on at any given point in time.

This latest swing of its use began during the 2006 midterm elections, which was just about when folks were starting to wake up to Republican bullshit and shift Congress to the Democratic side.

Saying "Democrat party" is a purposely perjorative thing, though, on account of grammar. Democratic Party, you see, is what's called a proper noun. That's the name of the party -- calling it anything else is wrong, and it's intended to be a slight, an insult.

Add that to "socialist," which the Republicans have decided resonates with people outside their base with no evidence showing that to be true, and you got yourself one humdinger of a throwdown.

So here comes the Republican National Committee with its fancy resolution to make it official -- as if one party can officially change the name of the other paraty -- that will actually serve two purposes -- it will insult the Democrats and jab at Michael Steele.

There's just one teensy weensy little problem. Nobody gives a rodent's derriere. And all it does it make the Republicans look exactly like what they've become -- petty, vindictive little dictators with no ideas and no sense of decency.

Well done, gentlemen. I look forward to your resolution next week. When you keep doing stupid things like this, you make it impossible for my colleagues to present you in any kind of decent light. It's just too much of a stretch. Kind of like reporting that the fire department responded to a call about an intoxicated group of men not only threw empty paint cans into their 55-gallon drum fire, but then added not one, but three 20-pound propane cylinders when they ran out of paint cans. There's just no way you can make that look like a good idea.

As Bertrand Russell once said, "Most people would die rather than think. In fact, they do."

Sadly, the Republicans appear headed rapidly in that direction.

But maybe that's for the best. Then we could split the Democratic Party into two and have a real opposition party, with both parties focused on what's good for the American people instead of what's good for their personal fortunes.

You know, that little thing known as "the greater good."


AWOP Political Contributing Editor
Author of Stop the Press!

Cross-posted at Stop the Press!

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Peace Y'all