Fringe discourse: Bring on the Armpit Committee!

We are bulling ahead in of our crusade to  create a '"House UnAmerican Armpit Committee" - HUAC for our older readers. It will be an overdue inquiry into the lunacy whose unpleasant odor is affecting everything we hold dear to civilized behavior.  In recent days alone there have been numerous occasions to subpoena the most toxic voices among us with the plaintive question once raised by  Atty. Joseph Welch, to Sen. Joe McCarthy:  "Have you no sense of decency?"


Could we not begin by summoning Rep. Allen West, Florida Republican, to explain his math that there are 80 communists in Congress?

And Rep. Michele Bachmann, Minnesota  Republican who was reprimanded by Sen. John McCain, Arizona Republican, for accusing Huma Abedin, a deputy chief of staff in the State Department, of being a secret operative of the Muslim Brotherhood sneakily influencing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. It was a towering moment for McCain, and could demand that Bachmann  appear before HUAC to inquire about her declining mental state  these days.

And Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who assembled a few "investigators"  to review President Obama's birth certificate and now declares with forensic neglect that it is a "forgery".  Arpaio must  be asked by HUAC when did his nuttiness began emitting such foul odors that he is now the leader in the toxic armpit  birther gang.

Romney campaign soldier John Sununu accused the President  of being unlearned in the art of being an American.  (He later Etch-A-Sketched his comment but HUAC could ask him to say why  he is such a boorish dumbbell.)

The Committee could summon Rush Limbaugh, but it would be a still greater diversion if we waited until the circus comes to town.

Kaisch & Rushbo: From one throne to another

"I wonder what the king is doing tonight" - From Camelot

WELL, I CAN tell you what King Kasich was doing shortly after he announced his state budget! He was hanging out with his buddy, Rush Limbaugh.

The Columbus Dispatch reported on Friday that the governor was interviewed by the right-wing Round Man on the latter's radio show, thus affording Kasich an opportunity to enter his comfort zone where he could lament that a lot of people don't like him anymore because of his heroic effort to create better lives for later generations of Ohioans. How entirely inspirational for others who might be bearing the same burdens with their constituents.

According to the Dispatch report, Kasich told Limbaugh that he wanted to "heal the divisions" arising from his bold initiatives on collective bargaining and other issues.

"But Kasich," the paper said, "also discussed his resolve, given the unpopularity of portions of his agenda with some groups. He blasted President Barack Obama for his approach to cutting the federal budget deficit and reminisced about his days in Congress and as a Fox TV analyst.

"Limbaugh's praise for Kasich's performance as governor was effusive. Limbaugh encouraged Kasich to stay the course amid opposition from Democrats."

Kasich got mushy at times, invoking his mother as a source of his strength when the whole world seems to be against him. He also credited his work with Fox News for making him a "better communicator". He added:

"I've just got to have the right motives. It cannot be about John Kasich. This has to be about Ohio and, as long as that's the case, I'm going to do fine."

But should we really feel that good about anything in Buckeyeland knowing that Rushbo is one of his go-to guys?

And whenever he says it's not about him, but about Ohio, beware. It's about him. Always has been.

The Wingies are spinning the earthquake

The latest word from Planet Loco:

Glenn Beck says the Japanese catastrophe could be a precursor (my word, obviously not his) to the end of the world.

Bill O'Reilly says the media are guilty of "hyping" the seriousness of radioactive fallout.

Rush Limbaugh used the tragic occasion to to joke about environmentalists.

As Joseph Welch plaintively asked during the McCarthy hearings: "At long last, have you no sense of decency?"

Not then. Not now.

Rushbo wildly out of control over Joe Wilson

WOULD SOMEBODY please tell Rush Limbaugh to get back on his meds? The film clip of him shouting that Joe Wilson should not have apologized to President Obama was an astonishing spectacle of a person totally out of control. Rushbo appeared to have live wires attached to his buttocks as he bounded on his chair and flung his arms in every direction to emphasize his displeasure with Wilson's retreat. It recalled, however, the apologies that some Republicans offered the Great White Whale for disagreeing with his preeminent stature in the GOP. Rushbo thought those concessions were just fine.

Sotomayor's critics can't do simple math

IF WE NEEDED more persuasive proof of the right-wing's desperation in self-serving revisions of current events, it was the gangland attacks on Sonia Sotomayer in the wake of yesterday's U.S. Supreme Court decision in the New Haven, Conn., firefighters case. Proving that they are as inept in math as they are in their public utterances, the wingnuts immediately described the 5-4 decision as a 9-0 whipping of Sotomayor's vote to reject the firefighters' complaint of discrimination. (By the way, she was one of three appellate judges who unanimously supported the city's action against the firefighters.). Fox commentator Laura Ingraham called it "9-0 on Soto's summary judgment of firefighters claims." Or as Rush Limbaugh put it, "9-zip." On and on throughout the day, the absurd story line reported a "9-0" defeat for Sotomayor. But I was particularly struck by the judgment of Gail Heriot, a law professor at the University of San Diego, who bloviated: "Nobody agreed with Sotomayor - nobody!" Did I say law professor? At any rate, this group deserves a unified award for its loony day's work, and I will honor it with my first multiple Grumpy Abe Linguistic Lunacy Award. (GALL)" I regret that this will have to do for now inasmuch as I have never set up a similar math award for folks who can't count.

The White House Poetry Jam

HOW NICE!  Nice to read the reports on the White House Poetry Jam after eight years of a lackluster  response to the arts as cold as the Eve of St. Agnes. The "jam" brought together the President, Michelle, some national artists and students from nearby universities for poetry readings and music.  The event, Obama said, was to "celebrate power of words and music to  help appreciate beauty and also to understand pain."

Sooner or later we may expect to hear from Limbaugh and Hannity with some hissing disgust that a president would be fooling around with the arts when he should be giving bonuses to CEOs and bombing Kabul.   Will they refer to the president  not as a socialist but rather as a Marred Bard?  Will they accuse him of inviting a jazz musician to the session to mislead the public into thinking he was an upbeat leader?   Will they accuse him of ignoring  America's greeting card poets  whose jobs are vanishing with the rise of e-mail?

OK, so I'm having a little fun today.  But that should not distract us from acknowledging a president who is putting in a good word for the arts.  Bill Clinton's saxophone notswithstanding, we can go all the way back to President Kennedy  to find such a commitment.  It also reminds us of a world where very little rhymes today.