But Maybe That’s Who Runs For Office

Is the new Congress a reflection of America? Not even close:

Much like America, Congress–which tomorrow returns to whatever it is they do–is a picture of racial progress. Just kidding! It’s still mostly run by a bunch of white, Jesus-loving men in bad suits. According to data from the Post, the 114th Congress is “80 percent white, 80 percent male, and 92 percent Christian.”

No, that’s not a reflection of America. It’s not even a reflection of who votes in America. It’s simply a reflection of who runs for office in America. It’s a reflection who gets the support of our party system, the money people and the consultant class. It’s a reflection of who is deemed “electable.”

Which, if I were to place bets, probably looks an awful lot like that same consultant class. Just a thought.

Couldn’t Happen To A Nicer Asshole

Buh-bye, Eric Cantor. Lost his primary to a completely off-the-rails Teanut named David Brat.

I heard Brat on Chuck Toad Todd’s show this morning and he dished up some word salad that never had a coherent point. Chuck patted him on the head and told him to run along. So excuse me if I can relish in the delicious comeuppance of both the hated Chuck Todd and the wretched Eric Cantor.

Seriously, I have to wonder: it’s not like Cantor is some hippie. You don’t get much further to the right. Yet nobody saw this coming? How did this upset happen? Virginia has open primaries: did Democrats cross over and skew the results? (Yes, I still hate open primaries, always and forever. Pick a side. If you can’t, then wait for the general and you get to pick your candidate then. You do not get to pick my candidate if you aren’t in my party).

I just find that really hard to believe. My understanding is that the Democratic candidate, Mike Dickinson, is not endorsed by the Virginia Democratic Party and is something of a weirdo. In fact, he apparently missed the filing deadline to be on the Democratic ticket. So if he runs at all, it will have to be as an independent.

Cantor basically engineered the gridlock which has ground all of the peoples’ business to a halt. If Eric fucking Cantor is too liberal for Virginia Republicans, you just gotta wonder … It’s hard to see this as anything other than a big victory for the Tea Party. For a movement which has seen precious few of them of late, it’s a good reminder that there are still hotbeds of knuckle-dragging Know-nothings out there.

And Republicans: you have only yourselves to blame for this one. You gerrymandered yourselves into a Tea Party conundrum. Congratulations.

[UPDATE]:

So evidently the candidate is Jack Trammel.

Crazy

[UPDATE]:

The latest is here.

So, this happened:

As the House finished their vote to reopen the federal government and raise the debt ceiling, a House stenographer decided it was a good time to let everyone know her feelings about God, Congress, and the Freemasons.

“He [God] will not be mocked,” the stenographer, apparently named Molly, yelled into the microphone as she was dragged off by security. “The greatest deception here is that this is not one nation under God. It never was. It would not have been. The Constitution would not have been written by Freemasons. They go against God. You cannot serve two masters. Praise be to God. Praise be to Jesus.”

You can hear the rant here.

Definitely doesn’t do much to dispel the notion that we are ruled by religious nuts. Apparently the woman was taken for a mental evaluation.

Fun With Polls

This is cute:

Americans like Witches, the IRS, and even Hemorrhoids better than Congress

Raleigh, N.C. – While Congress remains divided amidst the government shutdown, Americans are united in their disapproval of the legislating body. Of registered voters polled, 85% disapprove of the job Congress is doing. Only 8% approve- Democrats, Republicans and Independents are almost equally united in their distaste for Congress, with only 7%, 10% and 8% approving respectively. Very conservative voters differed slightly with a support of 15%.

[…]

Americans currently have a higher opinion of witches (46/32), jury duty (73/18) and hemorrhoids (53/31) than Congress. Republicans seem much more accepting of Congress over hemorrhoids compared to other voters — 41% favored Congress more than the diseases, as oppose to only 25% of Democrats and 27% of Independents.

Wow. Republicans like Congress more than hemorrhoids? There’s a joke in there somewhere.

Still, it’s not all bad news for Congress:

Half of registered voters have a higher opinion of Congress than of Anthony Weiner right now (50/23). In fact, public figures are some of the only people that registered voters dislike more than the legislature. Americans thought higher of Congress when asked about Vladimir Putin (49/28), Charles Manson (56/18), Honey Boo Boo (42/33) and Miley Cyrus (36/31) – with ‘twerking’ also four points below Congress at 37/33.

Poor Miley Cyrus. She gets such a bum rap.

Meanwhile, Dave Weigel debunks Fox News’ “Obama is tanking in the polls” meme. This is your right wing information bubble at work, folks. You’d think they’d have figured out that it’s not working for them.

Essential

I don’t think “essential” means what Congress thinks it means:

A House aide confirmed to ThinkProgress that the House member’s gym is open. The House gym features a swimming pool, basketball courts, paddleball courts, a sauna, a steam room and flat screen TVs. While towel service is unavailable, taxpayers remain on the hook for cleaning and maintenance, which has been performed daily throughout the shutdown. There are also costs associated with the power required to heat the pools and keep the lights on.

According to the aide, the decision to keep the gym open — even while other critical government services were shelved — came directly from Speaker Boehner’s office. Meanwhile, the staff gym available to Congressional staff has been closed.

It appears that the members gym in the Senate remains open on similar terms. Yesterday, Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-SC) complained to a reporter from the Omaha World-Herald that the members gym was getting “rank.”

Meanwhile:

The government has told about 60 home owners in southern Nevada, for instance, that they need to leave their property for the duration of the shutdown, because their homes sit on federal land in the Lake Mead Recreational Area. Since Lake Mead is managed by the feds, anybody who happens to own a home within its boundaries is technically a “visitor” subject to the same lockout that applies to tourists, hikers, campers or sportsmen seeking access to federal land.

The rules governing Lake Mead say that the only homes allowed there must be vacation homes, with the owners having a primary residence someplace else, so they’re not considered full-time, year-round residents of the park. But some home owners apparently got into the habit of spending most of their time at Lake Mead, anyway. Joyce Spencer, 77, said she and her husband Ralph, who is 80, had to move in with nearby family after a park ranger told them they had 24 hours to evacuate the Lake Mead home they’ve owned since the 1970s. “I had to buy Ralph undershirts and jeans because I forgot his pants,” Joyce Spencer told TV station KTNV. “I had to be sure and get his walker and his scooter.”

I suggest these people climb aboard the nearest Greyhound headed to Washington D.C. and take up residence in the House gym.

News From Bullshit Mountain

I didn’t have time to compile my regular Good News Friday post, but I did find this clip from The Daily Show which someone put on YouTube. Enjoy it while you can, I’m sure Comedy Central will yank it at some point. As I’ve mentioned before, WordPress doesn’t let me embded Comedy Central’s videos:

Republicans! What Do They Want?

Even they don’t know:

“We’re not going to be disrespected,” Rep. Marlin Stutzman (R-IN) told the Washington Examiner. “We have to get something out of this. And I don’t know what that even is.”

Sounds perfectly reasonable to me! Lollipops? Ponies? How about a Home Depot gift card, do you want that? No?

If only Barry Obummer would throw them a face-saving lifeline to help them out of the corner they’ve backed themselves into. Betcha that’s something they’d all love to have.

Adding ….

Democrats compromised by ditching single payer, we compromised with the Hyde Amendment, we compromised by ditching the public option and going with the exchanges instead, and Republicans still shut down the government because they want something else, they just aren’t sure what.

There will not be a political solution to a psychological problem, folks.