GOP racism

The battle to break the racist, neo-Confederate dominance of Congress is more likely to be won north of Gettysburg than south of it. Ari Berman, author of Herding Donkeys:

Why not 100 Abe Lincolns? 100 Teddy Roosevelts? 100 Dwight Eisenhowers? Not a chance! Those great Republicans were do not come from the same nihilistic, anti-government and anti-democracy wing that is dominated by Ted Cruz, Michele Bachmann, Louie Gohmert and Jim DeMint, the GOP politicians that are driving today's party further and further from the mainstream of American political thought. Abe Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt and Dwight Eisenhower are celebrated by all normal Americans as genuinely crucial historical figures.

Allan Hoffenblum, a Republican consultant in California politics since the Nixon era, told the NY Times that “Until we solve our Latino problem, we’re not going to be a viable state party, and it’s hard to understand how that’s possible without fixing immigration.” The Times explains what everyone in California is already well-aware of:

It's almost as though King has a political death wish. His House district has been redrawn and while still the reddest seat in Iowa, it isn't nearly as safe as it once was. The PVI is R+5, Romney beat Obama 53-45% and King himself had a relatively close call, alos winning just 53% of the vote against Christie Vilsack. Vilsack beat him in 7 counties, including two of the three big ones, Cerro Gordo and Story.

According to The Hill, Georgia Republicans are starting to panic that their party's demented and ill-informed base will saddle the party with "a flawed candidate" (meaning almost any of the crazy contenders) and allow Democrat Michelle Nunn to win the open seat.

Simi Valley makes up almost a third of Buck McKeon's congressional district (CA-25) but it was added to the district in the last cycle and McKeon-- the former mayor of Santa Clarita who has long since become a creature of Washington-- virtually never bothers going there. Preparing for a possible reelection challenge-- he's told the media he's running again and confided to local Republican politicians he's going to retire-- he ventured in Republican-friendly Simi Valley this week.

As part of a big radio buy [listen right above by clicking on that gizmo] aimed at a dozen right-wing anti-immigrant extremists, the SEIU is targeting 4 GOP crackpots in California: Jeff Denham, Gary Miller, David Valadao and Buck McKeon. The ad asks each of these galoots to support the comprehensive immigration bill that the Senate already passed by a wide bipartisan margin.

3 American Nazis with a toxic agenda- Gilchrist, Simcox, HannityLast week David Vitter's viciously anti-immigrant amendment was defeated in the Senate, 58-36, with 7 Republicans rejecting it and only the most reactionary Democrat in the Senate-- Mark Pryor-- crossing the aisle and voting with Republican anti-immigrant extremists.

As soon as Jim DeMint took over the already right-wing Heritage Foundation, he made sure it would be even more extreme and, especially, more racist. Their first big effort under his regime was to put out a phony "study" claiming immigration would cost American taxpayers gazillions of dollars-- or, to be more "exact," 6 trillion dollars.

Dana!Rohrbacher used to be... a surfer, a folk singer, a pot head, a homo, Congress' #1 supporter of the Taliban and a terrorist in Afghanistan (or at least someone who dressed up as a terrorist for a photo shoot).