Pufferfish

Virginia Is For Lovers

Of secession:

Gov. Robert F. McDonnell, reviving a controversy that had been dormant for eight years, has declared that April will be Confederate History Month in Virginia, a move that angered civil rights leaders Tuesday but that political observers said would strengthen his position with his conservative base.

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The seven-paragraph declaration calls for Virginians to "understand the sacrifices of the Confederate leaders, soldiers and citizens during the period of the Civil War."

But rest assured that McDonnell tickling the dark underbelly of Civil War reenactors can be safely spun with language that serves as a dog whistle for white supremacists and a safety valve for practitioners of suburban white flight:

"It helps him with his base," said Mark Rozell, a political scientist at George Mason University. "These are people who support state's rights and oppose federal intrusion."

Just as Reagan going to Philadelphia, Mississippi to talk about state's right had nothing to do with race, McDonnell talking about race has everything to do with state's rights. Huh?

Then something happened in the 1990s. The leaders of the GOP grew belligerent. They became too religious, almost zealots. They became intolerant. They began searching for purity in Republican thought and doctrine. Ideology blinded them.

Or an ideology of intolerance Saved them, depending on who's delivering the sermon. Either way, it used to be that the GOP called on the country's dark forces to win elections. Increasingly, it is the country's dark force.

Not That He Ever Was

Fairly sure Can't Remember Shit isn't fatal, unless we're talking about one's credibility:

As he faces a potentially tough Republican U.S. Senate primary in Arizona, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) no longer claims the "Maverick" mantle, Newsweek reports. In fact, he now denies he ever was one.

Said McCain: "I never considered myself a maverick."

Ever since he did the deed I've assumed McCain picked Palin largely because she burnished his Mavericky persona. "He did what? Now there's something that takes guts! He's one against-the-grain feller, that 'ol S.O.B." After all, he had a decade of Beltway hagiography to protect since 2000 when George Bush's presence forced him to the middle. Too bad for McCain that Palin was abhorred by GOP insiders and fans of Strunk & White.

Flash forward 18 months and McCain's shrugging off his security blanket of a political moniker while embarrassingly embracing his dubious veep pick on the Arizona campaign stump. Sure, it's a primary and that's typically all about out-basing your opponent. But a more confident, secure and safe politician wouldn't be forced to genuflect before the alter of Tea Partyism. Safe to says that after three decades in the Senate, McCain is none of those things.

I thought the old man's reaction after HCR passed—when he promising not to work with the Obama administration on any legislation until November—was a new low for McCain's brand of policy petulance. Then there's this, which is a new notch on the growing list of McCain's brand of rhetorical flatulence.

Communism Is In The Details

Substance-lite reporter files substance-free article hitting Obama for talking about substance:

Even by President Obama's loquacious standards, an answer he gave here on health care Friday was a doozy.

Toward the end of a question-and-answer session with workers at an advanced battery technology manufacturer, a woman named Doris stood to ask the president whether it was a "wise decision to add more taxes to us with the health care" package.

"We are overtaxed as it is," Doris said bluntly.

Obama started out feisty. "Well, let's talk about that, because this is an area where there's been just a whole lot of misinformation, and I'm going to have to work hard over the next several months to clean up a lot of the misapprehensions that people have," the president said.

He then spent the next 17 minutes and 12 seconds lulling the crowd into a daze.

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Halfway through, an audience member on the riser yawned.

It makes me a bit misty-eyed for the days when question and answer sessions with the president were pre-arranged, sprinkled with a condescending tone and punctuated by tight fitting jeans undoubtedly packed with a presidential cod piece.

To recap: Kornblut's mind takes a siesta during a long, detailed and comprehensive answer involving health care reform and that, as it turns out, is the president's problem, a politician plagued by his inability to connect with folks on the campaign trail. Kornblut can't be bothered helping readers better understand reform. And she'll be damned if Obama's going to get a pass for doing her job.