So, I'm keeping an eye out as one Republican after another weighs in on Obama's Peace Prize. By my count, just one Republican has offered anything even vaguely resembling congratulations - Condi Rice offered a curt statement of congratulation through a spokesperson.

That's just fucking sad.

It's been said many times before, but I'll repeat it - the Republican Party has become a pathetic collection of sorry-assed, pouting losers who cannot even summon up anything more than one weak congratulation to the president.

Chicago loses out on the Olympic games, and Republicans cheer. Obama wins the Nobel Peace Prize, and Republicans demand that he return it.

I remember when doing such things would get you branded as un-American - but that was when a Republican was in the White House. Republicans are clearly operating under a new set of rules, and their Rule #1 is if it's good for Obama, they're against it - even if it hurts the country.

Update: Make that two Republicans.

Just a note to Michael Steele and all the other morons whose big question about Obama's Peace Prize is 'What's he accomplished?' Here's your answer.

Unlike the other Nobel Prizes, which recognize completed scientific or literary accomplishment, the Nobel Peace Prize may be awarded to persons or organizations that are in the process of resolving a conflict or creating peace.

Now. STFU. Obama takes the Peace Prize, get over it.

So a Broward Republican club decided to meet at a shooting range this week "to exercise their Second Amendment rights" and all that. There's some funny video at the link of them trying to show a little old lady how to shoot, even though she shows no ability to aim at all. Less funny is this:

One of the shooters at the Tuesday evening event was Robert Lowry, a Republican candidate hoping to unseat U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston. Lowry's target had the letters "DWS" next to the silhouette head.

Lowry said he didn't know who wrote Wasserman Schultz' initials on his target, but said he knew they were there before he started shooting. He initially described it as a "joke," but after answering several questions he said it "was a mistake" to use a target labeled "DWS."

A joke, a mistake, it's all the same. Hey Bob, you don't want to be called a gun nut? Try not to act like a nut when you pick up a gun next time. The party of personal responsibility, my ass.

(I tried sending a tip about this to the TPM guys, but for some reason my emails won't go through. If you think this deserves more attention, maybe give it a try. This sudden fondness for flirting with assassination really needs to be exposed. Update: They've got it up there now.)

More on Obama's Nobel...

As dedalus mentioned, this award has already got Rightards in high dudgeon. Michael Steele has already put his foot in his mouth this morning, Limbaugh appears to have gotten out of bed early in order to bitch, and the Usual Suspects are on the Rightard blogs demanding that Obama return the prize because... well, because they said so.

But the kicker to all of this, the one thing that reveals the small-minded, knee-jerk opposition to anything concerning President Obama and puts it right into perspective is this:

The Taliban doesn't like it, either.

Are the Obama haters really going to keep up their empty whining about this prize while knowing that one of the enemies they hate most on this planet - the freakin' Taliban - is right along side them, kvetching about the unfairness of it all?

Do Republicans really want to go there? Really??

Addendum: Ha. Someone at the DNC has had the same thought:

"The Republican Party has thrown in its lot with the terrorists - the Taliban and Hamas this morning - in criticizing the President for receiving the Nobel Peace prize," DNC communications director Brad Woodhouse told POLITICO. "Republicans cheered when America failed to land the Olympics and now they are criticizing the President of the United States for receiving the Nobel Peace prize - an award he did not seek but that is nonetheless an honor in which every American can take great pride - unless of course you are the Republican Party.

"The 2009 version of the Republican Party has no boundaries, has no shame and has proved that they will put politics above patriotism at every turn. It's no wonder only 20 percent of Americans admit to being Republicans anymore - it's an embarrassing label to claim," Woodhouse said.

Heh. Indeedy.

OK, so everyone is surprised or even stunned over Obama's Nobel Peace Prize. I certainly was. But beyond surprise, there's already a certain amount of snarky harrumphing coming from the inside-the-beltway types, pols and press alike. And what Josh Marshall said about that bears repeating:

But the unmistakable message of the award is one of the consequences of a period in which the most powerful country in the world, the 'hyper-power' as the French have it, became the focus of destabilization and in real if limited ways lawlessness. A harsh judgment, yes. But a dark period. And Obama has begun, if fitfully and very imperfectly to many of his supporters, to steer the ship of state in a different direction. If that seems like a meager accomplishment to many of the usual Washington types it's a profound reflection of their own enablement of the Bush era and how compromised they are by it, how much they perpetuated the belief that it was 'normal history' rather than dark aberration.

Now I guess the wingnuts will have to hate the Swedes even more than the French. (Err, or is that the Norwegians? Ah, they'll just hate them all. Who can tell 'em apart anyway? On second thought, maybe it's best to just stick with the French--that'd be easier...)

This is why.

Any questions?

The Rightards in this country are so desperate for something, anything, to discredit Barack Obama with that they'll grasp at any straw - no matter how thin.

Take the remarks of 'unrepentant terrorist' Bill Ayers, when someone asked him if he was the ghost writer for Obama's Dreams Of My Father.

When he finished speaking, we put the authorship question right to him. For a split second, Ayers was nonplussed. Then an Abbie Hoffmanish, steal-this-book-sort-of-smile lit up his face. He gently took National Journal by the arm. "Here's what I'm going to say. This is my quote. Be sure to write it down: 'Yes, I wrote Dreams From My Father. I ghostwrote the whole thing. I met with the president three or four times, and then I wrote the entire book.'" He released National Journal's arm, and beamed in Marxist triumph. "And now I would like the royalties."

Anyone with half a brain - even Jonah Goldberg, for cryin' out loud - could read that quote and realize that Ayers is having a bit of fun. But alas - some people are just too fucking dumb to get it.

I usually don't pay attention to BoBo Brooks - he wore out his welcome with me long ago. but someone sent me the link to this column, and it makes a point I've been arguing with conservatives for a while now - for all their bluster, the Media Shrieking Heads really don't have as much juice as they want you to think they do.

But, of course, we shouldn’t be surprised by this story. Over the past few years the talk jocks have demonstrated their real-world weakness time and again. Back in 2006, they threatened to build a new majority on anti-immigration fervor. Republicans like J.D. Hayworth and Randy Graf, both of Arizona, built their House election campaigns under that banner. But these two didn’t march to glory. Both lost their campaigns.

In 2008, after McCain had won his nomination, Limbaugh turned his attention to the Democratic race. He commanded his followers to vote in the Democratic primaries for Hillary Clinton because “we need Barack Obama bloodied up politically.” Todd Donovan of Western Washington University has looked at data from 38 states and could find no strong evidence that significant numbers of people actually did what Limbaugh commanded. Rush blared the trumpets, but few of his Dittoheads advanced.

Over the years, I have asked many politicians what happens when Limbaugh and his colleagues attack. The story is always the same. Hundreds of calls come in. The receptionists are miserable. But the numbers back home do not move. There is no effect on the favorability rating or the re-election prospects. In the media world, he is a giant. In the real world, he’s not.

I've always held the opinion that guys like Beck, Savage Weiner and Limbaugh are beneficiaries of the massive hype machines controlled by their employers. It's just too damn bad that the Stupids who listen to them buy the hype by the basket full - I still have to listen to how the conservative masses are going to rise up and take 'their' country back. Suckers.

Josh Marshall has been following the goofy legal arguments that Orly Taitz has been making in her "where's Obama's birth certificate" lawsuit. The judge, of course, is having none of it, and he's even threatening to fine her $10,000 for wasting everyone's time. I think that amount is about to go up--she's now filed a motion to get the judge to recuse himself, claiming amongst other things that he was spotted secretly meeting with Attoney General Eric Holder in a local coffeehouse. But this is the one supplemental argument that made me laugh out loud. Taitz says she:

Takes umbrage at judge's use of the term Birther to describe her, noting that it is often coupled with "even more colorful epithets such as 'batshit crazy'"

Shoe? Fits!

So the GOP wants to scare seniors into thinking Obama is going to hurt their Medicare? Ah, but there are limits:

GOP leaders, in a private meeting last month, delivered a blunt and at times heated message to RNC Chairman Michael Steele: quit meddling in policy.[....]

The congressional leaders were particularly miffed that Steele had in late August unveiled a seniors’ “health care bill of rights” without consulting with them. The statement of health care principles, outlined in a Washington Post op-ed, began with a robust defense of Medicare that puzzled some in a party not known for its attachment to entitlements.

Gotta love that last bit of Politico phrasing, eh? Shouldn't it read "...that puzzled some who couldn't believe Mikey didn't recognize their phoney-baloney concern for the cynical argument that is really was."

I'm dumbfounded by the right's apoplexy over Obama's visit to Denmark to try to bring the 2016 Olympics to Chicago. After all, Bush spent four days in China last year at the Olympics during which Russia and Georgia were on the brink of war.

According to the NY Times:

"Georgia is a sovereign nation, and its territorial integrity must be respected,” President Bush said at the Olympics in Beijing. “We have urged an immediate halt to the violence and a stand-down by all troops. We call for the end of the Russian bombings. Now, where's Gaby Reece? Is she here? Damn, that chick is hot! I'd like to spike her. Heh. Heh."

Okay, I added that last part, but it's what he was thinking.

I'm watching this Olympic psychodrama unfold with a mixture of amusement and disgust.

I'm old enough to remember when vying to host the Olympic Games was a point of pride for this country, and all Americans rooted for winning the honor of hosting the games.

Because Barack Obama is now president, that has all changed. In America in 2009, we will now openly vilify an entire city and all of its inhabitants because Barack Obama lived in that city. Millionaire 'populists' like Glenn Beck will scour crime reports from Chicago and report on every single instance of gang violence in order to 'prove' that an American city is somehow unworthy of hosting the Olympic Games, and the empty-headed masses who hang on his every word will buy into it.

And of course, since Barack Obama lived in Chicago, he will be held personally responsible for every act of violence that takes place in that city and will be expected to respond and/or apologize for every act of crime committed in Chicago.

We're well on our way to being the Coutnry That Hates The Entire World, just because a few people don't like Barack Obama. Things that we used to take pride in as Americans are now things to be ashamed of, because Glenn Beck and his 'news network' have a bone to pick with the president.

It kinda sucks, doesn't it?

Michael Steele reacts to Friedman's NYT column...

After being read Friedman’s comments during an interview on CNN’s “American Morning,” Steele lashed out at the Times’ columnist.

“Where do these nut jobs come from?” Steele said. “I mean, come on, stop this.”

Asked by host John Roberts if Steele was calling Friedman specifically a “nut job,” the RNC chairman responded: “I’m just saying to make those kinds of equations, you know, examples, and put that out there that way, to me is just crazy.”

“I’m sorry, but if you’re going to approach this discussion, approach it from a rational position, you’re saying because you disagree with the president on policy, that all of a sudden we’re going to make this leap into, you know, assassinations and all this other stuff,” Steele continued.

Michael Steele talking about approaching a discussion from a 'rational position' makes my fucking head hurt.

So, Newsmax has taken down John L. Perry's seditious column calling for a military coup against President Barack Obama, apparently realizing that calling for the overthrow of the US government may not have been the smartest thing to put up on your web site. But I'll be completely honest with you and tell you that it's too little, too late, and that I believe Newsmax and Perry should be convicted under the Smith Act for advocating violent overthrow of the US government. Here's why.

Over this past summer, the vile rhetoric from the Right has slowly become more and more extreme, to the point where even the blockheads who have been denying such rhetoric for years are starting to get it. Hell, even 'why-can't-we-all-just-get-along' dimwits like Tom Friedman are beginning to realize that this type of rhetoric has been used before with tragic consequences (emphasis mine).

I was in Israel interviewing Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin just before he was assassinated in 1995. We had a beer in his office. He needed one. I remember the ugly mood in Israel then — a mood in which extreme right-wing settlers and politicians were doing all they could to delegitimize Rabin, who was committed to trading land for peace as part of the Oslo accords. They questioned his authority. They accused him of treason. They created pictures depicting him as a Nazi SS officer, and they shouted death threats at rallies. His political opponents winked at it all.

And in so doing they created a poisonous political environment that was interpreted by one right-wing Jewish settler as a license to kill Rabin — he must have heard, “God will be on your side” — and so he did.

Gee, does any of that sound familiar?

Those on the Right who push this type of incendiary, dangerous rhetoric have developed a neat little trick - they post articles like Perry's, wait for the inevitable outrage (and subsequent publicity), then take the offensive article down. But by that point it's far too late. The dog whistle has been sounded, and the rabid dogs who are so full of rage that all they can summon is blind, inarticulate rage at a legally-elected president have heard it. I give Newsmax zero points for pulling the column, because Newsmax is fully aware that they've accomplished what they set out to do - adding another toxic idea to our already-polluted political climate.

There was understandable outrage at a poll published on Facebook earlier this week asking the question of whether Obama should be killed, but the same route was taken regarding the poll. It stayed up for a couple of days, until Facebook realized they had a problem on their hands - and by all indications they only recognized the problem when the Secret Service started an investigation.

Or how about Glenn Beck's outrageous claim that Obama was a racist? He put that little tidbit out there and it went unchallenged until Katie Couric, of all people, held Beck's feet to the fire about it. Beck, of course, refused to defend his own words. And in this case as in the others I've mentioned and countless others that I haven't, the damage was done.

Drip, drip, drip.

The cumulative effect of all this hate is clear. These toxic, anti-American ideas are now 'out there,' and as every day goes by and another hater like John Perry posts another article or another millionaire 'populist' like Glenn Beck voices the previously-unthinkable, they become a little bit more acceptable. The line between acceptable political discourse and treason - yes, treason - is becoming more blurred by the day.

So forgive me if I refuse to give Newsmax any credit for taking down a column that never should have been posted in the first place, and forgive me for standing firm in the thought that Perry and Beck and those of their hateful, small-minded ilk be punished for their sedition. After all, if we were six months into George W. Bush's first term and I logged on here and advocated overthrowing Bush, Beck and Newsmax would gladly have demanded the same treatment for me.

Enough. Is. Enough.

Josh Marshall links to a Newsmax editorial advocating a military coup against Obama.

Fuck these seditionist pusbags. Enough is enough.

The Smith Act is still on the books.

The Alien Registration Act or Smith Act (18 U.S.C. § 2385) of 1940 is a United States federal statute that makes it a criminal offense for anyone to knowingly or willfully advocate, abet, advise or teach the duty, necessity, desirability or propriety of overthrowing the Government of the United States or of any State by force or violence, or for anyone to organize any association which teaches, advises or encourages such an overthrow, or for anyone to become a member of or to affiliate with any such association.

I say we start using it.