With so many things to choose from, listing the dumbest things Republicans did this year is indeed a challenge. For one thing, there were so many. One could list half a dozen from any one of the numerous debates. And don’t get me started on the offensive and embarrassing statements, and distortions of facts. Then there are the antics in Congress in which anything and anyone is fair game to sacrifice in the name of making the president look bad.
Some of the Republicans dumbest moments make us laugh, but brought more somber reactions with the realization that real people (vs. corporations) would be adversely affected.
#5. The dumbest thing Republicans did in the clown show they refer to as their nomination process.
The- anyone- but- Romney movement. True, Romney has flip flop issues. He’s also a moderate and one of the two sane contenders. One would think these are positive attributes in a serious contender for the presidency of the United States. The anyone but Romney movement also objects to his candidacy because he’s a …. Mormon. Serial adulterers are preferable to the conservative family values base over a Mormon.
In their quest to prevent Romney from being the Republican candidate for 2012, the base of the party has moved from one of the crazy candidates to the next. Bachmann, then Perry, then Cain, Newt and it appears that Ron Paul is the next flavor of the moment.
As a direct consequence, the Republican Party is fodder for night time comedy not only in the United States, but around the world.
#4. The dumbest thing a Republican candidate said during the course of the campaign, so far.
Definitely a challenging category since there were so many gaffes made by Michele Bachmann alone. The winner is . . . drumroll please . . . . . Newt Gingrich for his job creation plan for nine year olds from “very poor neighborhoods.”
Most of these schools ought to get rid of the unionized janitors, have one master janitor and pay local students to take care of the school. The kids would actually do work, they would have cash, they would have pride in the schools, they’d begin the process of rising.
The honorable mention goes to Mitt Romney for this memorable exchange:
“Corporations are people, my friend,” Romney said.
Some people in the front of the audience shouted, “No, they’re not!”
“Of course they are,” Romney said. “Everything corporations earn ultimately goes to people. Where do you think it goes?”
#3. The dumbest act by Republicans in Congress that made us cry.
From the debt ceiling to unemployment insurance to Ryancare, the list of dumb and destructive things Republicans did this year is exhaustive. However, the single dumbest thing they did was their handling of the payroll tax cut extension. Initially, it looked like they were going to drop a $1000 lump of coal in the stockings of every American who works for a living. Ironically, they were the ones who ended up crying. The marriage problems between more mainstream Republicans and the Tea Party was evident in what became a very public squabble between the Senate and House Republicans. The added sting came with the fact that Barack Obama looked very presidential and he was on the right side of this issue.
#2. The dumbest act by Republicans in Congress that made us laugh.
The Republican bill to protect farmers from the non-existent threat of an EPA crackdown on farm dust wins by a nose. As D.L. MacKenzie wrote:
Admittedly, EPA has tended in the past to be a bit a fussy about such minutiae as arsenic, lead, and asbestos, often over the wailing protests of ardent congressional supporters of such toxic pollutants. However, “coarse particulate matter” (less wonkily referred to as “dust”) was regulated without much controversy by EPA for more than twenty years until the technocratic quasi-Bolshevist liberal moonbats at the Bush EPA proposed regulating rural areas as well as urban areas.
The runner up is the GOP’s declaration that pizza is a vegetable.
Honorable mention: The humiliating House Republican defeat in the payroll tax cut debate.
#1. The overall dumbest thing the Republicans did this year was its attack on the truly populist OWS.
Unlike the Koch brothers funded Tea Party, the OWS reflects the concerns of most Americans. Unlike the Tea Party, the OWS seeks a political system and an economic system that is fair to all Americans rather than one that is rigged in favor of the 1%.
The more they said they didn’t understand what OWS wanted, the more they admitted how removed they are from the people they pretend to represent. Despite the best propaganda the 1% could buy, OWS is an idea that just will not die.
Related posts:
- House Republicans Hit A New Low By Passing The Year’s Dumbest Bill
- Mitt Romney Believes Silly Things, And I Will Judge Him For It
- The Strange Things That Mitt Romney Really Believes
- If The Media Would Listen They Would Know Four Things the 99% Want
- First She Got Owned By An 8 Year Old Now Michele Bachmann’s Book Has Bombed
Sorry, you lost me at ..”Romney’s one of the sane contenders”. Mitt Romney is a lying, vicious, insulting sociopath. He could be the sickest of them all. It really is hard to tell, though.
He’s perhaps one of the most mendacious and unprincipled candidate, but that doesn’t mean he’s not sane. Mendacity and lack of principle is exactly what Republican success requires.
How about #6 embracing birther T-rump as a kingmaker (we have a king ?)
#7 voting to end Social Security (as we know it)
#8 trying to prevent energy efficient light bulbs from reaching
the market.
Any more suggestions ?
Gawd, we could all compile lengthy lists, I think. Narrowing it down to five would be pretty challenging… Just choosing the five dumbest things any given individual Republican has done would make my head spin.
How about #9 some of the most ridiculous remarks made by Allen West as well comparing himself to Harriet Tubman. It seems that when their misinformation campaign backfires, they still expect people to go along with this backward movement.
And another suggestion?
Ummm. Year’s not over yet.
You could write an entire book about all the dumb things the GOP candidates for the nomination, the GOP Congressmembers, and GOP officials in certain states have said. It’s truly a spectacle to watch the results of dumbing down in this country.
And this is the follow up to the great Tea Party “JobsJobsJobs” coup of 2010, where their three greatest job-creation measures were: nearly shutting down the federal government (thus lowering our credit rating), pushing the Defense of Marriage Act and National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Bill while arguing for states’ rights, and defunding the most important health concern for women in the nation – Planned Parenthood.
This on the heels of the runner-up: spending $1 million in taxpayer money to read the Constitution (or at least some parts of it) on the floor of the Congress as their first act!
http://mushymiddle.typepad.com/view-from-the-mushy-midd/tp-jobsjobsjobs.html
Gawd what a chore! How can you possibly figure out what the 5 dumbest things the GOP did this year are? You might as well pick the 5 most painful shots to the nads. Your bravery for wading into that feted swamp is noted.