Enjoying the Spectacle

I have to admit that I'm enjoying the scuttlebutt about Republicans falling all over themselves to make nice with the lunatic Limbaugh. This is good entertainment. These Republicans are more spineless than the Congressional Democrats were during the Bush years.

Bob Cesca hits the nail on the head when he says, "Throughout the last several decades, the Republican Party has been careening willingly towards this destiny. Year after year, the Republicans have been magnetically drawn ever closer to the simplistic worldview espoused by far-right talk radio."

Furthermore, this is what happens in the vacuum left when a "unitary executive" leaves his post. The Republicans, without anyone in the familiar bully pulpit, must fill the void somehow. Bush had no more regard for the Republicans in Congress than he did for the Democrats. In fact, he demonstrated only contempt for Congress, as he did for the Constitution, and the American people, and the rest of the planet. His was a unitary position, flanked by his loyal bodyguard, smirky sidekick Dick.

No wonder they're lost. They are used to having a cocky cowboy father figure to tell them what to do, how to act, what to think. I love it that lunatic Limbaugh has stepped up to fill the void. This is genuine entertainment, comedy in the raw, true colors wildly waving in the wind. Apparently the fact that most of the nation loathes the lunatic doesn't figure in the equation. Oblations must be made.

To make it easier for the Republicans to offer their apologies and the requisite oblations, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has provided a handy dandy apology machine. Just pucker up and kiss his hinder here.

And kudos to Rex Babin for this accurate portrayal of the fringe lunatic party paying homage to the elephant god.

And finally, Bob Cesca again hits it out of the park:

No wonder the White House is gleefully winking and nudging everyone in the direction of this Republican clown car of awfulness -- if not for the political advantage, for the sheer spectacle of watching the once mighty Republican Party effectively screwing itself. The Democrats, on one hand, appear to be busily going about the business of cleaning up the mess left behind by three decades of Reaganomics while, on the other hand, the Republicans are duct-taping themselves to the ample bosom of the most self-satirical political sideshow geek in American media history, while also expecting this will help their electoral chances.

I confess to feeling a little guilty--just a little--about enjoying this spectacle when we're all asking where we're going and why are we in this handbasket. The world is indeed going to hell in a handbag. And with so much bleak and baleful news bombarding us day after day, a little levity, especially at the expense of those whose contempt drove us to this precipice, is indeed a delicious if guilty pleasure.