Hagel's enemies: The renenactment of Little Bighorn?

You might wonder how desperately low the psychopathic core of the Republican Party would go until you are reminded that it is flailing in a bottomless pit.

That became obvious once again following President Obama's nomination of Chuck Hagel to be our next secretary of defense.  On cue, as if on orders from  Gen. Custer,   they angrily surged  before the ever-present TV cameras to denounce the former Republican senator from Nebraska with a series of threats that may yet produce a new swiftboat assault on a decorated war hero.

House majority leader Eric Cantor said he was "profoundly" concerned about the president's choice, declaring Hagel to be an enemy of Israel. (When was the last time that Cantor was profound about anything?)  Sen. Lindsay Graham agreed and called it an "in your face" action by Obama.  Sens. John McCain and Jon Cornyn couldn't find enough words to slam their former colleague.  The sky was falling.

Shame on them, even if they are psychopaths.   All of this nastiness flared just as the final figures of  the popular tally in November gave Obama a five-million vote margin. Oh, and the conservative Log Cabin Republicans came out swinging because Hagel was suspected of being against gays.  You get another whiff of how quickly the "Just say NO"gang mobilizes.

The emptiness of these losers recalls the scene from Cinema Paradiso in which the old film projectionist tells a long rambling  story to his  young companion.  "What does it all mean?" the puzzled boy asks.

"What does it all mean?" the old man gruffily replies.  "It doesn't mean nothing."

Meghan McCain to the barricades

SHOULDN'T WE SAY something really nice about a McCain?  Not John or anyone like that.  I'm talking about his daughter, Meghan McCain.  The woman went up to the podium at the Log Cabin Republicans convention the other night and laid out a course for the GOP to have some color return to their anemic complexion (not a pun, but I guess it could be.)  To a highly responsive gay audience, Meghan, who is nowhere near her own closet, put it in words that cannot be sanitized  for polite society.  She said "old-school Republicans" were "scared shitless"  by modern social trends.  That would certainly include broader societal acceptance of gayness.  I'm sure that comment drew shudders from homophobic Republicans from Maine to California.

But she said other sensible things:

"Simply embracing technology isn't going to fix our problem.  Republicans using Twitter and Facebook  isn't going to miraculously make people think we're cool again.  Breaking free from obsolete positions and providing real solutions that don't divide our nation further will.  That's why some in our party are scared.  They sense the world  around them is changing and they are unable to take the risk to jump free of what's keeping our party down."  

Bravo, Meghan.  No - bravissimo!  (You can take that as a supreme compliment, Meghan. I don't usually resort to superlatives about  other Republicans.) 

Ms. McCain has been on the cutting edge of rebukes of the GOP  that has put her at odds with the old-timers with their cave-like mentality.  Contrast her comments with those of  House Minority leader John Boehner, who refuses to accept carbon dioxide fixes as a remedy for global warming and suggests that the flatulence of cows is among the culprits. Anti environmental Republicans  -speaking of flatulence - having been saying these things for years as an excuse for doing nothing.)   

Keep going, Meghan.  The party has given up any claim to having its initials capitalized.  It should be gop.  But if the current  McParty  is to somehow revive, Meghan can say she had a significant role in it.