So much for shedding the 'stupid party' label

[ProSense]

So much for shedding the 'stupid party' label

By Steve Benen

Shortly after the 2012 elections, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) urged Republicans to "stop being the stupid party" and move away from "dumbed-down conservatism." It seemed like reasonably good advice, which some in the GOP have apparently chosen to ignore.

Ted Nugent, the gun-loving, bow-hunting rocker whose staunch defense of Second Amendment rights and inflammatory insults of President Obama have made him a hero with many conservatives, will attend the president's State of the Union address on Tuesday night.

Mr. Nugent, who is also a National Rifle Association board member, will be a guest of Representative Steve Stockman, a Texas Republican who recently made headlines by threatening to file articles of impeachment against Mr. Obama if the president issued executive orders that strengthened gun control laws.

<...>

But Nugent has also gone after President Obama with rhetoric that was violent enough to get the attention of the Secret Service... Nugent was invited by a House Republican as a way to counteract Democratic lawmakers welcoming victims of gun violence to the Capitol...there's a larger context to this that's worth keeping in mind as the day unfolds.

First, this is arguably an opportunity for Democrats and a problem for Republicans. Remember, Republicans had a very clear plan in mind for this evening -- allow their swing-state rising star to deliver a carefully-crafted speech, in English and Spanish, hitting the precise points GOP leaders want to emphasize at this critical point.

Instead, Republicans find themselves in the awkward position of having two GOP senators delivering post-SOTU speeches, and while they're speaking, a musician/right-wing clown will be hosting a press conference on Capitol Hill, which seems likely to become a distracting spectacle.

- more -

http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/02/12/16936794-so-much-for-shedding-the-stupid-party-label

Four years of soul-crushingly painful Republican responses to Obama's State of the Union address

by Jed Lewison

If you're lucky, the only thing you remember about the GOP's responses to President Barack Obama's State of the Union addresses is the one by Kenneth the Page in 2009. But as forgettable as they are, their sheer awfulness is worth remembering, so with Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) on tap for Tuesday night's SOTU response, we helpfully compiled 80 seconds or so of the most cringe-inducing moments over the past few years. The video is at the top of this post. Enjoy!

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/02/11/1186317/-Four-years-of-soul-crushingly-painful-Republican-responses-to-Obama-s-State-of-the-Union-address

Painful.

[Fumesucker]

1. Jeff Danziger will be relieved to hear that

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. You can't cure stupid.

They'll continue to be the stupid party because they can't help themselves - they're stupid.

[TwilightGardener]

3. Republicans have long figured, since Obama was elected, that one of the ways

to hurt him was to degrade and cheapen the Presidency itself, including its ceremonies and traditions. Of course, they'll want the Presidency to be respected and revered once again if one of theirs gets in--and it will probably work, since Dems don't wallow in undignified performances quite like the "You Lie!" Republicans.

[Andy823]

4. Well...

If you cater to a base of total "morons", and you have to dumb down tot heir level to get their votes, what can you expect. They will have a hard time trying to get rid of the "stupid" label as long as they kiss up to the "stupid" base!

[Johonny]

5. Isn't their whole plan to shinny keys distract the American people

Having a clown show after the SOTU makes them look stupid but it will also dominate the post speech talking points in the media the following day. All they have is pointless distraction but when you own the media all you have to do is create pointless sideshow distractions to fill up the air time. The Republicans will be successful at what they want to do tonight which is fill up the air time when the president isn't speaking with pointlessness so Americans never get to discus anything that has real meaning.

[KharmaTrain]

6. The Bubble Grows A Bubble...

Anyone who dares to tell rushpublicans they're out of step is now thrown under the bus...err bubble. Many are convinced that it was Willard who lost...they didn't. The problem was the rushpublican party isn't "conservative" enough

So now there's a void to be the new crazy on the block. The old ones have flamed out.

[Scuba]

7. When Jindal said the Republicans had to stop being the "party of stupid" it was ...

... Rick Perry who gave the rebuttal.

[kairos12]

8. I wish they would retreat to Maxwell Smart's Cone of Silence

[catbyte]

9. Jindal's was my fave. It was so much worse than the Dukakis-in-a-tank Snoopy moment

I think that effectively ended any hope of a presidential run. What a dweeb, lol.

[ProSense]

10. Bobby "Berm" Jindal, baby