Whereas the list of Obama created scandals are exaggerated or biased (see: Benghazi), the list of atrocities perpetrated by republicans remain profoundly disturbing (see: climate change denial). It’s profound enough for me to use an adverb, against my better judgment. Most posts go against my better judgment…fine, I don’t have a better judgment. But do you remember when only Glenn Beck was crazy and the rest of the GOP had some sense of perspective and reason? Yeah, me neither.

But the ongoing and pervasive obstructionism of our president by the right has had a real negative impact on his accomplishments, his approval rating and his ability to govern. Is this a cop out? Is this an excuse? Hardly. Behind nearly all of our problems rests either republican policies or obstructionism. And reality is apparently passé these days—which was fine that one weekend in Amsterdam, or so they tell me—but not so much for our political world. Holland stopped selling illicit substances to non-residents after my visit, by the way. Coincidence? I thought peeing in the Penis Fountain made perfect sense at the time. And the collateral damage created by our 21st century republicans far exceeds my Eupropeeing vacation. Sorry.

But breaking stuff and creating an alternate reality is paying off:

“It’s all fairly remarkable. McConnell (Mitch R-K) has correctly grasped that if you sabotage the government, most voters won’t really know how or why it happened. They’ll just know that things are a mess and they’ll get peevish about it. And when they look around for someone to blame, it will be the party in power.”

—Kevin Drum

This is how not being right, ever, can get you back into power. Offer nothing in the way of meaningful policies and the masses will elect you anyway, just as long as you F things up sufficiently enough when you’re not in power. It’s the magic of our broken system and the cynical nature of today’s republicans. The Ghetto Shaman had a similar “let’s just break shit” approach over at Kelly’s Pub, but I guess only the GOP can get away with such tactics. Where is an ideological bouncer when you need one? Go home, republicans. You’re drunk.

“There are many differences between the extreme right and the extreme left, perhaps most importantly that the extreme right has a much closer relationship with powerful Republicans than the extreme left has with powerful Democrats. When you find a crazy thing a liberal said, chances are it’s an obscure professor somewhere, or a blogger with twelve readers, or a random person at a protest. The crazy people on the right, in contrast, are often influential media figures or even members of Congress, people with real influence and power.”

—Paul Waldmen

Regular Zano readers (RZR) heard this before, but Waldmen then points out how even the craziest variety of liberals—as misguided or unrealistic as their individual approach may be—are usually trying to do something for the greater good. This is simply not the case on the right. They remain greedy, selfish, and uncomfortably closer to power…uh, like when Mr. Burns moved his mansion next door to his nuclear facility.

“However loopy, bigoted, incompetent, or detached from the realities of economic life the Republican Party may be, it is always just one recession away from regaining political power. It is therefore of the highest importance that sane, non-sociopathic people regain some influence within the party for when that day arrives.”

—Jonathon Chait

Does Chait have a point or is this the definition of political nihilism? I feel the GOP deserves nothing accept our scorn. Obama’s talk today on foreign policy gives some insight into what adults do with power. He’s navigating some tricky waters as opposed to occupying the wrong country. It was a great eulogy for our neocons. May they rest in…er, may they rest. I think the essence of their upside down priorities over the last two decades is captured in Cheney 1% doctrine. Remember that?

“One percent chance there’s a terrorist somewhere and let’s blow shit up. But a 90% chance the earth is dying. Naaah, we need more data. So, uhh, who can we bomb again?”

—John Q. Republican

P.S. And what’s data?

Sadly, events on Earth have nothing to do with our current political reality:

“More Americans say they trust Democrats than Republicans on the ‘main problems the nation faces over the next few years’ as well as a number of key policy issues, including the economy, health care and immigration.”

—Brendan Nyhan, Dems have Advantage on Issues but it won’t Help Them in Nov.

Is that depressing, or what? I could add about twenty items to that. How about this one: No Connection to Reality Clear Advantage for GOP. Sounds like a Discord headline.

Dems historically blow off the midterms, while the right remains organized and motivated. Yeah, they’re mad about something and they spend every news cycle articulating their disgust….well, articulate isn’t the best word. How about Ozzy Osbourne off his meds with a burrito stuffed in his mouth? Yeah, like that. Although the Tea Party is listing to port…uh, starboard, it will still likely cost several seats in the general elections and stupidity may well cost the GOP a few more, which could change this Senate landslide. Besides, I refuse to lose hope. I have a good track record in the face of adversity. Just read the Dutch Police report. I am no stranger to shimming out onto some rickety limbs. Did anyone hear something crack? It sounded like a stick? Wow, I’m kind of far up this time. I can almost see reality from here. No easy trick these days.

Forgive me, if I don’t want to relive this schitznik, Pokey. This is like reaching over on Ground Hog day to shutoff I Got You Babe on my clock radio. What is wrong with you people? Oh yeah, you outsourced thinking to the Koch Brothers. Good luck with that. What I will do is offer some cliff notes as well as some exciting new insights in the form of sarcastic cartoons. You know, the usual.

Remember the stuff we used to argue about back in those diners and coffee shops all across Pennsylvania? Well, as it turns out, they are all institutionalized and legal now and my new list of concerns are even scarier. Here’s my beef these days, the same folks who made this expansion of power possible have mounted an all-out spinsurrection, a complete assault on reason and reality. They have zero insight about our future and the difficult choices our nation faces…and, uh, I think you caught it, Pokey. It’s gone airborne…AM radio air-borne.

In your last post you made the statement you believe Obama is arming al-Qaeda? …without a shred of evidence? Really? At times like these I’m glad this is a spoof news site. Thankfully, more folks are coming around to my way of thinking. There’s a great related story, here, on how conservative media is tearing apart America.

So to channel Truman, “The suck stops here!” Republicans have no regard for our history, their policies, or their laws, let alone the political context of 2014. I call it the Scheissgeist of our time.

Quick IRS ‘scandal’ note (sorry):

Have you read the actual law, Pokey? Heavy scrutiny on groups requesting tax exemption, D or R, was legal until Obama recently tightened the law. The law was too vague, which allowed for such shenanigans. It sounds crazy, but legal things not linked to the White House are still…er, legal things not linked to the White House, or:

Dear GOP,

As for the IRS ‘scandal’, please find the smoking gun, or in lieu of such evidence just set some of your own guns on fire.

Sincerely,

Reality

P.S. I despise the IRS, only republicans are ranked worse in the cosmos, albeit barely.

When I read articles that claim, Is this Obama’s Smoking Gun? The answer is invariably no. Ultimately, additional IRS scrutiny is a good thing as these practices have apparently gone on for way too long, story here.

But if I was an IRS agent I wouldn’t need a memo to screw over the Tea Party. If a group wanted to shut down the agency that I work for and they were looking for a tax break to do it, “Uh..oops, what happened to that application? I hope that sound wasn’t the shredder again.” Of course, why this was happening under Bush remains less clear.

Quick Benghazi note (even sorrier):

Every dime from every committee not spent on improving embassy security measures needs to be paid back to the American people, by the GOP, in full, with interest. This interest is the only interest I have on this subject. We needed this scrutiny for Iraq, not for this crap. Iraq was an immeasurably bigger deal. It was a choice we made to invade and occupy the wrong country. It wasn’t about how we did or didn’t respond to this shack-attack that occurred in the middle of a Libyan cesspool. Yeah, let’s ignore Iraq and spend years on one of the only embassy attacks under Obama. Nice.

As for your other comment, how Obama refuses to call a terrorist a terrorist, sorry he’s too busy killing them. And his approach is why I voted for him. Changing the rhetoric is important as not to incite additional and unnecessary violence. But when it comes down to it, the real reason your point is moot is this: Democrats—besides Obama himself—are neocons. They followed Bush’s insanity for far too long, which is Hillary’s main problem (hint: it’s not that bullshit Fox is covering). So your depiction of Obama’s ‘wording’ issue is irrelevant. We still hunt down and kill terrorists, albeit more effectively via smaller tactical forces or drone strikes. Remember Pokey? My idea. And Obama does this minus all the GOP chicken hawk, saber rattling.

And, dude, if you think doubling down by bringing in an even crazier conspiracy theory to trump this already crazy conspiracy theory…uh. So Obama was arming al-Qaeda through the Benghazi embassy? Really? Stevens was, if anything, too buddy buddy with the locals. It’s a commendable approach, one I admire, but it has been cited as part of his undoing (see: findings of Benghazi investigation #437). So I doubt he would allow such a program to occur under his nose and on his watch. Besides, the only dubious gun-running programs are started by republicans (see: history).

Since the Benghazitis outbreak what have we learned? And here are the consequences:

“The embassies in Libya and Tunisia have been manned by skeleton crews since 2012, contributing to the US inability to play a role in the aftermath of the Arab upheavals. The US embassy in Sanaa, Yemen, was closed last week after some al-Qaeda attack in the capital. The GOP’s hysteria about seeking to blame the administration is hurting our political reporting and ability to make and maintain contacts.”

—Juan Cole

There is a price to pay for stupidity and with republicans we always pay in full. The witch hunters didn’t care about screwing up the Clinton years or the Obama years. Could you imagine if these presidents had actually been allowed to govern? We let republicans govern when they are in charge, which, as it turns out, we shouldn’t.

Juan Cole’s article made the bold statement that the Lewinsky witch-hunt days had implications for 9/11. Crazy connection? Hardly, I have said this for years. The Clintons turned the GOP into monsters and the republican’s Dr. Jekyll can no longer reign in their Mr. Hannity. The end of the Clinton years marked the beginning of our demise. The right’s inability to see patterns and grasp larger issues leaves them, and the rest of us, fixated on their bullshit. And, make no mistake, they are winning. Sure it’s a Charlie Sheen winning, but they are helping to keep everyone’s eyes off the ball. That’s my conspiracy theory. Conservatives are a distraction by design. Who’s design? The Rothschild’s, the Koch Brother’s? Alien-human hybrids? I don’t know, but any time I can work in alien-human hybrids…

Obama did not restore the rule of law and he failed to hold Wall Street or the Bush Administration accountable. Those are his failings, not the nonsense peddled on Fox News. Dems don’t pursue real scandals as they are truly balless beings and republicans simply make shit up to benefit the rich. You want to fix this country? Prescribe Low-T medicine to liberals and Ginkoba to conservatives. One side needs balls and the other side needs brains.

And, no offense to those who died in Libya, but someone still needs to hang for Iraq and no one need break a nail for Benghazi.

And pseudo-intellectual? Mwah? If republicans have some great minds out there, where are they? You say you have a viable movement and some great ideas, yet there’s just no one out there who can articulate them? Isn’t it more likely your party is just batshit? Foxham’s Razor, the simplest solution is the correct one.

Think about it. The GOP’s economic guru, Paul Ryan’s, has a budget that doesn’t follow the laws of math, let alone economics. Their whole economic ideology, trickle down, hasn’t worked anywhere in Earth’s history—although, admittedly, our early Pleistocene records are incomplete. Oh wait, republicans don’t believe in the early Pleistocene so never mind.

As for the neocon part of the wing, the McCains and the Krauthammers of the world can’t seem to invade the right country. They’re main strategist, Karl Rove, makes Lindsay Lohan look stable. And their prognosticators, Dick Morris and Bill Krystol, never see anything coming, ever. Even the things they try to sabotage, like Obamacare, eventually end up in their loss column (see: future of the Affordable Care Act).

Hint of the day: Republicans only have a loss column.

Do you think that’s a coincidence? And being one of the first to voice my concerns about the expansion of executive power doesn’t make me a denier, nor a proponent of this phenomenon under Obama. You of all people should know this. My quote from last year at this time:

“It’s time we worked together on addressing this expansion of power. It’s a huge issue regardless of who is in the White House. It’s been exceedingly tough to focus on the meaningful when nearly half the country is obsessing over the trivial. Instead, let’s all focus on restoring the rule of law.”

—Mick Zano 5/13

I guess to wrap things up, even today on Drudge they’re carrying another story about a hospital’s current woes with Obamacare. These hospitals usually reside deep in those square states of ours. It doesn’t change the fact that an estimated 9 out of 10 hospital administrators believe the ACA will do what it was designed to, decrease overall healthcare costs, story here.

It’s like that dentist commercial thing, 9 out of 10 dentists believe brushing prevents cavities. Fox News and their ilk are always scouring the country for that one ‘specialist’ who buys into their absurd agenda. The guy who thinks brushing causes cavities. Yeah, that guy. Of all the important issue of our time, I am hard pressed to find one example wherein the majority of a given specialists, on any given topic, favor a republican held viewpoint. They reside in another world, a world beyond data, beyond science, beyond reason. And they remain quite mad, both emotionally and psychiatrically, or:

It doesn’t matter if you call it climate change or global warming. It doesn’t matter if you call them terrorists or Islamic extremists. Nothing covered on Fox News matters, but what isn’t covered will be our undoing. Turn that shit off, Pokey. We got work to do.