Crazy Train....

So this was one of those mornings where I woke up kind of miffed. Not exactly sure why. Just had that feeling that some thing was amiss in the world.

I had a pretty good weekend, so that was not it. I did my standard Sunday news gorging, as is my routine.

But there was something wrong. Some sort of inchoate feeling, that there was a whole lot of crazy on the horizon. It is, sort of like, the dawning realization that someone or thing has tinkled in your cheerios.

So in no particular order:

• Rep. Michelle Bachmann, just wants to let her crazy flag fly! Seriously this woman just gives conservatives a bad name. I mean seriously, Americorp = re-education camps? Seriously?!! Yes the Peace Corp, and Habitat for Humanity are evil steps on the path to Prussian style fascism (can not use the "N"-word this early in the post. If I am going to invoke Godwin's Law, I am really going go for distance.) On the upside the crew at FactCheck.org are on the case.
• The sheer amount of right-wing hysteria is amazing. I did something I should not have done this weekend. I DVR'ed both Hannity, and Glenn Beck's shows on Fox. I know. I know. It was foolish of me. But I had to see it for myself.
  
• Media Matters does a good rundown with the actual text of the speech, but this sort of thing just smacks of dishonesty.
• Jim Cramer still has not figured out what the actual criticism against him was. Hint, it rhymes with "myperbolic".
• And the difference in my mind between a Christian and a Christianist may be a bit subtle for some, but it has to do with the individual who is actively living by the tenets of the good book, versus the person who feels they are the arbiter of other's morality as well as being able to intuit the will of the divine. One of these I think is just fine and dandy, the other is well...some good examples here.

Now it should be no surprise to me that Mrs. Bachmann is crazy, nor that Sean Hannity is a douche, but I am finding it hard to believe the sheer volume on the vitriol they are spewing. It is like the more the country moves away from their perspective, the greater the demagoguery becomes on their part. We are talking truely ugly rhetoric, and it is barely 2 months into this new administration.

What I find absolutely disturbing is the right's absolutist view point on everything. We can not have have policy debates on the merits of those policies. No. If it is a liberal, progressive, democrat plan then it is inherently flawed (not that this does not exist on the left, but to a much lesser degree). Not only is the opposition wrong, but they are morally bankrupt as well. That is the right's view of it's oppossition. It is hard to have a constructive conversation with this bunch of people.

But it is deeper then that. The idea that only your ideas are acceptable, and that only yourinterpretation of events is valid speaks to a dangerous amount of hubris. Elections do have consequences and sometimes the plans put forth do not work. No matter how much you wish them to.

So I echo Hilzoy's comments,

I am not, in general, a big fan of saying: Republicans: you lost. Get over it. But in this case, I'm going to make an exception. The Republicans do not seem to be willing to allow the President to do things that are plainly his prerogative: appointing the reasonable, qualified, law-abiding people of his choice, deciding which documents should be declassified, and so forth. Any moment now they'll threaten not to pass the budget unless he sets his air conditioner at their preferred temperature.

-Cheers