June 29, 2009

6/29: RINO-Hunting

Conservative bloggers are furious that 8 GOP Reps. voted in favor of the climate change bill, which narrowly passed the House in spite of an aggressive lobbying campaign led by Americans For Prosperity and righty blogs. Conservative bloggers are denouncing these 8 GOP Reps. as "turncoats" and "Quisling Republicans". Some are declaring that they will no longer donate money to the NRCC, since they see no reason to support "the campaign committee whose job is to re-elect these RINO sellouts." Others are encouraging the Club for Growth to fund primary challengers against these 8 Reps. Meanwhile, the offices of these Reps. can expect to receive some angry phone calls today, since conservative activists listed their contact information on a website called "Defeat The Liberals: Working To Rid The GOP Of RINO's."

On the other hand, Min. Leader John Boehner won himself some fans in the conservative blogosphere thanks to his hour-long filibuster of the climate change bill.

What else is happening in the blogosphere?

• Liberal bloggers (McCarter, Greenwald, digby, hilzoy) are angry that the Obama admin. is reportedly "crafting language for an executive order that would reassert presidential authority to incarcerate terrorism suspects indefinitely."
• Conservative bloggers (Malkin, Morrissey, Jacobson, Pilon) are portraying the SCOTUS's decision in the Ricci case -- which "revers[ed] a decision that high court nominee Sonia Sotomayor endorsed as an appeals court judge" -- as a blow to Sotomayor's chances of having a smooth Senate confirmation. Liberal bloggers (Benen, Dayen) are pushing back against this argument.
• Conservative bloggers (Johnson, Lane, Hawkins, Gateway Pundit, Allahpundit) support the military coup in Honduras, and they're assailing Obama for trying to avert the coup during the weeks leading up to it.
• Conservative bloggers (Geraghty, Painter, Richardson, Allahpundit) are buzzing about WH adviser David Axelrod's refusal "to rule out the possibility that the White House would agree to a tax hike on health insurance plans that would hit middle-income Americans."
• Liberal bloggers (Green, Waldman, Dayen, digby) are blasting Washington Post reporter Ceci Connolly for writing an article alleging that "sniping among liberals may jeopardize [the] votes" needed to pass a health care reform bill.
• Liberal bloggers (digby, Yglesias, Ackerman, BooMan, Foser, Sudbay) are criticizing Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank after he reportedly called Huffington Post reporter Nico Pitney a "dick" following their appearance on CNN's "Reliable Sources."

CLIMATE CHANGE BILL: The Traitorous Eight

Conservative bloggers are blasting the 8 GOP Reps. who voted in favor of the climate change bill:

• Michelle Malkin: "Congrats, congresspeople, you helped the Democrats pass a junk science-based, massive national energy tax. Headed to Disney World now? We still want to know: What were your payoffs/earmarks?"
• AmSpec Blog's Matthew Vadum: "[H]ere are the names of the eight Republican lawmakers who betrayed their party and their country by voting for this extremist legislation."
• RedState's Streiff: "The Quisling Republicans: these are the Republicans who sold out the nation's future."
• NRO's Iain Murray: "Without just four of these votes, the energy tax would have gone down and months of scheming by [Energy & Commerce Cmte Chair] Henry Waxman and Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi would have been for naught. Two of them have hopes of a Senate run, I note. Twitter users are already calling them the #capntr8tors..."
• Power Line's Paul Mirengoff: "It doesn't follow that these Republican votes (or at least four them) were critical to the passage of cap-and-trade. [...] But the eight Republicans still (a) voted for job-killing legislation rushed through before anyone could know exactly what it entails and (b) gave aid and comfort to some Democratic representatives by enabling them to avoid paying a political price for a 'yea' vote they were prepared to provide if Speaker Pelosi needed it."

Several righty bloggers are demanding consequences for these GOPers:

• Robert Stacy McCain: "We've already said Not One Red Cent for the National Republican Senatorial Committee because Sen. John Cornyn and the NRSC betrayed the GOP grassroots in Florida. Now, add the NRCC to the list. What's the point of giving money to the national party if, on key votes, Republican members of the House are indistinguishable from Nancy Pelosi? Why give money to the campaign committee whose job is to re-elect these RINO sellouts? [...] Unless and until all eight of these swine announce their retirements -- or are defeated in next year's primaries -- I say the grassroots answer to the NRCC should be NOT ONE RED CENT!"
• AmSpec Blog's Paul Chesser: "My question is, what message did House Whip Eric Cantor and Minority Leader John Boehner deliver to the eight Republican strays? If it was anything less than a promise, if they voted 'yes,' (1.) Withhold all future NRCC funds (2.) Recruit and massively fund a primary opponent (3.) Remove them from any leadership roles they might have -- then GOP leadership's message wasn't strong enough. This was a vote that demanded principle and unanimity for a party that claims the mantle of lower taxes and limited government, and once again, it failed."

RedState's Erick Erickson doesn't support withholding donations from the NRCC: "Of note, and one reason I do not think we should do to the NRCC what we are doing to the NRSC (in addition to a boycott of the NRCC totally obscuring exactly why we need to punish the NRSC), even the House GOP leadership quickly threw the eight yes votes under the bus. When is the last time you have seen the Senate GOP do that? On Friday night, the House GOP sent out a press release blasting the passage of H.R. 2454 and listed the names of all eight Republicans who voted for it. The Senate GOP would never do that."

CLIMATE CHANGE BILL II: We'll Give Reichert a Pass, But....

Some righty bloggers argue that certain GOP Reps. (namely WA Rep. Dave Reichert) had more justification in voting for the bill than did others:

• Erickson: "Are we going to seriously punish Dave Reichert for voting for cap-and-trade when he barely won his district in 2008 and something like 70% of his district both supports cap-and-trade and thinks environmental issues are the most important issues in Congress? If so, don't delude yourself into ever thinking we'll get the majority back. Some Republicans have to vote in ways the majority of us find detestable in order to stay in Congress. But then there is [CA Rep. Mary] Bono Mack, [DE Rep. Mike] Castle, and [IL Rep. Mark] Kirk. They did not have to vote that way. I am most troubled by Congresswoman Mack and think we should beat both her and her useless husband."
• The Next Right's Ironman: "[T]his bill is going to appeal to the vocal but few Saab Socialists who put the environment ahead of the economy. It is going to be painfully unpopular with blue collar America. Maybe Dave Reichert's uber green district will like it; but if Mark Kirk or Mike Castle think this isn't going to backfire on them big time in Rockford and New Castle they are going to find the Democrats whacking them with their own bill next November. And please explain Mary Bono Mack. Both her and the lame hubby from SW FL are painful underachievers, proving surnames don't equal leadership."

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: Ante Up Or Leave The Table

TPM's David Kurtz unloads on politicians like GA Rep. Paul Broun who claim that man-made global warming is a "hoax":

"This isn't a hoax like the Loch Ness monster or Bigfoot. At some point 50 or 100 years down the road -- maybe much sooner, I'm afraid -- the science and mechanics of climate change and human-generated carbon's role in it are going to be proved or disproved, demonstrated or not. And what are those folks who have been in denial the whole time going to do? Shrug their shoulders and say oops? My bad?

Is it going to be like the opposition to civil rights was, where the same people who opposed it to begin with were the first to declare, without any irony, that racism is abated and then raise the cry of reverse racism? Are we facing, as we did with civil rights, a decades long running battle of constant resistance where the enemies of progress work to undermine every step forward -- even as they enjoy the benefits of the very thing they are fighting?

We hear a lot from global warming deniers about the 'high cost' of carbon emission regulation. Of course, in absolute terms they are right. It will be expensive. But what price are the deniers willing to pay personally for the high cost of being on the wrong side of science and history? Many of today's deniers will be long dead by the time the worst effects of inaction are realized. Those who do live long enough will more than likely be insulated from the most extreme effects by their relative wealth and prosperity, compared to Bangladeshis, for instance. And in any event, there is no justice -- no democratic justice -- in punishing fools for being fools."

LEST WE FORGET: Furious Ayatollah Deletes Bon Jovi From iPod

The Huffington Post's Andy Borowitz:

"Furious at Jon Bon Jovi for making a new recording of 'Stand By Me' in solidarity with the Iranian people, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei today announced that he was deleting Mr. Bon Jovi's songs from his iPod library 'forever.'

'This is an irrevocable decision,' the Ayatollah said. 'I did not merely uncheck the tracks, I deleted them permanently.'

The Ayatollah said that he had once considered making 'Livin' on a Prayer' the Iranian national anthem, 'but no more.'

For his part, Mr. Bon Jovi remains undaunted, announcing plans today to record a new song about the Ayatollah, 'You Give Authoritarian Theocrats a Bad Name.'"

Posted by Ian Faerstein at June 29, 2009 01:28 PM