While we have certainly examined this trend before, it seems we must keep revisiting it in hopes that, sooner or later, everyone will understand the very simple reason behind the GOP’s downward spiral.

It’s simple:

- All since January of this year: A staffer for Tennessee State Rep. Diane Black (R-Gallatin) sends out a racially insensitive email…she doesn’t apologize, and isn’t terminated.    Representative Roy Blunt (R-MO) tells a monkey joke at a the 2009 Values Voters Summit…and then makes it clear that he’s talking about President Obama.  Kansas Republican legislator Bill Otto puts a clip on YouTube called “Redneck Rap” where he criticizes the President and then refers to opossum as the “other dark meat.“  Diann Jones, a Texas GOP official, criticized a tax on guns as “Another terrific idea from the black house and its minions.“  Audra Shay, at the time running to be head of the Young Republicans, encouraged and laughed along with racist jokes on her Facebook page and made her own joke about Obama “in a noose“…even after these comments went public, she won the position.  GOP activist Rusty DePass responds to a news story about an escaped gorilla…joking that it is “just one of Michelle’s ancestors – probably harmless,“ and the Republican Party does not apologize.  The chairman of the RNC, Michael Steele, says that he is going to lure African-Americans to the Republican Party with “fried chicken.”  When asked why he is the only senior official from Louisiana not to rebuke a judge for refusing to marry an interracial couple, Senator David Vitter (R-LA) would only respond, “I don’t think that’s the case,” then got on an elevator, declining to make further comment.  Don’t wonder very long why many of the 40.9 million black people in the United States are not identifying themselves as Republicans.

- All since January of this year: Senator Kyl (R-AZ) says that maternity shouldn’t be covered by health insurance, because he and other men “don’t need it.“  Senator Al Franken (D-MN) sponsors his first bill, which states that government contractors that attempt to force female employees not to report harassment and rape, should be penalized…and 30 Republican senators vote AGAINST it.  Republican Robert F. McDonnell, the man running to become the governor of Virginia…wrote a thesis claiming that women should not work, and should stay in the home, and that government credits for child care expenses are part of the “problem.”  The National Republican Congressional Committee said that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) should be “put in her place“…and not a single female Republican legislator (or male Republican legislator, for that matter) was willing to denounce the statement.  No fewer than three high ranking Republican “leaders” are discovered to be cheating on their wives, brazenly, and are all connected to the bizarre, “weirdly-Christian,” C Street house, where it appears infidelity was not only encouraged (using the justification that as ‘men of power,’ they DESERVED to do it), but it was also allowed to occur in the building and was covered up by other members.  Don’t wonder very long why many of the 150.6 million women in the United States are not identifying themselves as Republicans.

- All since January of this year: Former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich called Justice Sonia Sotomayor a racist during the confirmation hearings…and another Republican made the “Ricky Ricardo” reference that she’d have “some ‘splainin’ to do.“  Former GOP congressman Tom Tancredo called Sotomayor a member of the “Latino KKK.”  The RNC put out a press release for Hispanic Heritage Month that had obviously just been run through a translator program and was rife with translation, grammatical, and spelling errors…and the ad they put out featuring prominent Hispanics, didn’t include Justice Sotomayor.  Two RNC officials defended Senator Jim DeMint’s failure to “bring home” funds to South Carolina…by saying he was just acting like “a jew” with our country’s “pennies.”  Representative Sue Myrick (R-N.C.) wrote the forward for a new book which claims there is a “Muslim conspiracy” to take over our government, and Myrick and other Republicans held a press conference to ask the Sergeant Of Arms of the Congress to investigate any Muslim interns.  Republican Representatives and Senators cheered on a Tea Party gathering in Washington, D.C…despite the fact that many protesters held sign bearing anti-Semitic, anti-Muslim, and anti-foreigner slogans and images.  RNC Chair Michael Steele claimed, ridiculously, that gay marriage would hurt small businesses.  Representative Steve King (R-IA) said gay marriage is socialism…and later claimed that the Hate Crimes legislation to protect homosexuals would protect other, what he called, “perversions“…and then he compared homosexuality to bestiality, necrophilia, and pedophilia.  Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) is now trying to get gays to support him in the fight against health care reform…despite the fact that he has called the “gay agenda” the “greatest threat to our freedom that we face today,” and also once said, “Lesbianism is so rampant in some of the schools in southeast Oklahoma that they’ll only let one girl go to the bathroom. Now think about it. Think about that issue. How is it that that’s happened to us?“  Don’t wonder very long why many of the 44.3 million Hispanics…and the 5.5 million Jews…and the 8.8 million gay/bisexual/transgendered people…and the 6.5 million Muslims in the United States are not identifying themselves as Republicans.

And these incidents…are just the SOME of the RECENT ones involving politicians and other political officials.  I’m not even including the race-baiting and fearmongering from the presidential campaign, nor any of the numerous incidents involving the right-wing media.

In the end…it’s simple mathematics.  Each of us was taught in grade school that America is a “melting pot.“  The problem is…it’s not stirred very well.  There are clumps: enclaves of single-race, single-religion, single-creed people all across this country.  Within those caches of homogeneity, people often fall into the simple trap of forgetting that, while within their clique all may share very similar profiles and opinions…the rest of the nation varies considerably.  For example, when you have lived most of your life in a small town or suburb where everyone is white, goes to the same evangelical church, votes Republican, watches FOX News, and opposes homosexuality…it may be hard to imagine that there are a VAST number of American who are not white, go to some other church (or don’t attend at all), vote Democrat (or Independent, or not at all), think only fools watch FOX News, and support (or simply show tolerance towards) gays.

Those people also live in America, and millions of others representing every possible race, ethnicity, sexuality, creed, and lifestyle…and they are full citizens with full lives, equal rights, and one vote apiece.  And forgetting that they vote, not just in the polling place but with their wallets, will lead to the continued withering of the Republican Party.  It’s simple math…and simple politics…and there’s no excuse for the GOP not knowing this.

On one level, Republicans and conservatives seem to understand the need to increase their diversity, and to win the “message battle.”  At the very same time, the message they are currently communicating does not win any battles, and is an anathema to anyone who is not a white, Christian, extremist.  I wrote yesterday, “When your side of the argument does not wish to ‘discuss the issue,’ but rather seeks to ‘prevent others from discussing the issue‘…you are probably on the wrong side of the debate.“  This IS true…but it is also not the only sign that you are alienating the American people.

Here are some other signs that you have lost control, and are alienating moderate Americans:

1)  Your Supporters’ Behavior And Beliefs Makes Them The Subject Of Ridicule:

• This is the mouthpiece of YOUR “birther” movement (people who believe that Obama was born in Kenya).  The tape speaks for itself:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=G42vW9UTsC8

• “Birthers“are now spreading a ridiculously forged “Kenyan Birth Certificate” around the internet.  Why “ridiculous?” Well, for starters…we have already seen the legitimate birth certificate from Hawaii (if you are thinking, “it was a ‘Certificate Of Live Birth,’ not a ‘Birth Certificate’” then you are part of your party’s problem AND a jackass).  Also…the forgery states that Obama was born in “Mombasa, Kenya“…and at that time Mombasa was part of Zanzibar, not Kenya.  And the forgery states that it is an official document of the “Republic of Kenya” when Kenya wasn’t even a republic yet…it was a dominion.
• Here’s Bill Maher, making fun of these “birthers:“

www.youtube.com/watch?v=4apBc87h5-A

• Here’s Stephen Colbert, making fun of the “birthers:“

• Your throngs of people, bused into Town Halls to create disruption so that civilized, democratic discourse is impossible?  You know, the ones organized by former GOP Majority Leader Dick Armey and his lobbying group?  Their behavior is so CHILDISH, UNINTELLIGENT, AND DISRUPTIVE…that Obama and the Dems are using the clips in ADS TO COUNTER YOUR OPPOSITION.

2)  Your Media Figureheads Are Widely Acknowledged To Be Irresponsible Lunatics:

• Again…the clips speak for themselves.  Here’s Glenn Beck…calling Obama a “racist” who has a “deep-seated hatred for white people” in what can only be considered one of him MOST foolish moments:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SnGJY0t_h0

• Here, Michelle Malkin explains her belief that unemployment benefits are why nobody works hard or looks for jobs anymore…and they haven’t for three decades…simultaneously revealing that she doesn’t understand unemployment benefits, the economy, or American history:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvevWl-7qr0

• Here’s Ann Coulter…defending the Boston police officer who called black Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. “a banana-eating jungle monkey“…and she even goes so far as to say that Gate’s behavior when police arrested him in his home was worse because he “delayed” them.  Frightening: Some who posted this clip on YouTube, captioned it “Ann Coulter Teachers Sharpton A Lesson,” including a person going by the pseudonym “GOPatriot.”  Republicans -- these are YOUR supporters.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=XG9bsLAl7cQ

• Drudge and FOX Nation did such a bad job of “misleadingly editing” a clip of Obama…that Obama and the DNC are using the clip to launch very effective counter-attacks because nothing undermines an argument more than to have it be revealed as overt deception.  The clip was release with the titles “2007 Video! Did Obama Say He Wants to Kill Private Insurance?,” and “Uncovered Video: Obama Explains How His Health Care Plan Will ‘Eliminate’ Private Insurance.“  There’s only one problem…Obama wasn’t even talking about private insurance.  More HERE.  Drudge and FOX (especially Sean Hannity) have been busted for this behavior REPEATEDLY.  Republicans: This is your “news?“

3)  Your Politicians And Their Supporters Could Be Aptly Termed “Religious Fanatics”:

• Have you heard of Jeff Sharlet?  He went undercover to infiltrate the “C Street House” where many Republicans reside while Congress is in session.  It’s essentially a Christian fellowship house…that believes that if you are in a position of power, morality does not apply to you…and who says that “Hitler, Pol Pot, Osama bin Laden, and Lenin” were agents of the Lord, who should not be judged…and that it’s ok to “rape little girls” if you are a person with authority…and who wants to take steps to ensure that our country moves towards “the totalitarianism of Christ.“  Scary.  Scary.  Scary.  These are YOUR elected officials who believe these things…”Senators Don Nickles (R., Okla.), Charles Grassley (R., Iowa), Pete Domenici (R., N.Mex.), John Ensign (R., Nev.), James Inhofe (R., Okla.), Bill Nelson (D., Fla.), and Conrad Burns (R., Mont.) are referred to as “members,” as are Representatives Jim DeMint (R., S.C.), Frank Wolf (R., Va.), Joseph Pitts (R., Pa.), Zach Wamp (R., Tenn.), and Bart Stupak (D., Mich.)” are just a few names that Sharlet provides.  And yes, there are a couple of “lunatic-fringe Democrats” in there, too.  NOTE: Zach Wamp will be running as GOP candidate for GOVERNOR in my very own state, the Great State of Tennessee.  It’s shameful…
• Palin attended a Wasilla church and participated in a service presided over by a real-life WITCH DOCTOR and another service involving SAMURAI SWORDS.  And…if you were strangely ok with this…the rest of Americans were not.
• Representative Paul Brown (R-Ga.) actually spent some valuable legislative time trying to get a resolution passed to declare 2010…the “Year of the Bible.”  So much for “separation of church and state.”  If you are thinking right now that “the founding fathers intended for this to be a Christian nation,” then again, you are a part of the problem and you need to go back and learn your American history.  A number of the founding fathers didn’t want the Christian church ANYWHERE NEAR the American government, and Washington, Jefferson, Adams, Franklin and others made clear statements to this effect.

4)  Your Politicians Espouse “Values,” And Then Self-Destruct In “Values-Related” Scandals:

• Senator David Vitter (R-LA) recently said that a fellow GOP senator was “wishy-washy” for criticizing southern Republicans, and that “I’m on the side of conservatives getting back to core conservative values.  There are a lot of us from the South who hold those values, which I think the party is supposed to be about. We strayed from them in the past few years, and that’s why we performed so badly in the national elections.“  Yes…this is the same David Vitter who was RECENTLY embroiled in a scandal regarding his use of HOOKERS which he termed “a very serious sin.“
• BRIEFLY: Ensign, Sanford, Pickering…adulterers all.  And all of them (along with fellow hypocrite and adulterer Newt Gingrich) vehemently clamored for President Clinton’s impeachment/resignation over his adulterous actions, which they saw as a terrible reflection of his lack of character.  Oh, yeah…none of them have resigned.
• Again…from Tennessee:  Last Tuesday, Republican State Senator Paul Stanley…stalwart abstinence advocate…”family values” moralizer…married father of two…busted for having an affair with his intern and taking pictures of their sexcapades.

5)  Your Politicians Are More Acclaimed For Qualities Other Than Their Intelligence:

• Sarah Palin should never have been able to rise above the post of “small-town mayor.”  Her beliefs are extreme, her professional behavior consistently unethical, her ignorance on most areas of civics are unpardonable…and her speeches indecipherable.  She made the GOP a laughing stock…and the only people who didn’t realize this are the conservative base.  Yes, that’s right…all the rest of the sensible conservatives, moderates, and liberates were laughing heartily at her inane statements and foolhardy behavior.  Conan O’Brien’s brainstorm to have William Shatner read her resignation speech as beat poetry was so successful…he brought Shatner back to read her Twitter posts.
• Three words: George -- W -- Bush. In any reasonable society…they man never could have been a candidate for president.  Sub-par intelligence…sub-par communication skills…a history of monumental business failures, and personal foolishness.  But no…you wanted to “have a beer with” him…so you elected him president.  TWICE, for heaven’s sake.

6)  AND…Everyone Seems To Acknowledge That You Only Represent The Most Ignorant Portion Of The Country -- The South:

• Republicans can’t understand why after repeated racist attacks against Obama (or at the very least a refusal to condemn the racist attacks of their supporters)…and after ethic attacks against Sonia Sotomayor…and after constant “immigrant-blaming” on every subject under the Sun….and after consistent support for the wealthiest 1 % of the population, and the corporations that the wealthiest 1% own or invest in…WHY is it that blacks, Hispanics, and other minorities aren’t signing up to be Republicans?  Oh well…they give up.
• Tom Davis, a former GOP Congressman from Virginia, sees the light and declares that the GOP has become “a rural party and a Southern party:“

www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kENJUQICss

• Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH) says the party’s Southern members like DeMint and Coburn are hurting him in Ohio, where conservatives don’t want to be associated with the South (and its culture of religious fanaticism, racism, and ignorance): “They get on TV and go ‘errrr, errrrr.’ People hear them and say, ‘These people, they’re southerners. The party’s being taken over by southerners. What they hell they got to do with Ohio?“
• Sorry, South Carolina…I’m sure you’re a very nice state, but you’ve become the poster child of Southern politics:

If right now you are thinking, “Well Democrats commit adultery, too…and say crazy things…and espouse wing-nut beliefs“…then you are in denial and missing the point.  Yes…Democrats can also be ridiculous…no, they have not yet let their party become DEFINED by it.  Democrats, generally speaking, do not elevate their most “batsh-t crazy” members to their most public and most prominent positions….they do not like for their media figures to be zealous at the expense of the truth.  In other words: they keep their “fringe elements“…in the FRINGE where they belong.

Want to know how it is affecting you now…just look at this map:

This map represents Gallup’s latest polling.  The red states…that’s you.  I know, I know…especially if you live in the South and only watch FOX News, it is really easy to fool yourself into thinking that the rest of the nation feels JUST LIKE YOU DO.  Look at the map again:  WE DON’T.  And if you do not take back the reins of your movement, your media outlets, and your party…I see more “blue” in this nation’s future.  You must reject racism, reject extremism, reject moralizing, reject wing-nuttery…and reject the people who practice these things.  Reject it with your vote, with your dollars, and with your TV viewership…these things represent your only real mechanism for saying “these people speak for us…these people over here, DON’T.“

So…here’s the Friday “Chaos Theory” edition, containing all the leftover news items for the week of July 19th through the 25th:

PALINWATCH:

• In 2008, Sarah found another interesting use of Alaska taxpayer money…she used it to travel to the Mat-Su Valley so she could attend two religious events with the Wasilla Assembly of God folks.  Events…which included the odd use of SAMURAI SWORDS.  A minister quotes from scripture: “May the praise of God be in their mouths and a double edged sword in their hands to inflict vengeance on the nations, and punishment on the peoples, and to bind their kings with fetters, their nobles with shackles of iron, and to carry out the sentence written against them.“  Perhaps someone should tell them that if they kept reading, this guy named Jesus had more of a “peace-sort-of-thing” going on instead of a “stabby-sort-of-thing.”  But, who can blame them, I mean c’mon…SAMURAI SWORDS!  Here’s a clip.
• Ok…this is one of the funniest political items I’ve seen all year:  Vanity Fair ran a piece where Sarah’s resignation speech was marked up by an editor, a research editor, and a style editor.  It can be seen here…really, take a minute and look through it.
• Woo hoo! Sarah Palin has been slapped with her 19th ethics complaint.  One more punch on her card, and she gets a free six-inch sandwich.  The Alaska Fund Trust, was created and group of lawyers from around the country who are “experts in state and federal law.”  The fund’s purpose was to assist Palin with the costs of her various legal defense efforts.  These attorneys have pointed to similar funds (like Hillary Clinton’s) and asked why the fund that they created is any different. The Answer: those other funds are held to federal law, which they comply with.  Sarah’s fund complies with federal law…but may not comply with ALASKA law.  The state investigator thinks the charge has substance; predictably, Sarah and her attorneys do not.

HEALTH CARE:

• GOP Rep. Steve Scalise from Louisiana would like to warn us all about the organ rationing that will occur under the Obama plan:”When you look at the bill, you start to realize what they’re doing and proposing is the very government takeover where rationing of care would exist where a government bureaucrat can get in between the relationship of you and your doctor. It’s the same thing that’s happened in Canada, the same thing that’s happened in England, where unfortunately just yesterday, we saw the story of a 22-year-old, who was denied life-saving care, denied a transplant by this government bureaucracy that exists in England that rations care.“  First of all…all health care systems, including OUR CURRENT ONE, exercise organ rationing because…there are only so many organs available!  Oh, and the 22-year-old he mentions that didn’t get a transplant in Australia…it was a liver transplant, and it was denied because he’s an ALCOHOLIC and he wouldn’t have received it in our country, either.
• Remember how Republicans promised that they would offer their own health care plan?  Well, GOP Rep. Roy Blunt, chair of  the “House GOP Health Care Solutions Group” now says they won’t.  Why?  They claim it is because they don’t want to “confuse the focus.“  I’m only “confused” as to how they get away with opposing every administration plan without ever proposing a reasonable alternative…
• Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia, the House Republican whip, called it “the nonpartisan Lewin Group.”  The House Ways and Means Committee Republicans called it an “independent research firm.“  No matter what you call it…this group is the primary source of the Republican’s statistical data when they are arguing against the health care reform plan.  AND no matter what you call it…it is COMPLETELY owned by UnitedHealth Group.  That’s right:  one of the nation’s LARGEST health insurance providers.  Oh…but I’m certain the data is completely accurate and not at all “massaged” towards the company’s own interests.
• I’ve seen an number of blogs and emails which clearly aver that the president said things, at times they even attribute the claim as a direct quote, that HE DID NOT SAY AT ALL.  So, for the record…here’s the transcript.  And no…he did not say that the government will make decisions for doctors…and no…he did not say that you grandmother won’t get her pain meds…and no…he didn’t say that it is going to be paid for by taxing your health benefits.  Read or listen to the speech…and then comment on the speech.  That’s the procedure.
• The GOP keeps playing this cute game of “if we can delay this past August…we can say we defeated Obama!“  What makes this needless, political stalling “not cute” is that nearly FIVE MILLION people have lost their health insurance since September, 2008.  The number of uninsured is 36.5 million, which means that 4.8 million adults have lost their insurance…IN LESS THAN A YEAR.
• The Health Insurance Industry would like to share their own “data” with us.  They TRIED to say that 77% of people are satisfied with their private insurance…but it turns out that those are just the people WHO NEVER USE IT.  Here’s a shocker:  healthy people who never have to deal with their insurance company…they think their service is AWESOME.  Oh, and in terms of customer satisfaction…turns out that people are just as satisfied with Medicare as they are with private insurance; so much for the whole “government can’t do anything right” claim.
• U.S. Reps. Michele Bachmann and John Kline (both Republicans) say they oppose the formation of a public option because it would be…cheaper.  That is, it will be cheaper…than the insurance that is currently bankrupting businesses and families while providing little in the way of service.  Um, Michelle…John…that’s the whole point.

SEX SCANDALS:

• First it came out that Governor Mark Sanford had been cheating on his wife…and that he abandoned his state without notice so that he could meet with his mistress and “soul mate” one last time.  Now we know…he flew FIRST CLASS and on the taxpayers’ dime.  His office’s response?  They say that he “compares very favorably with previous administrations on use of the state plane, and we believe he would compare favorably on his use of other state travel as well.”  In other words, he may be corrupt, but at least he doesn’t abuse taxpayer money AS BAD as those past governors did.  This clearly seems to contradict his own claims that he is very concerned with “frugality“…and why not…he already contradicted himself on how “morally upright” he is and regarding those pesky marriage vows.
• And…more and more creepy details come out about the C-Street house, where Sanford, Ensign, and Pickering stayed, prayed, confessed to each other, and then ran around on their respective spouses.
• On the Subject of C-Street, Rachel Maddow interviewed Jeff Sharlet, the author of a book he wrote about his experiences while undercover within the C-Street residence:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2qsEu5UKA0

SOTOMAYOR CONFIRMATION:

• Quick Catch-Up: The confirmation has been delayed for a week…for no reason whatsoever, because everyone freely admits that she will definitely be confirmed.  Senator Graham (R-SC) says he will vote for her…and added: “Her life story … is something that every American should be proud of, and if her selection to the Supreme Court will inspire young women, particularly Latino women, to seek a career in the law, then that is a good thing -- and I hope it will.“  Personal Comment:  Regarding Graham’s statement…seriously, only a politician can call you a “motherf--ker” all week and then praise you at the end for being an “inspirational person.” Senator Kyl (R-AZ), will not…a specific reason wasn’t given…

POLITICIANS BEHAVING BADLY:

• More GOP racism:  Dr. David McKalip, a Republican activist with a strong anti-health-care-reform stance, sent an email around with the words “funny stuff” and a picture of President Obama as a witch doctor with a bone through his nose.  Let’s see…we have a foolish email…with a racist picture…all that’s missing is a ridiculous claim of “communism.”  Oh wait…scroll down to see the hammer and sickle.  That’s it -- he got the jackassery trifecta.
• Rep. Marsha Blackburn’s (R-TN) words: “Let’s agree that we’re going to have PAYGO enforcement. That we’re not going to cry ‘emergency’ every time we have a Katrina, every time we have a Tsunami, every time we have a need for extra spending, that we don’t go call for a special appropriation that allows us to circumvent the PAYGO rules.” While we can all appreciate fiscal responsibility…Blackburn’s claim that events like Katrina shouldn’t be treated as special circumstances where what must be done gets done with a minimum of bureaucracy and a maximum of speed and efficiency…is a bit sick.
• Maybe it’s a Republican thing:  Watch Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) stumble over a classic adage:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=pm8a3fFM1kw

You’ll remember that someone else in the GOP had similar difficulties:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKgPY1adc0A

THE MEDIA: HACKS, PUNDITS, AND OTHER INVETERATE LIARS:

• FOX’s Glenn Beck has reacted to the death in the Senate of a ridiculous gun law that would have invalidated each state’s specific gun laws, and allowed individuals from any state where they have a permit, to go to any other state and carry their weapon.  He said in defense of the bill: “I went to the movie this weekend with a gun. And surprise, surprise, I didn’t kill anybody!“  Here he is…in all his lunacy:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVUQM5XmCIg

• It’s official: Jon Stewart of the Daily Show is America’s most trusted newsman.  Jon would be the first to say that this is a strange, sad day…a day when news journalism is so vapid and, at times, so biased that a man who runs a COMEDY NEWS SHOW is more trusted than any of the rest.
• Good For You, Joe:  On Morning Joe, Joe Scarborough laid into FOX for being the only major network to refuse to air the president’s news conference.  What show was so important that it just couldn’t be preempted?  So you Think You Can Dance…sigh.

And that’s it for this week…tune in Monday for all new tales of whimsy, debauchery, political espionage, and the American condition…

…have a great weekend.