Gail Collins: "The Republican Party has officially moved into nutcase territory." (NYT)

[jefferson_dem]

The Amtrak Connection
By GAIL COLLINS
Published: April 29, 2009

<SNIP>

On Wednesday, Biden was bounding around with excitement at his coup, and who could blame him? Heaven knows Obama deserved some good fortune. Other than Specter’s defection, the best news the president got on his 100th day in office was probably word that the Department of Homeland Security had eliminated the threat of swine flu by changing its name to the H1N1 flu.

The Republicans were irate. “Look, you can tweak my nose, and you can step on my toes and you can pull my hair. At some point, enough is going to be enough,” Michael Steele, the party’s chairman, told CNN.

Steele is turning out to be irrepressible, which is the worst thing you could possibly want in a party spokesman. You really do better with a guy who can repress at the drop of a hat.

The chief G.O.P. talking point was that Specter had only switched parties because he wanted to get re-elected. “To me, this was not a question of, ‘oh, gee, all of a sudden I found principles as a Democrat.’ This is about political survival,” said Steele.

It was a superdepressing message to Steele’s fellow party members north of the Mason-Dixon line: Good for you in saddling yourself with a toxic political affiliation out of principle.

<SNIP>

“Well, if spending the hard-earned dollars of the American people and redistributing their wealth and moving towards a collectivist socialist approach to government, if that helps you realize you’re a Democrat, then, you know, good riddance,” Steele said.

The Republican Party has officially moved into nutcase territory. The Republican moderate caucus in the Senate is down to the two women from Maine. And we would all certainly like to listen in on their conversations on the plane ride home.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/30/opinion/30collins.html?ref=opinion

[BOSSHOG]

1. Two women from Maine - the gop moderate caucus

I think Steele should purge their sorry asses for the sake of party purity. If you are not a closed minded hateful CONSERVATIVE you have no business in the grand ole party.

[DrDan]

2. rather than labeling Collins and Snowe as the "republican moderate causus"

they should be referred to as the "sane republican caucus".

[midnight]

3. The Republicans can rest assured. Spector did not vote for

Obama's 3.4 trillion dollar budget plan for next year.

[saltpoint]

4. Steele's job requires more vision than he has, as the vision he has runs

from his eyeballs to a FOX News tv screen.

[Chowlie]

5. It's good to see the idiocy and hysteria at the highest levels of the GOP

It didn't work last election and if they continue to be the party of hysteria, they will keep losing on into the future. I still think they are trying to divide themselves into a majority. I agree Specter is doing this to stay afloat, and I don't really care about him or trust him. I'm just talking about the "socialist collectivist Marxist you-will-be-assimilated" idiocy.