An "Old Gray Lady" Pundit Wrapup

While taking a break from pontificating that those who supported budget reconciliation for health care reform were “taking hallucinogenic drugs” here, John Harwood of the New York Times communicated the following here today, on the matter of Scott Brown’s victory last week in Massachusetts over Martha Coakley in the special election to fill Ted Kennedy’s U.S. Senate seat…

Mr. Brown tapped into national disapproval of swelling deficits.

Perhaps, but would it have been too much trouble for Harwood to point out the following on Brown (here)…

Brown is entirely in tune with his future Republican colleagues. He has railed against the proposed $500 billion cuts in Medicare and opposes the proposed tax on banks. In this op-ed, he says that the stimulus has failed to create a single job, rages about the rising debt, and advocates an across-the-board tax cut while offering no specifics on how to reduce the debt.

Nothing constructive, nothing coherent, nothing concrete, and no support for anything President Obama has done or plans to do. Brown will fit right in.

Oh, and Harwood made sure we knew the following (about the ongoing battle to confirm Ben Bernanke as Fed chair for another term)…

White House aides concluded that they had to douse that fire after the Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, publicly equivocated on Mr. Bernanke, whose term expires Jan. 31.

The chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, upbraided Mr. Reid in a telephone call, saying the administration and sagging markets “need something stronger from the Senate majority leader.” A Reid aide noted that the call had included some of Mr. Emanuel’s characteristic profanity.

Oh yes, with millions of Americans out of work and without health care (and an administration and Democratic majority Congress that apparently has no coherent plan on these subjects, lest they be chastised as “big gumint” by middle-aged to elderly white people who make racist signs and wear funny hats and attend rallies to feel sorry for one another…see below), it’s a priority for Harwood to let us know that Rahm Emanuel uses bad words and violates all of that prized fa-la-la, mythical bipartisanship so craved, allegedly, by Holy Joe Lieberman, Evan Bayh, Bob Kerrey and President Snowe (and speaking of profanity, Atrios has a bunch here, though I think it’s definitely apropos; he’s probably forgotten more about this stuff than any of these alleged geniuses will ever know).

Also in the Times today was a bit of analysis on the impact of those teabaggers (here), in which we learn the following…

Democrats have not been spared primary battling. Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, who switched to the Democratic Party from the Republican last year, faces a primary challenge on the left from Representative Joe Sestak. The party also faces competitive Senate primaries in Colorado, Illinois, Kentucky, North Carolina and Ohio, reflecting, among other issues, strains between liberals and centrists.

But the deeper intramural divisions are within the Republican Party, a sign of the intensity and unpredictability of the grass-roots conservative movement.

Across the country, Republican candidates are running as outsiders with the backing of conservative Tea Party groups, challenging Republicans identified with the party establishment. Several analysts said the victory in the Massachusetts Senate race of Scott Brown, a Republican who ran with Tea Party support, could encourage more challenges and drive incumbents further right.

Senator John McCain of Arizona, the 2008 Republican presidential nominee, is facing a primary challenge from former Representative J. D. Hayworth, who is seeking to exploit longstanding unease among conservatives toward Mr. McCain.

Highly contested and potentially divisive Senate primaries are also shaping up in California, Colorado, Florida, Kentucky, Nevada and New Hampshire.

So apparently, these life forms are the new arbiters of our political discourse…



God, are we screwed.