411 Politics Fact or Fiction: Week 122 - Michael Steele Out By Summer, Obama's First 60-Days, More

Posted by Brandon Crow on 03.17.2009

Will the GOP's self-induced subjugation to Rush Limbaugh come back to bite them in the ass? Will RNC Chair Michael Steele be out of a job by summer? Has Obama's first sixty days been an epic failure? Is the GOP no longer the party of Lincoln or Reagan?

Here it is! The week you know you've been waiting for…even if you won't admit it! Waiting for The Spook to make his debut on Politics Fact or Fiction is like having a rich chocolate Dove bar—it's a guilty pleasure, one you can't wait to indulge, and yet will surely feel bad after you've done it…

It's Halloween come early!! This week, we have The Spook and our very own Andrew Tobolowsky (El Tobo). By the way, when I told each of these participants about their opponent for the week, both were excited and eager to get it on.

So, let's GET IT ON!

Ding! Ding!

1. In the long run, the GOP's self-imposed subordination to Rush Limbaugh will come back to bite the Party in the ass.

El Tobo: FACT. Oh, absolutely. And I am REALLY looking forward to it. How dumb do you have to be before Republican logic starts sounding good to you? "You know what, we didn't have as much support in the last election as the other guy. And we lost the last senate elections too. Hey, you know how we can win? By appealing to even LESS people". Makes tons of sense.

What do you think happened? That the hard-core, gay-hating, Republican old guard just decided to stay home this winter and let Obama have it? But if they could only be appeased, that would somehow make the parties numbers work out? It's the old Israelite "if only we hadn't wandered from our God" business. And take it from me as a Jew, folks, that worked really really well. You're multiplying by one half here and saying "hey, at least we're multiplying!"

I mean here's a guy who was once asked to be on Monday Night Football, and lasted all of one game before he made insensitive racial remarks and was canned. DENNIS MILLER made it a full season. John Madden's technically been in a coma for a decade.

News flash, folks. It doesn't matter what you think of Rush. You can think he's God. That doesn't make him any more appealing to anyone else. Wish really hard if you want to. We're looking forward to it. Just because you wish it were someone sure don't' mean it is.

Limbaugh's what everyone hates about the Republican party. That's not a moral judgment, it's a logical one—the people who hate the Republican party do so because of people Limbaugh. Going in that direction just says "we don't care". And maybe you don't. But good luck winning elections!

I'm just a civil servant. Just tryin' to warn ya. A fifth grader could do better math than you. That's all I'm saying.

(And hey, just so we're clear there's nothing that anyone can say that makes several high profile figures with actual political power publicly apologizing to a RADIO TALK SHOW host seem cool)

The Spook: FICTION. On a side note: Andrew, does the fact that Obama gave the Palestinians a 900 million dollar stimulus package bother you at all? And I'm being very serious- I want to know.

Rush Limbaugh. I like him. I'm not sure what the big fuss is with Rush, all he said was "I want Obama's policies to fail". And so what? Liberals lose their minds stumbling over each other to see who can give Obama's hurt balls because they got crushed by a disc jockey. Somebody remind Barack that he's the President of United States, and to quit acting like a baby.

Nearly half the population voted against Obama and his policies. What's wrong with wanting them to fail if they you believe that they don't benefit anyone? I have still yet to hear one good word about the Bailout or the Stimulus Bill by an independent economist or business executive.. Not one. Even on 411mania, none of you readers have flat-out expressed orgasmic satisfaction in either of these plans- your excuses fall between "well we need to support the President" or "the GOP doesn't have a better plan". Both of which are bullshit, because the GOP supports the idea of a stimulus- just not THIS stimulus, that is basically a giant orgy of spending on shit we don't need.

And Liberals, you wrote the book on how not to support the President- so shut up.

You do understand that Rush is one voice, on radio no less, who has come under fire by the "victimized" Liberals. President Bush was under constant fire by the entire Liberal media wing…Everyone on CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, ESPN, Comedy Central, "Super-Dork" Olbermann, "Rotten Crotch" Maddow, "Fat" Matthews, 99% of newspapers, Family Guy and Andrew "the Twink" Tobolosky, etc. (they are all equal in their journalistic integrity).

President Bush was called a "Nazi", a fucking NAZI! Can you imagine how much Obama and Liberals would cry like bitches if he was called "Robert Mugabe"? President Bush never called out Olbermann, or Matthews for their political views. He never targeted either for censorship, or claimed they were the head of the Democratic Party.

Bush didn't give a shit, he was too busy running the country, using powers completely beyond the scope of a President because he knew he had a bunch of Liberals in congress that would rather bitch about fake global warming and kill babies, then fight a global war against the terrorists who wanted to kill us and pass laws that benefit Americans.

Rush speaking out against Obama has been nothing but a blessing to the GOP. Obama has never looked weaker, and less qualified then arguing with a talk show host over the validity of his comments. If Obama can't handle Rush, is it no surprise that the Russians, Iranians, Chinese, North Koreas, Pakistanis, Venezuelans, Mexicans, Columbians and Palestinians- not to mention Islamic Fundamentalist- are all out of control?

Riddle me this, Tobolowsky…If Rush Limbaugh is such a non-factor then why is Obama and the Liberals so afraid of him? What is it that Rush is saying that hits so close to home- that the President of the United States has to resort to attacking a talk show host? Maybe Rush is 100% correct on the character of Obama and his administration?

Rush endured the Clinton era, he defended the Bush era, and he will be a God by the end of the Obama era in the conservative circles of politics...He has already started chinking Obama's armor and we are just getting started, wait until money from the stimulus bill gets misused and Obama fires Biden- holy shit! Obama supporters would still defend him, and say that it was all Biden's fault- again, completely missing the point of Authority and Responsibility that Obama has never truly understood.

What's even more amazing the sheer amount of Liberals who hate Rush and have never listen to him- he is a remarkable, intelligent, and humorous American. Maybe liberals only respect people who speak from Teleprompters and/or waste tax payers money with socialist programs.

The first step to curing Liberalism is to do some self discovery, and ignore what the Liberal Media is telling you, begin your rehab here.

President Palin will pin a medal on his chest when this mess is done and over.

0 for 1. These two don't agree on Limbaugh…I know, everyone out there is just shocked!

2. New RNC Chairman Michael Steele will be out of a job by summer's end.

El Tobo: FACT. You know what, I think he will. As I understand it there may (or may not be) a move for a non-confidence vote already.

Some people say the RNC would never do it because it would alienate black people even further. To my thinking this assumes traction with the African-american community that almost certainly never existed. Turns out you can't just throw someone out there of the right gender or skin color and assume it makes no difference.

And frankly, I look forward to all of your apologies. Hey, last month when I was writing a couple columns pointing out that Michael Steele was an absolutely ridiculous individual whose ideas were terrible and who appeared deranged by power, tons of you signed on to tell me I was just Republican baiting, liberal scum, and afraid of his awesomeness.

I suspect this must, then, also be true of the RNC, hmmm?

Oh well. We can assume it was because Steele didn't get a fair shake in the liberal media huh?

By the way, if you've never turned your mind to the question of WHY the RNC can't reach out to minorities EVEN THOUGH typically speaking minorities have conservative cultural values (against abortion, gay marriage and so on) you might want to take a good hard look at question 1 and think about it just a LEETLE bit more.

The Spook: FACT. Michael Steele is not going to make it. He has already fallen for the oldest Liberal trick in the playbook: victimization. Steele should be the one leading the political fight for this new generation of Conservative leaders, but I have yet to see any indication that he is the man to do it.

Liberals know how to win elections- they simply make people apologize to them in public. Obama is master at making people feel like shit for something they did not do or say. He's almost as good as Al Sharpton- almost.

Steele showed his true "inner steel" (get it?) by attacking Rush because Obama told him he was offended, then backed down when Rush told him he was stupid for attacking him. Now I don't really give a shit about Rush, other than I love him for making Liberals hate him, but if Steele wants to be the man in charge he can't start flip flopping publicly.

Liberals eat that shit up. They love it when someone says something that might be controversial, even better if they can race bait off of it- or really jerk off and start acting like victims before demanding a public apology. Steele has apologized for being black- seriously, what the fuck? How does a black guy have to apologize for being black because he's a conservative? He apologized for saying "Bling Bling" to another conservative. He's not going to make it.

If Steele does stick around then we might get to see history. We might have the election of the first ever black President- and that would be historical. But, Obama would kill this guy. Think about it- Obama would be the first half-white president to declare racial prejudice against the first black presidential nominee in history. This is the moment Obama must be dreaming of- to play the victim of unintentional racial remarks against a man who is blacker than he is.

I can see Obama reading the teleprompter now- it's so clear. As the yellow words crawl over the black teleprompter screen, Obama reads: *I am offended by this racist remark* *I will change America* *I am so hurt by these remarks* . God what a moment in Liberal politics…I can hardly wait for the teleprompter reading that Obama will deliver. (I refuse to call any of Obama's "speeches" speeches- because he's really reading with inflection, nothing more.)

Who cares about Steele anyways? Conservatives got Sarah Palin and she's going to beat the shit out of Obama in 2012. Obama will use a teleprompter during his debates, and Palin won't even bother to answer the question she's asked- it's going to be fabulous.

But Steele won't be there.

1 for 2. Michael Steele, see you in the unemployment line. Oh wait, Republicans don't believe in that.

Switch!

3. (As an homage to the great Dan Quayle) "there is one word to describe Barack Obama's first sixty days in office; and that one word is: an epic failure."

The Spook: FICTION. Never classify Obama as being a failure, everything he has done has been according to his plan, executed on his terms, and defended by his supporters. He is simply between a disappointment and an egomaniac. To classify Obama as a failure would mean that he has taken any resemblance of accountability for any problem we face as a nation- Obama blames Bush.

Obama's Bailout plan has been a disaster, simply looking at the list of banks and car companies that received money and seeing which ones have benefited is proof. How many of these institutions have asked for more money? How many of these institutions stocks have continued to drop? How many are going to declare bankruptcy, or already have?

Obama's Stimulus Bill is going to cost the Democrats seats in Congress. Obama has already placed Biden in charge of this, and is setting him up to be the "sacrificial lamb" when this experiment fails. Anyone who disagrees with this should to look into how the Obama's plan and conduct campaigns, considering that Obama typically starts campaigning three years out. The stock markets have yet to show any hint of a rally that would indicate confidence in the Stimulus Bill.

Obama closed GITMO without a plan on what to do with known the terrorists incarcerated there. Maybe they can stay with Bill Ayers? Don't forget that Obama is a civil rights lawyer, and he has his hands in any trial that would lead to questions of the future direction of civil rights- this gives Obama two things he loves, money and power.

Obama has openly shown weakness to our enemies. He begged the Russians for help in dealing with Iran's imminent rise into the nuclear age, by offering to remove the one military option capable of neutralizing both the Russians and the Iranians. Obama wants to talk with the Taliban to formalize a truce with the very people directly responsible for attacking us, killing our Soldiers, beheading civilians, and declaring war on the United States. What happened to talking with the Iranians without any preset conditions? They laughed at us. North Korea has threatened war if Obama does anything to rein them in, and Obama has yet to respond. Obama does not want war- and our enemies know it, and that effectively removes our biggest political weapon from the global political arena. But Obama did give the Palestinians hundreds of millions of dollars to rebuild Gaza after they attacked our chief ally Israel- I wonder if this was considered part of the Stimulus Bill.

I'm not going to mention Obama's "successes" in getting his political appointees into office, his "successes" in bridging the bi-partisan gaps in the American government, or his "success" removing excessive spending from the Liberal controlled Congress's budget- mostly because I can't find any reasons why these are successes.

He has shown remarkable success in waging a verbal war with a talk show host- but I would argue Obama is losing that too. Obama is also been successful in blaming the Bush administration for all these problems- despite the fact that the Bush administration did not pass one eleventh-hour regulation onto the Obama administration that impacts any of Obama's plans…and Obama has been campaigning (thus should have been planning) for two years. Obama was even invited to sit in on economic planning meetings prior to winning the election.

Obama is simply acting like what any non-qualified, extremely out classed, civil rights lawyer would do after he tricked the majority of the nation into electing him President- he's realizing that he can't do the job and making excuses. He's not a failure, he's simply a disappointment.

El Tobo: FICTION. I'm glad we agree on that, because of the rest of what Spook has to say is what complete nonsense would sound like if it were written in a weekly fact or fiction column. Where to begin?

First, some factual points. I am not sure that I would classify the BIG RALLY Wall Street had last week with the DOW rising 10% and the S and P 9% as "the stock market failing to show any hint of rally". I suspect this is a semantics problem. It couldn't be anything else, because then it would be an outright lie.

I certainly must bow the intimate knowledge Spook has of Obama as a person, but if you take out the ad hominems, there's really not much substance there-- which is the number one reason why nobody is listening to these bizarre rants launched by the bitter right.

It is strange, n'est pas, that Obama has so blatantly gotten away with blaming Bush for the state of the economy, isn't it? It's almost as if all of this started during Bush's presidency, and as if every single economic expert, republican or democrat, even then admitted we were in for some long-term trouble. Yes, it is almost as if that were so. But if you shut your eyes and wish real hard, this will become Obama's fault. I promise.

As a human being, I want so badly to respect all sides in an argument. And I certainly respect many of the main republican points once I get past the rhetoric spewed by less attractive talking heads. But there's a reason people can rant like Spook just has without it having any effect on the sizeable support Obama, and Democrats, still have in this country. It's because very very few people are this stupid, and those who are are already Republicans.

Most people do have allegiance, technically, to one political party or another. But most people also try to use their reason. You can talk however good a game you want, but this is how life works—when you get your shot and what follows is a complete grisly trainwreck, no matter who you are and where you come from, you somehow get this mental block where, the conductor emerges from the flaming wreckage, swearing up and down that he just needs to keep doing exactly what he was doing it starts to sound like "please let us smash more trains". Weird, right?

After the Bush presidency, the economy was in the worst state it's been since the thirties. There was little chance of cooperation with any of the major European powers. We were losing one war because we weren't paying attention to it and another because we badly misjudged it from the beginning. If people are a little forgiving of the fact that Obama hasn't fixed all these problems in fifty days, it may be because they were all the fault of the people who are now criticizing him for them. It may be.

For the rest of this nonsense, let's just take care of it real quick.

1) "Obama has closed Gitmo without deciding what to do with the remaining detainees." That would be a good point if it were true, but it isn't. Obama has agreed to close Gitmo ONCE he decides what to do with the detainees. It has been delayed until then. Spook, I know this revelation (the sort of thing we call a "true fact") must comfort you immensely.

2) Obama has pussyfooted around Iran, making the situation very grave indeed. You know what, this is true. Obama's plan has so far been exactly as successful as Bush's in getting Iran to stop making nuclear bombs. Of course Bush's plan had four years to show its efficacy, so far Obama's has had fifty days. But besides the fact that it was under the watch of people who ran things JUST LIKE the Spook wants them to be run that allowed all of this to happen in the first place, it's a great point.

One is certain that John McCain determinedly not talking to Iran and clenching his jaw would have brought the nuclear program to a screeching halt.

3) The Taliban. I don't know what to do with Afghanistan, do you? But what I do know is that while Bush's team, whose foreign policy Spook apparently idolizes so much, thought Afghanistan could be "muddled through" while we dealt with the people who WEREN'T a credible threat to us, the Taliban was busy reentrenching themselves, and tribal leaders were busy making their own deals with them. Obama's moving more troops there, but it is less than realistic to refuse to see the huge roadblocks that NOW exist to our winning there without a MAJOR commitment—thanks, and only thanks to Bush and this team—"political necessity" is a term that certain people have a hard time getting their heads around. "Political necessity because of what you did" is probably slightly harder.

Dear Republicans. When you get it wrong, when everyone sees you get it wrong, when so very many of the problems in America (NOT all, certainly) and between American and the wider world is demonstrably your fault, you don't get to claim it's because of some guy who's only been in power for sixty days.

And you don't get to claim that YOU know how to fix it--or you do get to claim that, but you don't get a credible audience. It's sort of like, pat you on the back, take the ball from you and say hey, nice going ace, you'll get them next time. Because you had your goddamn innings and you got lit up like a jack-o-lantern. And the more you keep advocating doing the exact same thing you DID, the more every person with a brain in this country is going to turn away.

In short, while some may, unjustly in my opinion, consider sixty days enough time to fix a myriad of problems, SURPRISINGLY, that doesn't make them ready to start fleeing to the people who spent eight years causing all of them. Even if you ARE right about Obama, the fact that YOU have demonstrably been proven wrong sort of cuts into your appeal there, champ. Sorry. Maybe if you put on a fake moustache and glasses before you started talking.

2 for 3. Fake mustache and glasses? What do they have to do with politics? Only lipstick, damn it!

4. The GOP likes to proclaim that it is the party of Lincoln (and Reagan) at every turn. But let's face it…the truth is, the GOP is nothing like the party under Lincoln (or Reagan).

The Spook: FACT. Lincoln's Republicans went extinct sometime during FDR's four terms, and the Reagan republican's last gasp of any real power faded during the last election cycles. The Bush administration, for faults not completely their own, will be the last hint of the Reagan era in GOP history. However, there is a bright side to all of this, and conservatives- and therefore the nation, have reason to be excited. There are two people who will change the way American politics are conducted.

The first is Sarah Palin. The Liberal media, Hollywood, and the Democrats attacked this remarkable woman with every lie, venomous innuendo, and degrading portrayal to in order to minimize something that cannot be questioned, or argued- her character. Sarah Palin has more character in her body then the entire Obama administration has together. Palin has proven that a Conservative with strong stances on morally valid concerns is a force within American politics. She may not win the nomination in 2012, but she has laid down a blue print on how to deal with the biased Liberal controlled media- which is the single most powerful political machine in the world. She had her faults, and failings, but in the end she emerged as a powerful Conservative voice.

Obama's typical campaign against a political opponent is opening sealed court documents to embarrass rivals during an election- he has done this time after time. And the old Republicans apologize and drop out for "embarrassment" or fear of public embarrassment- he can't do that against someone like Palin. He already tried, and it failed.

Palin will also never apologize for something she thought was morally acceptable- such as being a Christian (which she was attacked for being by the Liberal media) or against abortion. Most importantly, she has shown that Americans want someone with character to be in charge- Obama won on making great speeches in public, but his approval numbers continue to drop because for all his fancy speeches he has yet to show any sign of character, inner steel that drives a person to make morally and ethically justifiable decisions.

For example- Obama claimed he was a Christian, thus he claims to believe in some aspect of a soul, heaven, and God…But in a matter of weeks he signs a major pro-abortion bill into law in the name of science. Does killing a baby for stem cells somehow balance the scale between what is possible and what is morally right? Does a woman's right to have an abortion outweigh the consideration of an unborn child's soul? Does making something legal make it right?

Palin will attack Obama on these issues, and so will the new conservatives who will rise from this dark time in American politics. Character will outweigh scandal, and without scandal Liberals are morally bankrupt.

The second person is Rush Limbaugh. If Rush is the "leader of the Republican party" then the Democrats are in serious trouble. Rush will not apologize for a fucking thing he says, and that is the only way a liberal has any real power- by playing victim and demanding ridiculous public apologies. Obama is a master at playing the victim- such as his party line of pointing out how "wrong it was" for Rush to publically state for Obama's policies to fail.

The normal, old Reagan era republican would have apologized for the lack of respect- Republican Michael Steele fell for this, but later recanted when it was pointed out that liberals don't have much to work without an apology. Of course that just lead to Obama claiming that "Rush controls the GOP".

The point is that conservatives are becoming more and more willing to call liberals, and Obama, out on their bullshit. Republican leaders are finding out that you simply can't apologize for anything because the liberal media will consume the entire episode into some ‘scandal" that will end a career faster than simply not giving an apology and confronting the accusers with facts.

Rush is the catalyst for that change and the Democrats are not doing anything to stop this progression. The problem is that Obama is too much of an egomaniac to let one voice speak out against him, and will fall into the same trap that he himself so often uses on his political opponents.

So what happens now? When do the Liberals, who so often find themselves raging against the machine of big government, realize that they are the only conformists in existence within American culture? Obama is morally and ethically bankrupt- and so is the Liberal media- and Rush will not hesitate to attack their motives and character with no fear of consequence because he's not a fucking public servant or a political candidate. What is left for Obama to do? Whine? - Rush does not care. Censor him? - And truly commit political suicide.
Obama, the masterful distracter is distracted, while prospects such as Palin continue to grow accustom to the looming dirty political war that they can WIN by simply being honest and maintaining their own moral dignity, and mostly letting their character show publically…the future is good for the GOP.

El Tobo: FACT. (and fiction…) Hey, we agree again (and we don't).

Anyway. It ain't the party of Lincoln. Self-evident. But it still IS the party of Reagan to a degree, because, to use internet parlance, the Epic Fail that is the Republican party is almost entirely his fault. I mean, again, I used to be a fair-minded person. My heart wants desperately to find merit in Republican arguments about the economy. But it just simply cannot be considered my fault that the arguments are so stupid.

There's really not a point in saying MUCH anything here. Once again, Spook's most powerful rhetorical tool is claiming intimate knowledge of what makes Obama tick. If you take out all the times he says "Obama is this, Obama is that" you pretty much have nothing. And that's pretty much what this argument is.

I assume that they were best friends at one point and had a terrible break up.

The basic idea is this: The only thing that high taxes are used for is social welfare program. All that money going to the military and things that Republicans want lots of? Yeah, no, government doesn't really spend that money. That money doesn't really exist. When we borrow from China, when we get hugely into debt, we only use THAT to create "the nanny state." This general comes in and is like "give me some of that money! I need to buy 900 aeroplanes!" but the exchequer says "no, you can't use THIS money. This is the CHINESE money. This is only for welfare!" And so on.

Because you know what guys? Military spending is still spending. In fact, a lot of spending. And spending on the other things Republicans want? My God, that still counts as spending. And when you spend? You need to get the money from somewhere. And I am just shocked that Republicans suddenly care about that being true, aren't you?

Nobody could argue that it is at least a justifiably reasonable idea to say "I don't want my government to do much, and that way taxes will be low." But the actual argument Republicans have is "I want the government to spend lots, just not on unemployment, AND I want my taxes to be low."

And both Bush and Reagan agreed! And that's why even Obama, who had to do it more or less by necessity forced on him by both of those gentleman, probably won't be as bad for the deficit as Bush and Reagan! Isn't that something. If it's not the party of Reagan anymore, it's just because in the last forty days, Republicans have realized that they care deeply about the deficit. Everyone is buying it, it is so obviously sincere.

Not everyone knows a whole lot about government or the economy but errant nonsense becomes surprisingly obvious to most people. As Paul Krugman said about the republican economic furor during the McCain campaign, the big difference between Bush's economic lies and the McCain people's is that for Bush's you sometimes had to use a calculator to realize it was crap.

I, Andrew Tobolowsky, do solemnly swear that when and if I meet Republican fiscal or governmental ideas that do not fail the simplest test of logic I will be all about that stuff. The theoretical, the true Republican economic and cultural argument is a good one, one worthy of debate in public squares. When you add on how much spending they want to do and pretend it's all the liberals fault or how much they want to tout ideas that have demonstrably not worked—nothing against those ideas originally, but ain't no one can deny that they've HAD their shot and most of us have moved on—it's not something liberals even have to worry about. It's too dumb to be a threat.

And if you really, really think that the only explanation for liberal victories in both the last presidential election and the last senatorial election is because the republicans did too much apologizing---I can only request that all Republicans everywhere work hard to make that a huge part of their platform, because it is a wonderful idea and I'd love to see it so much. Mostly I'd love to see it espoused by opponents of what I believe in because it makes things so easy for us.

And In terms of Palin and Limbaugh? Yeah, right, we liberals are totally scared. I want those two on the biggest stage with the most television cameras pointed at them as you can possibly have. I want them to have 24 hour news stations. This would be, basically, the Republican Party saying "dear democrats, we would very much like to gift-wrap for you landslide victories at every turn, if you would be so kind as to let us."
So, yeah, call our bullshit. It's definitely the only thing that's been holding you back. Mucho good luck with that.

3 for 4. Jesus…did anyone out there imagine Andrew and Spook would actually go 3 for 4?.

And that wraps up the big, bad, "scary" Week 122. Thanks to Spook and Andrew for volunteering to face off. See you all in seven.