Yesterday was a tough day to be a Republican. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said even Hitler didn’t use chemical weapons and then called concentration camps “Holocaust centers.” A few hours later, Republicans in the North Carolina General Assembly introduced a bill to ban same-sex marriages despite the Supreme Court’s ruling that such legislation is unconstitutional. The night ended with Republicans winning a Congressional special election in Kansas by only seven points in a district Trump won by 27 in November.
Poor Sean Spicer is in way over his head. He came to the job with disdain for the press and has fought with them ever since. He’s made gaffe after gaffe and has become a punching bag for late night comics. That said, he’s a joke, not a threat. Liberals should be laughing at him and glad he’s at the podium instead of calling for resignation or firing. They should let go of the outrage and embrace the humor. He’s a gift that keeps on giving.
The bill in the NCGA to overrule the Supreme Court’s marriage equality decision came from the usual suspects. Two the the sponsors, Rep. Larry Pittman and Rep. Carl Ford, tried to push a bill that would institute a state religion back in 2013. That bill alerted the nation that North Carolina was going off the rails and brought heaps of ridicule on the state and the NCGOP.
Again, liberals need to lighten up. The bill isn’t going anywhere. It was introduced by four members whose combined IQs don’t reach triple digits and who were clearly skipping school when civics was being taught. The smart move for the Republican leadership would be to signal right now that the bill is DOA and try to minimize the damage. Otherwise, the late night crowd will have another field day at North Carolina’s expense.
The real threat to Republicans, though, was the special election in Kansas. It should have been an easy win, but a motivated Democratic base made it a nail-biter. The Republican, Ron Estes, ended up winning by almost seven points while he should have won in by double digits without much effort. Instead, the NRCC had to spend money down the stretch to make sure they held the seat.
While a lot of pundits say the results portend a wave in formation, it’s really too early to make that call. The race shows that Democrats are fired up, the political environment today is bad for Republicans and Trump is hurting the GOP. That may or may not be true a year and a half from now. A better indicator will be Virginia legislative elections this November. If Democrats win in districts that would normally be easy for Republicans, 2018 could be a bad year for Republicans and bring the wave Democrats need to take control of Congress and, possibly, the North Carolina legislature.
To have so much power, Republicans are having a rough start. Their only bright spot has been the appointment of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. They may get their bearings in the next few months. If they don’t, 2018 will be a long year for them. Meanwhile, Democrats should enjoy the show.
The GOP was proud that one of its member representatives also called Abraham Lincoln a tyrant and the Civil War an unjust, unconstitutional attack on a sovereign nation. They really can’t help themselves. I guess when the bleeding heart liberals decided, some 30 years ago, to close the mental hospitals and put the patients out on the streets, they didn’t realize that a lot of the inmates actually WERE insane — and would end up as Republican legislators.
Russell,
I agree with you! Keep on standing up for those being screwed by the Tea party GOP!
I was looking at another petition aimed at Spicer. May seem futile gesture but there is sense to the petitions & denouncements. The bullies think nothing of beating up Democrats or Progressives and have won. “You throw pool ball at me, I throw pool ball at you.” is a quote from the movie “Down By Law”.
When I was growing up in Elon College I learned fighting back made the bullies stop better than taking the high road.
The political fights we are forced to at the least contemplate are serious business. Fear & hatred have been what the GOP wants to grow in their garden. Better to have them fear my side than I be walking around fearing them.
No doubt, it was a great day for the Democrats. They lost a special Congressional election by only seven points. LOL An election, BTW, where the liberal MSM media had been hyping the notion that Democrats were so energized that the GOP was in danger of losing a district in their heartland base.
Ebrun, you completely lack any perspective. It was a CONGRESSIONAl race–i.e., gerrymandered in a state which has a history of being strongly republican and is currently dominated by some of the most extreme right wing-nuts in the nation–and their economy is showing it. Because of that history, and contrary to what the liar-in-chief asserted, the Democratic party did not expend vast resources on this race and had a candidate who was young and inexperienced. However, the Republicans had to work hard just to save the seat.
Of course it was a Congressional race. And since Republicans are strong throughout Kansas, it would take a gerrymander that favored the Democrats for the GOP to lose a Congressional district there.
The fact that it was a hotly contested election is pretty much to be expected after one Party dominates a national election like the GOP did last November. Same thing happened in 2010 after the Dems did well in ’08. Many pundits thought the Republicans might lose this seat in a special election with low turnout. In the end, it wasn’t all that close. No doubt the GOP is satisfied with the final result.
Yes, moron, this was in KANSAS where the GOP should have won that seat by 20+ points.