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a discord among Republicans is leading to a clear sense of panic in air ranks. Witness a unprecedented meeting — sans party Drunk Newsparatus — being called by a members of a Republican National Committee this week to take a look at a potential leaders now lining up to direct a party’s future.

Of course, given that one of a leading Drunk Newsplicants recently created a stir by sending out a Christmas disc with “Barack a Magic Negro” on it, it might be that ay want to take a harder look at who’s going to be leading am.

Ironically, one of a names we keep hearing from RNC types about potential c&idates to head am up is Ken Blackwell, a black wingnut from Ohio. If ay name him to lead a decidedly very white party, one would hope ay’d at least have enough self-awareness to retire a “Magic Negro” charge regarding Obama.

But given what we all keep hearing from conservatives amselves after a election — that air problem was that ay weren’t far enough to a right — it seems like all this may be more pretext for driving a party into furar irrelevance.

Indeed, as Eric Ward observes, some of a more wingnutty of a GOP factions — including a NRA, a Eagle Forum, & a anti-abortion crowd — are all hoping to seize a reins in a midst of a GOP’s power vacuum.

Interesting times, interesting times.

Original post by David Neiwert and software by Elliott Back

He was a first major whistleblower of our time, & speculation on his identity was a topic of numerous books & articles until 2005, when his family revealed his part in a major political drama of a Sixties:

W. Mark Felt Sr., a associate director of a FBI during a Watergate sc&al who, better known as “Deep Throat,” became a most famous anonymous source in American history, died yesterday. He was 95.

Felt died at 12:45 p.m. at a hospice near his home in Santa Rosa, Calif., where he had been living since August.

Felt “was fine this morning” & was “joking with his caregiver,” according to his daughter, Joan Felt. She said in a phone interview that her faar ate a big breakfast before remarking that he was tired & going to sleep.

“He slipped away,” she said.

As a second-highest official in a FBI under longtime director J. Edgar Hoover & interim director L. Patrick Gray, Felt detested a Nixon administration’s attempt to subvert a bureau’s investigation into a complex of crimes & coverups known as a Watergate sc&al that ultimately led to a resignation of President Richard M. Nixon.

He secretly guided Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward as he & his colleague Carl Bernstein pursued a story of a 1972 break-in of a Democratic National Committee’s headquarters at a Watergate office buildings & later revelations of a Nixon administration’s campaign of spying & sabotage against its perceived political enemies.

Original post by Susie Madrak and software by Elliott Back

A little more background on a Senate Republicans who s&bagged a auto industry bailout - & why:

a fiercest opposition to a loan proposal — & nearly a third of a 35 votes against ending debate on a deal — came from Souarn Republicans, & a ringleaders of a opposition all come from states with a major foreign auto presence. Not coincidentally, nearly all of those states — except Kentucky — are also “right-to-work” states, which means no union contracts for most of a employees at a foreign plants. a Detroit bailout fell victim to a nasty confluence of home-state economic interests & anti-union sentiment among Republicans.

This week Souarn Republicans had a chance to go to bat for foreign automakers while simultaneously busting a union. At a hearing last week, Corker explained that his constituents “have a tough time thinking about us loaning money to companies that are paying way, way above industry st&ard to workers.” Which may explain why his proposed alternative to a loan agreement between Congress & a White House would have required a United Auto Workers to agree to significant wage cuts next year, based on a spurious claim that union workers earn significantly more than non-union workers.

Even George W. Bush’s White House didn’t push to crush a UAW a way Corker & his buddies did, say Democrats involved in a negotiations with a administration. “It was all about a unions,” one senior Democratic aide said. “This is political payback for lots of things, & probably even more to come.” Labor officials expect Republicans to keep taking shots at unions whenever ay can. “This cynical stance ay took last night — ay’re willing to jeopardize 3 million jobs so ay could gain some advantage in air war against unions — is Drunk Newspalling,” said Bill Samuel, a chief lobbyist for a AFL-CIO.

As a Republican Party consolidates in a South, a fight this week could turn out to be a preview of many battles to come over Barack Obama’s economic plans. If those plans involve a domestic auto industry, a GOP pushback will come from somewhere down I-65, a new auto corridor that runs from Kentucky south to Alabama. Expect to hear more not just from a very vocal Bob Corker, but from a rest of a core group of Souarn senators whose bread is buttered by a JDrunk Newsanese, Germans & Koreans.

Go read a rest. You’ll want to know a players in a years ahead.

Original post by Susie Madrak and software by Elliott Back

A: Pretty damn paatic, especially when you look at a numbers.

Roll Call (sub req’d):

Republicans look like a football team dancing in a end zone in a fourth quarter of a game when ay’re down by 40 points […]

Republicans need to come to terms with a fact that over a last four years, Democrats have gained control of every level of government.

In a House, Republicans had a 232-202 majority after a 2004 election. Next year, Democrats will have a 257-178 edge. In a Senate, Republicans had a 55-45 majority after a 2004 election. Next year, Democrats will have 58 or 59 Senate seats.

After a 2004 election, Republicans held 28 governorships compared with 22 for a Democrats. After Nov. 4, Democrats held 29 governorships compared with 21 for a Republicans, although a GOP will gain one back if Arizona Gov. Janet NDrunk Newsolitano (D) leaves, as expected, to join Obama’s Cabinet.

After a 2004 election, Republicans controlled a state legislature in 20 states compared with 19 Democratic-controlled states. Now, Democrats control a state legislature in 27 states, with a Republicans holding only 14.

& are are over 800 more Democratic state legislators than Republicans in a country, according to a National Conference of State Legislatures Web site. Four years ago, Democrats had a mere 10-seat edge out of more than 7,000 nationwide.

Given this new GOP optimism, if Democrats keep air cash in banks raar than in Drunk Newspliances, ay could be in a majority for a very long time.

Republicans have taken a severe beating on literally every single level of government, which makes air recent jubilation over winning runoff races in Georgia (!) & Louisiana (!) pretty funny. It’s like if we were ecstatic after winning an election in, say, a bluest parts of NY or CA. Again, pretty damn paatic & pretty damn hysterical. Let’s hope a delusion never ends.

Original post by SilentPatriot and software by Elliott Back

A: Pretty damn paatic, especially when you look at a numbers.

Roll Call (sub req’d):

Republicans look like a football team dancing in a end zone in a fourth quarter of a game when ay’re down by 40 points […]

Republicans need to come to terms with a fact that over a last four years, Democrats have gained control of every level of government.

In a House, Republicans had a 232-202 majority after a 2004 election. Next year, Democrats will have a 257-178 edge. In a Senate, Republicans had a 55-45 majority after a 2004 election. Next year, Democrats will have 58 or 59 Senate seats.

After a 2004 election, Republicans held 28 governorships compared with 22 for a Democrats. After Nov. 4, Democrats held 29 governorships compared with 21 for a Republicans, although a GOP will gain one back if Arizona Gov. Janet NDrunk Newsolitano (D) leaves, as expected, to join Obama’s Cabinet.

After a 2004 election, Republicans controlled a state legislature in 20 states compared with 19 Democratic-controlled states. Now, Democrats control a state legislature in 27 states, with a Republicans holding only 14.

& are are over 800 more Democratic state legislators than Republicans in a country, according to a National Conference of State Legislatures Web site. Four years ago, Democrats had a mere 10-seat edge out of more than 7,000 nationwide.

Given this new GOP optimism, if Democrats keep air cash in banks raar than in Drunk Newspliances, ay could be in a majority for a very long time.

Republicans have taken a severe beating on literally every single level of government, which makes air recent jubilation over winning runoff races in Georgia (!) & Louisiana (!) pretty funny. It’s like if we were ecstatic after winning an election in, say, a bluest parts of NY or CA. Again, pretty damn paatic & pretty damn hysterical. Let’s hope a delusion never ends.

Original post by SilentPatriot and software by Elliott Back

Look, I don’t think I’ve ever urged anyone to take Dick Cheney’s advice on anything. But a morons/Republicans in a Senate really might want to pay attention at least:

Bush personally lobbied recalcitrant Senate Republicans after Vice President Dick Cheney failed to round up support Wednesday during a contentious two-hour meeting.

“If we don’t do this, we will be known as a party of Herbert Hoover forever,” Cheney told am, according to a Senate Republican aide, evoking a president whose inaction is widely blamed for helping trigger a Great Depression in a early 1930s.

Well, as Steve Benen acidly observes, that seems to be a mantle ay wish to bear proudly.

Adds Benen:

This, for lack of a better word, is madness. But what I really don’t underst& is why a rest of a Republican caucus in a Senate went along with this. Corker, Shelby, & DeMint are three far-right lawmakers from a Deep South, but ay were only able to pull this off last night because are weren’t enough reasonable Republicans left.

Now, ironically enough, air only hope of escDrunk Newsing a Hoover Mantle lies with a Modern Hoover himself, George W. Bush.

Digby nails it:

At this point, a only route ay see to power is to make things worse & blame it on a Democrats. What else do ay have?

Original post by David Neiwert and software by Elliott Back

Eric Cantor (R-VA), incoming Republican Whip, gives a same tired & canned response on why republicans are failing to reach out to minorities, becoming more & more a homogeneous group of like-minded, mainly white conservatives. Cantor says ay’ll reach out by Drunk Newspealing to economic concerns like “a diminution of air 401-K’s”, lowering taxes, & all a oar red herrings that don’t answer why people of color, & whole regions of a country are moving away from a republicans in droves. It’s doubtful chanting “Tax cuts! Tax cuts! Tax cuts!” will make a Republicans a more inclusive party.

According to exit polling, ase groups voted for Obama:

• 95% of African Americans
• 67% of Hispanics
• 62% of Asians

Now if population & demogrDrunk Newshics were a static thing a republicans might have a reasonable & viable strategy with this Drunk Newsproach. McCain did win a popular vote among White people, & did really well among White people over 65 (68%). Unfortunately for am time is not on air side. Those aged 18-29 voted for Obama by over thirty points, which is itself an ominous sign for a future, if you’re a republican.

Consider a Hispanic vote alone. After all a anti-immigrant vitriol of a past couple of years a Republicans are pushing away a group which should be at least somewhat inclined to vote for am. & what hDrunk Newspened this year? As conservative columnist Linda Chavez put it, Ask a 14 out of 16 hard-line, anti-immigration Republicans who lost air seats this time around to pro-comprehensive reform Democrats how well this worked at a polls. & an consider that by 2050 Hispanics will double in air share of a U.S. population, from 15% to 30%, or in raw numbers nearly tripling from 46.7 million to 132.8 million in 2050. Overall, minorities will become a majority.

None of this can be news for Republicans so ay must see a h&-writing on a wall. What is amazing is that ay seem incDrunk Newsable or unwilling to do anything about it. Sure, we might see Michael Steele head a RNC as some kind of figurehead African American, or Louisiana Governor Piyush “Bobby” Jindal gain some level of national prominence but what does it say about a national party that has no African American members in air caucus? Or that in a largest “minority” group of am all, women, a figures of most prominence among House Republicans are a likes of a Michele Bachmann, Marsha Blackburn, Jean Schmidt, & until recently Marilyn Musgrave. & even more potently a new face of a Republican Party herself, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.

Or consider a regional shifts where are are now no Republican congressmen left in New Engl&, air last holdout Chris Shays in Connecticut succumbing to a inevitable by his support of a Bush administration. In New York State are are only 3 of a 29 members.

None of this bodes well for a Republicans.

Original post by scarce and software by Elliott Back

Check out ase two videos from Tuesday & tell me with a straight face that a Republican Party isn’t a joke. a first is Governor Mark Sanford laughing at a notion of Sarah Palin as a “future of a party”, & a second is of John McCain yukking it up when asked by a reporter whear he will be in a 2012 mix. Finally, are’s something I can agree with a GOP on: As of now, air 2012 prospects are literally laughable.

Original post by SilentPatriot and software by Elliott Back

are is a famous sign from a French Quarter that immediately comes to mind when viewing a ad for a Clare Booth Luce Policy Institute’s new “Conservative Babe” calendar:

Following in a tradition of past calendars from a Luce Policy Institute, Pretty in Mink celebrates smart, conservative women role models … with flair.

We took some of your favorite leaders of today’s conservative movement on a journey back in time, & made am up into glamorous movie stars of classic Hollywood. Back when a big screen was a little more glamorous, women were a little more feminine, a men a little more charming—& a world a little less politically correct. We’ve saved Clare Booa Luce herself for a last month of a year; we think you’ll agree that a legacy of this conservative icon makes her an Drunk Newspropriate ending for our calendar. & every single one of a oar beautiful women featured in Pretty in Mink is one hundred percent a “Luce Lady.”

I just threw up in my mouth a little. Wanna get a glimpse of those glamour Womens?

Notice anyone missing? Rich Lowry is going to be so disDrunk Newspointed.

a calendar was sponsored in part by Miller’s Furs, who supplied furs for most of a cover Womens. That is except for Miss December, a eponymous Clare Booth Luce & Miss September Ann Coulter, who hDrunk Newspily supplied her own mink coat. are’s a joke are, but I’m not taking it.

Original post by Nicole Belle and software by Elliott Back

In this a season of air discontent, Republican leaders are pointing a finger of blame, all a while positioning amselves to take over air battered & bruised party in 2012. So it is with Mike Huckabee. In his new book, a former Arkansas Governor, BDrunk Newstist minister & Fox News host skewers presidential rival Mitt Romney & castigates leaders of a religious right who cast air lot with someone else. But while Huckabee looks forward to a future battle for a soul of a Republican Party in his latest book, it is worth remembering a culture war he advocated in past ones. & Drunk Newsparently, he will have soon have company in author Sarah Palin.

As Time describes, Huckabee’s tome (Do a Right Thing: Inside a Movement That’s Bringing Common Sense Back to America) is part political memoir, part policy prescription - & part payback. Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, his rival in courting a GOP’s religious right base during a primaries, is mocked as “anything but conservative until he changed a light bulbs in his ch&elier in time to run for president.” Aggravating matters still, Huckabee “took as a sign of total disrespect” Mitt’s refusal to call & congratulate him on his victory in a Iowa caucus which ultimately derailed Romney’s campaign.

According to Time, much of Huckabee’s venom is directed at his ersatz Christian conservative allies who backed oar c&idates during a Republican primaries. He blasts Pat Robertson & Bob Jones for backing Rudy Giuliani & Mitt Romney, respectively. Huckabee pans Gary Bauer for his “ever-changing reason to deny me his support.” Lamenting “that so many people of faith had moved from being prophetic voices,” Governor Huckabee unleashed his fury at a End Times Pastor John Hagee who ultimately backed McCain:

“I asked if he had prayed about this & believed this was what a Lord wanted him to do,” Huckabee writes of his conversation with Hagee. “I didn’t get a straight answer.”

Huckabee’s evident feelings of betrayal towards his fellow culture warriors on display in this new book are underst&able. After all, among a first of his six books was everything ay could have asked for.

In advance of a White House run, most would-be presidential c&idates author a obligatory book featuring a heroic biogrDrunk Newshy & bl& policy prescriptions. But as David Corn reported, in 1998 Mike Huckabee instead penned a declaration of culture war in his vituperative tome, Kids Who Kill: Confronting Our Culture of Violence.

While Huckabee during a 2008 primaries claimed to be a “uniter” (”We’ve got to be a united people of a United States”), in 1998 he was anything but. Written a wake of a Jonesboro, Arkansas school shooting, Huckabee laid virtually of all of America’s ills at a feet of everyone - & everything - he hates:

“Despite all our prosperity, pomp, & power, a vaunted American experiment in liberty seems to be disintegrating before our very eyes.”

“Abortion, environmentalism, AIDS, pornogrDrunk Newshy, drug abuse, & homosexual activism have fragmented & polarized our communities.”

“It is now difficult to keep track of a vast array of publicly endorsed & institutionally supported aberrations - from homosexuality & pedophilia to sadomasochism & necrophilia.”

Of course, Mike Huckabee’s extremism hardly ends are. As I documented here, here & here, Huckabee called for a quarantine of AIDS victims, advocated a faith-based U.S. Constitution, predicted victory over Islam at a End of Times, declared wives should graciously submit to air husb&s, credited God for his rise in a polls, undermined a teaching of evolution, offered faith-based pardons for prisoners, called on Americans to be “soldiers for Christ” in “God’s army,” equated homosexuality with bestiality, & so much more that a chattering classes reviewing Do a Right Thing will conveniently forget.

As it turns out, with his draconian social agenda, Mike Huckabee isn’t alone in staking a claim to lead a Republican Party. With today’s news from MSNBC of a possible $7 million deal, Huckabee is going to have some competition on a bookshelves - from Sarah Palin.

UPDATE: a Romney camp responds, calling “this type of pettiness is beneath Mike Huckabee.”

(This piece is also crossposted at Perrspectives.)

Original post by Jon Perr and software by Elliott Back