truly insane

lifted, obviously, from agitprop. i just love the pic. :)

Well, it looks like losing this election after eight years of unbridled dominance has actually sent many wing-nuts spinning off their screws and hurtling into the depths of madness. The memory of owning a country and keeping a populace -- and the opposition in Congress -- quaking in fear, along with those promises of a Republican majority lasting for decades has seriously collided with reality, and the delicate mental states of some of these guys seems to be fraying. Examples:

1) John Hinderacker, an influential blogger at powerline had this to say, when comparing Obama's speaking abilities to George Bush's:

"Obama thinks he is a good talker, but he is often undisciplined when he speaks. He needs to understand that as President, his words will be scrutinized and will have impact whether he intends it or not. In this regard, President Bush is an excellent model; Obama should take a lesson from his example. Bush never gets sloppy when he is speaking publicly. He chooses his words with care and precision, which is why his style sometimes seems halting. In the eight years he has been President, it is remarkable how few gaffes or verbal blunders he has committed. If Obama doesn't raise his standards, he will exceed Bush's total before he is inaugurated."

Erm, what? I mean...what? Let's look at that again: "In the eight years he has been President, it is remarkable how few gaffes or verbal blunders he has committed." My God. Delusional much?

I don't even know what to say to that, except that Mr. Hinderacker needs to have his medical team run a series of tests, and re-check his meds. It's possible he had one of those mini-strokes you hear about on 'House.' Perhaps a tiny blood clot came loose when he was so apoplectic with rage over the drubbing McCain and conservatism in general took last week. Or maybe he's suffering under the delusion that the right-wing noise machine still has the power to repeat any and all ridiculous lies often enough that people will believe them, and trust them as Very Wise Men. (via TPM)

2) GA Representative Paul Broun thinks Obama may well be on the way to establishing a dictatorship:

"It may sound a bit crazy and off base, but the thing is, he's the one who proposed this national security force," Rep. Paul Broun said of Obama in an interview Monday with The Associated Press. "I'm just trying to bring attention to the fact that we may — may not, I hope not — but we may have a problem with that type of philosophy of radical socialism or Marxism." ... "That's exactly what Hitler did in Nazi Germany and it's exactly what the Soviet Union did," Broun said. "When he's proposing to have a national security force that's answering to him, that is as strong as the U.S. military, he's showing me signs of being Marxist."

Oh my. Whatever would we do if a president appeared to be trying to establish a dictatorship? Like if he were to set up secret prisons without the approval of congress, declare himself able to determine whether or not someone was guilty of a crime and imprison them without benefit of a trial, declare war unilaterally without cause, set up a cadre of secret policemen in cable-guy drag to spy on citizens, illegally wiretap the phone calls and emails of citizens, announce that disagreeing with his views was un-American, salt the Justice Department with cronies on the lookout for any opportunity to sabotage the opposition party, pump billions of taxpayer dollars into a another crony's private security company to help run an illegal war without fear of legal consequences, or declare he is above answering to any of the other branches of government?

Thank goodness we have Rep. Broun to keep a watchful eye out for anything like that. (via kos)

3) The much-espoused notion that despite the fact that McCain lost the popular vote by a 52-46 margin, this is still a 'center-right' country, and that, daggum it, that Obama fella better govern that way. Good ol' Bill Kristol perhaps best sums up this delusional bit of nonsense:

"What’s more, this year’s exit polls suggested a partisan shift but no ideological realignment. In 2008, self-described Democrats made up 39 percent of the electorate and Republicans 32 percent, in contrast with a 37-37 split in 2004.

But there was virtually no change in the voters’ ideological self-identification: in 2008, 22 percent called themselves liberal, up only marginally from 21 percent in 2004; 34 percent were conservative, unchanged from the last election; and 44 percent called themselves moderate, compared with 45 percent in 2004.

In other words, this was a good Democratic year, but it is still a center-right country. " (boldface mine.)

Huh? Look at the first graf again: self-described Dems over four years gained seven percentage points on self-described Republicans and it's somehow still a 'center-right country'? Whatever that means. These guys are going to need some time to realize that their entire schtick has been called out for the bullshit that it is. For eight years, they have governed from a place of divisiveness, fear, ignorance, hatred, greed, and barely-sublimated racism -- they have conserved nothing, not the economy, not the good name of our country, not our troops, not our cities, not the land, not our natural resources, not the truth, not honor -- nothing. They have pissed away anything and everything they could get their hands on. Why do we still call them conservatives?

At any rate, look for this trope -- the squalling of those who lost, about how, despite the results right before their eyes, what we REALLY want is more of the same -- to be tossed about in coming weeks and years as Obama (hopefully) takes the mantle the American people voted for him and takes us in a new direction. A new direction we, the people, voted for: anywhere but where we've been.

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p.s. For a touch of sanity from the right, read this article by Dov S. Zakheim, a policy advisor to Bush on his 2000 campaign.