And further off the deep end...

[babylonsister]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/post/and-further-off-the-deep-end/2012/06/26/gJQAYM7y4V_blog.html

And further off the deep end...
By Jonathan Bernstein


This week in crazy? We have Darrell Issa endorsing a completely nutso theory that Fast and Furious was all a plot to rally people around gun control (painfully, tragically, disproven: any party eager to find an excuse to push gun control would have used the attempted murder of Gabrielle Giffords). And then Jon Kyl today raised impeachment as a remedy to Barack Obama’s new plans for enforcing immigration policy.

It really is worth emphasizing that this kind of thing did not happen on a regular basis when George W. Bush was president. The ideas were out there — fringe cranks on the left regularly trotted out bizarre theories about September 11 and shadowy Saudi influence, or whatever. But it stopped there, and it stopped there because responsible Democratic leaders refused to sanction it. The key story that shows the difference? Conspiracy-spouting former Member of the House Cynthia McKinney was basically bounced from the Democratic Party, and she was only a back-bencher to begin with.

By contrast, Issa is a committee chair; Kyl is the Republican Whip in the Senate. You can be sure that there will be no pressure to remove them from these positions for embracing the crazy; quite the contrary.

After all, they’re relatively moderate, compared to Alan West, who claims that there are dozens of Communists in the House Democratic Caucus. And why shouldn’t he? Michele Bachmann turned a TV appearance in which she said that Democratic Members should be investigated for disloyalty into a national profile and a presidential campaign. Politicians are quick to see what's rewarded and what's not, and it's pretty clear what's rewarded in the GOP.

Of course Jon Kyl brought up impeachment over a minor policy difference. You don’t have to believe in the crazy to be a Republican leader these days, but you do have to at least gesture to it.

[coalition_unwilling]

1. Since the WaPo sees fit to dismiss me and many others as 'fringe cranks on the left,' please

allow me to be the first here to dismiss it as a corporate propaganda organ.

[OffWithTheirHeads]

2. I guess I am a fringe crank. It stopped because the 1% Dems didn't have any balls!

Bush should have been impeached and Rove and Cheny should be in jail as we speak.

[spanone]

3. they are un american. there's no explaining their raw hatred. i find it frightening.

[treestar]

4. Every President has used prosecutorial discretion

especially on regulatory laws. By that measure, Bush could have been impeached for not enforcing OSHA regulations.

[mysuzuki2]

5. Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't the F and F program

started under the Bush regime and stopped under Pres Obama?

[kentuck]

6. And this needs to be nipped in the bud...

before everyone is talking about impeachment. These crazy people need to be called out on their mental state before they do more damage to our country.

[GeorgeGist]

7. Oh thank you responsible Democrats ...

for enabling the Crazies.

[Octafish]

8. Cynthia McKinney asked why Bush, Cheney etc were making money off war?

Last edited Wed Jun 27, 2012, 08:52 AM - Edit history (1)

For that, she was destroyed.

No one in the press corpse asked even one follow-up when the warmonger Bush said "Money trumps peace."

The WaPo should be ashamed.