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Thursday, February 19, 2015

Meet The New Bush, Same As The Old Bush.

"I am my own  man."

Jeb released a list of his advisers on foreign policy, most of whom worked for his brother."By including 19 advisers who served under President George W. Bush, or his father, President George H.W. Bush, Jeb risks criticism during the 2016 campaign that he will represent a continuation of his family's legacy on foreign policy. Among his advisers is Paul Wolfowitz, a former deputy U.S. defense secretary who was a lead architect of the 2003 invasion of Iraq and once famously asserted that Iraq would be able to finance its own post-war reconstruction." Warren Strobel for Reuters.

Chart of the day: The people advising Jeb Bush also advised past Republican presidents. Philip Bump inThe Washington Post.

GRAHAM: To distinguish himself from his brother, Jeb Bush needs to offer a clear alternative. "His speech was a mix of obligatory platitudes about leadership, general statements of principles, and a stinging critique of the Obama administration—all the more stinging because it was delivered in Chicago, Obama's home. But it was notably short on specifics. ... For example, Bush's critique of Obama's quickly abandoned red lines on Syria hits the mark. But what would Bush have done? Would he have bombed Syria? Would he have asked for congressional approval? It's not clear." The Atlantic.

MILBANK: It also just wasn't a very good speech. "He combined his father’s awkward oratory with his brother’s mangled syntax and malapropisms. Like his brother, he said 'nucular' instead of 'nuclear,' and he hunched over the lectern with both hands on it — but instead of exuding folksiness, as his brother does, he oozed discomfort. A top priority, he explained, is 'reforming a broken immigration system and turning it into an economic — a catalytic converter for sustained economic growth.' Presumably he was reaching for 'catalyst' but instead came up with an automotive emissions-control device." The Washington Post.

CILLIZZA: Still, Bush accomplished an important political objective. "This was a trial balloon for how (and how much) Jeb will -- and will have to -- talk about the Bush name in the campaign to come. His people are smart and, therefore, were well aware that the lines about his family would dominate coverage and overshadow a speech decidedly light on specifics. That level of press coverage and scrutiny will function, at some level, as a sort of gauge for how much leeway (or not) Bush has to talk about his brother and father."The Washington Post.

Alan: The nature of conservatism is to champion the tried-and-"true" values of the past. In recent decades, American conservatism -- an increasingly "white" enterprise -- is to double down on the past, even when disastrous - and in many instances, especially when it was disastrous. 

PHILIP KLEIN: Republicans need to leave the past behind. "In a general election, nominating Bush would neutralize one of Hillary Clinton's biggest liabilities (the idea that she, too, is a figure from the past trying to ride her last name to power). Instead of having the clear contrast that would be possible if Republicans were to name a fresh candidate, the 2016 election would devolve into a proxy battle over whether Americans want to restore the Bush or Clinton presidencies. Whether the GOP likes it or not, that isn't a matchup that favors Republicans." The Washington Examiner.

George McGovern: "The Case For Liberalism, A Defense Of The Future Against The Past"

Jeb Bush promised to adopt a foreign policy independent of his brother's and father's, without giving details. "'My views will often be held up in comparison to theirs,' Jeb Bush said. 'But I am my own man.' He added that his approach to geopolitics would be shaped by 'my own thinking and my own experiences.' " Ed O'Keefe and Karen Tumulty in The Washington Post.

"Are Republicans Insane?"

"American Conservatives And Oppositional-Defiant Disorder"

"The Republican Party Is A Satanic Cult"

"Do Republicans Do Anything But Piss, Moan, Bitch, Whine?"

"The Party of Personal Responsibility" Is "The Party Of Personal Irresponsibility"

Republican Rule And Economic Catastrophe, A Lockstep Relationship

"Conservatives Scare More Easily Than Liberals"

Bill Maher: The Zombie Life Cycle Of Republican Lies. They Never - Ever - Die

How the death of epistemology validates rhetorical vapidity:
  1. The Guardian: "John Oliver's Viral Video Is The Best Climate Change Debate You'll Ever See"
    1. http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2014/05/the-guardian-john-olivers-viral-video.html

Stewart, Colbert, Oliver Probe The Spectacular Idiocy Of Climate Change Deniers

"The Reign of Morons Is Here," Charles P. Pierce, The Atlantic

Zillionaire Nick Hanauer: Stock Buybacks Are Destroying The U.S. Economy

Zillionaire, Nick Hanauer, A Former Free Marketeer Calls For Radical Wealth Redistribution

"The Pitchforks Are Coming For Us Billionaires"
Amazon Financier, Nick Hanauer

"The Death of Epistemology"

"People Who Watch Only Fox News 
Know Less Than People Who Watch No News"

"A Southerner Explains Tea Party Radicalism: The Civil War Is Not Over"

"Republicans For Revolution," A Study In Anarchic Apocalypticism

"Bank On It: The South Is Always Wrong"

"Why The Bible Belt Is Its Own Worst Enemy"
  1. http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2012/10/why-bible-belt-is-christianitys-enemy.html

Republican Party Is "Full Of Racists," Colin Powell's Chief Of Staff

Conservative Norm Ornstein: The Media Ignore Republican Lunacy

"Let's Just Say It. The Republicans Are The Problem"
Conservative Norm Ornstein and Liberal Thomas Mann

"Just How Far Out Is The Republican Fringe?" Norm Ornstein (And Is It The Fringe?)

"It's Even Worse Than It Looks"
Conservative Norm Ornstein and Liberal Thomas Mann

"When Extremism Goes Mainstream"
Conservative Norm Ornstein

"The Real Death Panels," Conservative Norm Ornstein

Jindal Criticizes The Stupid Party: "Simply protects the rich so they get to keep their toys"

Bobby Jindal's Healthcare Plan: What Republicans ALWAYS Get Wrong
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2015/02/gov-bobby-jindals-health-care-plan-what.html

Major General Smedley Butler: Do Wars Really Defend America’s Freedom?

"Politics And Economics: The 101 Courses You Wish You Had"

"Plutocracy Triumphant"
Cartoon Compendium

"The Rich Aren't Just Grabbing A Bigger Slice Of The Pie. They're Taking It All"
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2014/09/the-rich-arent-just-grabbing-bigger.html

Zillionaire Nick Hanauer: Stock Buybacks Are Destroying The U.S. Economy

Zillionaire, Nick Hanauer, A Former Free Marketeer Calls For Radical Wealth Redistribution

"The Pitchforks Are Coming For Us Billionaires"
Amazon Financier, Nick Hanauer

Taibbi: The $9 Billion Whistel Blower At JPMorgan-Chase.
Financial Thuggery At The Top

George Soros: On The Coming Class War In The United States

Major General Smedley Butler: Do Wars Really Defend America’s Freedom?

G.K. Chesterton: "The Anarchy of The Rich"

G.K. Chesterton and Warren Buffett's Class War

"War, Peace And Political Manipulation: Quotations"

"Pope Francis Links"

The Hard, Central Truth Of Contemporary Conservatism

The hard, central "fact" of contemporary "conservatism" is its insistence on a socio-economic threshold above which people deserve government assistance, and below which people deserve to die. 

The sooner the better. 

Unless conservatives are showing n'er-do-wells The Door of Doom, they just don't "feel right." 

To allay this chthonic anxiety, they resort to Human Sacrifice,  hoping that spilled blood will placate "the angry gods," including the one they've made of themselves. http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2013/09/harvard-study-45000-americans-die.html 

Having poked their eyes out, they fail to see  that self-generated wrath creates "the gods" who hold them thrall.

Almost "to a man," contemporary "conservatives" have apotheosized themselves and now -- sitting on God's usurped throne -- are rabid to pass Final Judgment. 

Self-proclaimed Christians, eager to thrust "the undeserving" through The Gates of Hell, are the very people most likely to cross its threshold. 

Remarkably, none of them are tempted to believe this. 

***
Alan: Those who are so deficient in individual responsibility that they cannot take care of themselves deserve to die. To borrow Scrooge's logic, letting ne'r-do-wells die will prune "the surplus population," leaving more for the miserly.

***

"GOP's Anti-Medicaid Expansion Body Count, By State"

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