We've heard a lot about bi-partisanship, how despite the fact that the right wing has been taken over by the lunatic fringe, they should still have a seat at the table, blah blah blah.

Here's what I think should happen. Ignore the morons. Especially these types. Because what's going to happen is this:

Obama's plan over the next 1.5 years will show tangible results. The GOP politicians who fought this tooth and nail will be voted out by their constituents in 2010, yielding more democrats or moderate republicans who are willing to work with the majority. At that point, we'll be rolling.

Keep giving them rope, they're hanging themselves as we speak.

Of course he's a U.S. citizen. He's the illegitimate son of Malcolm X. Look at their pictures side by side.

Well, honestly, "members of State legislature say something dumb" is a dog-bites-man story-- but it's nice to note that they're all Republicans, if minor league.

Weirdest state in the land of the free.

(Not really, normal Tennesseans--I just went the lazy song route.)

The real John Boehner is crazier than Dan Aykroyd's portrayal - by a mile.

Case in point: John B. complains about investment in rail between L.A and Vegas, when in reality, Gov Strickland is probably who will get the most rail money for the "Ohio Hub" project.

I hope Strickland builds a rail line right through Boner's living room.

The four Tenn. Reps are offering to be plaintiffs in a lawsuit brought by a Russian immigrant from California. Would he be the "yahoo" in the second to last paragraph?

If they want to waste their time with frivolous law suits - remember when those promised to be the ruin of our Nation? - let them. But at the same time, make them cough up their birth records. We have a right to know whether their parents are related by birth.

Paul Begala in most recent column just called out Gov. Sanford and all the other Republican politicians complaining about the stimulus. He called South Carolina a "ward of the federal government." Oh, snap! It really is that simple of a response to McCain and the rest of their ilk. Don't take the money. It should be repeated over and over again.

They do so love to Volunteer

I was disappointed by the SNL sketch. Boehner, with his unique blend of arrogance, sanctimony, less than stellar intelligence, odd speaking style, faux suntan and, yes, a name that looks like it should be pronounced "Boner", is begging to be parodied. Targets don't come any bigger than this.

Aykroyd's performance captured none of what makes Boehner unique. It looked as though he showed up at the studio with just enough time for make-up before going on air and reading his lines off the cue cards.

BTW, the link to the Tennessean article is broken. The column can be found here

But at the same time, make them cough up their birth records. We have a right to know whether their parents are related by birth.

Bwa!

What does it mean when the truth is mean-spirited satire? I am thinking the modern age is now best defined as post-comedic thanks to the GOP.

Would have liked to see Akroyd have problems with the toupe.

It's gotten to the point where I can no longer tell the satire from the actual GOP statements/plans/talking points.

FYI, the link in the post is broken -- it takes you to a 404 Error -- but a little drilling got me to one that works for the whole piece.

What's next; Obama is really a lizard person in disguise like the visitors from "V" and he eats live rodents whole?

"What's next; Obama is really a lizard person in disguise like the visitors from "V" and he eats live rodents whole?"

The giveaway is that Obama's copy of 'To Serve Man' is a cookbook.

Or at least that's what some email I got from 'a Concerned American' said. :)

ayckroyd didn't have enough suntan-in-a-can. and he wasn't sanctimonious enough.

Niceley is a member of the National Riffle Association. I guess he considers himself qualified to riffle through Obama's papers.

Gail Kerr of the Tennesean, Krystal Burgers and Memphis B-Bque - Three reasons to see some hope for Tennessee

Funny, when I said demonstrably true things about W, my right wing "friends" said my "treason" was "a bigger threat than the terrorists" because we had to stand behind our president no matter what. Now they say demonstrably false things about President Obama... hmmmm.

There is a direct correlation between these delusional lawsuits and the obstructionism that we saw from congressional republicans these last several weeks. A very large proportion of the republican party believes that an elected Democrat is, by definition, illegitimate. We saw this during the Clinton administration in full view. Unfortunately, we will continue to see it throughout the Obama administration as well.

These losers are merely representative of all those assholes who simply won't admit that a scary nee-grow kicked their redneck assess up one wall and down the other.

It seems a little early in Obama's presidency to see Republicans become this deranged.

Steve, Steve, Steve... it's *never* to early for Repubs to become this deranged. It seems, rather, to be their normal state of being.

-Z

And the music bert, don't forget the music. With Memphis in the west and mountains in the east, it's almost enough to make you forgive Nashville, and even there the Reiman's still standing. Lot to love about Tennessee, it's just that some of the people are a little strange, like, come to think of it, just about everywhere else. I guess that also explains our strange presidential history.

The four Tenn. Reps are offering to be plaintiffs in a lawsuit brought by a Russian immigrant from California. Would he be the "yahoo" in the second to last paragraph?

Apparently, although the yahoo is a "she", not a "he". Her name is Orly Taitz and she's a dentist/lawyer (or lawyer/dentist). She has already brought a case as far as the Supremes only to have it lie there and die, but she never gives up. She is thrilled to have real live politicians on board since the best she's been able to corral up until now are a couple of cranky retired military officers.

The current home page of her website defendourfreedoms.us, rambling and mis-spelled as it is, doesn't give you the full flavor of her crackpot ideas. Try www.yestodemocracy.com which is a kind of Orly-Taitz-Watch to get a summary of just how crazy she and her followers are.

I think that this SNL skit has been somewhat overpraised. While it was a pretty good, and accurate, criticism of today's GOP, it wasn't particularly funny (it came closest in its debate on the relative intellectual capacities of Limbaugh and Hannity). Tina Fey's Palin was both. Though it was nice to see Dan Ackroyd, especially since he looked better than I recall seeing him in recent years.

Isn't there another dentist, a guy this time, who is also a leading Obama conspiracy theorist? Or am I imagining that?

The funniest thing about the SNL skit was the GOP leadership thinking it was political gold to go after the Obama daughters because the whole country wanted to see them "taken down a peg." It's not that hard to imagine them actually having a conversation like that.

The SNL skit was dead on substantively, but it wasn't funny at all. Someone should put that show out of its misery, but I get the impression that much like The Simpsons, it's actually accumulating more and more viewers as it gets progressively worse.

My prediction is that by 2010 all Republican politicians will be speaking in tongues 24/7. This will prove their direct connection to God and the infallibility of their beliefs.

Who were the others in the skit supposed to be? I got McConnell and Cantor, but the other three, was it Tom, Dave, and who was the woman?

jen f 12:18 PM

Do you think a nice Jewish Boy like Eric Cantor will be able to master "the speaking in tongues"?

This reminds me of the Hillary Clinton derangement syndrome suffered by Obama supporters during the election.

I haven't seen a single shred of evidence that Swafford, Campbell, Casada (sounds foreign to me), or Nicely meet the citizenship requirements for membership in the Tennessee legislature. It's awfully suspicious; if I were a Tennessee citizen I would sue.

The Republicans trying to sue over Obama's birth certificate are probably less deluded than calculating. The big lie strategy is alive and well in the Republican party.

Where there's smoke, there's fire. Must be some reason this thing isn't going away. Might be related to jackpot baby citizenship--the peculiar custom of using an amendment meant to protect the children of slaves to reward preggies who sneak over the borders with citizenship for their babies and an "anchor" for themselves.

Where there's smoke, there's fire. Must be some reason this thing isn't going away.

Oh, that's rich. That's hilarious.

Perhaps the reason is that people just can't accept that a liberal black man is their president?

It is very amusing to me. These people are nothing but trolls really. The world is leaving them behind.

Barack Obama 2012!

Oh, that's rich. That's hilarious.

Nah, it's just Luther's knee-jerk racism again.

If these politicians really uphold conservative values, why aren't they leading an armed massacre in a Unitarian Church?

Stacey Campfield has been crazy for sometime. This is one of his sanier stunts.

He tried to join the Black Congressional Caucus a couple of years ago. And he's currently sponsoring a bill requiring death certificates for aborted fetuses - and another denying birth certificates to children of illegal aliens born in Tennessee.

Just another day in the Tennessee Legislature. Nobody cares much, though, because we all know they don't run the state, anyway - the lobbyists do.

Read some of the comments at defendourfreedoms.us. Scary. I hope the FBI is monitoring these crazies.

This is like trying to drag your ambulance driver away from the steering wheel to make sure he's not an illegal alien, while he's driving you to the hospital... Do they think it would do the country any good to divert resources and attention to the little tempest they're trying to create? Now, of all times?

this is absurd, which is now the norm for the GOP, like having "Joe/Plumber" make speaking appearances & weighing in on financial policy, or the hypocrisy of covering for Sarah Palin / Troopergate while screaming for the heads of tax cheats on cabinet nominations. yawn.

It was a Democratic lawyer in Pennsylvania who first challenged Obama's statement that he was born in Hawaii.

re: the guys in the TN House; poor fellas are still reeling from the Speaker of the House election. It's a great story.

After TN Republicans won a majority (50 to 49) in the TN House for the first time since 1869, they gleefully prepared to elect Jason Mumpower the new Speaker of the House. Suffice to say Mumpower is a poster child for the partisan right. It was such a "slam dunk," Mumpower had already updated his webpage and claimed the title before the election was held.

However, when it came time to vote, every one of the 49 Democrats voted for Republican Kent Williams, a second term moderate with a history of working across the aisle.

49 Republicans voted for Mumpower. Then, the last representative was called to vote- Kent Williams. Williams voted for himself.

The crying and cursing could be heard across the state. The first Republican majority in almost 150 years, yet the new speaker is a hardworking pragmatic moderate Republican instead of ... well, instead of Mumpower.

:-)

The Republicans were so pissed they kicked Williams out of the party. And that means TN now has 49 Democrats, 49 Republicans, and one Independent.

Poor guys. The first republican House majority in almost 150 years, a majority of ONE... and they decided it was a good idea to kick Williams out. Bye-bye, majority! Hello, annoyed tie-breaker!

:-)

So; for Campfield, Casada, etc to join a hare-brained lawsuit like this is simply par for the course. They're all about posturing for what remains of the all mighty Base, which doesn't leave much time for actual governing.

They're all about posturing for what remains of the all mighty Base, which doesn't leave much time for actual governing.

But what you need to understand about Tennessee is that if anyone actually tried to run the state there's be a revolt. (Indeed, we damn near had one a few years ago when a few of the more far-sighted legislators tried to implement an income tax.) People here haven't had a functioning government in so long, and have gotten so used to doing things for themselves, they have no idea what a real state government does, and would consider it an assault on their freedoms.

It was a Democratic lawyer in Pennsylvania who first challenged Obama's statement that he was born in Hawaii.

That's right, the notorious Phil Berg. He also tried to bring a RICO lawsuit against Bush, Cheney et al, claiming that they were behind the collapse of the WTC towers on 9/11. The towers were, according to Berg, brought down by controlled demolition and the entire FDNY was bought off by the conspirators. That members of entire organizations -- FDNY, SCOTUS, FBI, Congress, the Senate -- can be uniformly bribed and/or intimidated into silence down to the last man or woman is a common theme throughout Berg's oeuvre.

(Indeed, we damn near had one a few years ago when a few of the more far-sighted legislators tried to implement an income tax.)

yeah, I've explained the benefits of a state income tax vs. sales tax so many times to so many people. When you can get someone one-on-one it's surprising how many "get it."

Unfortunately few are willing to speak up and risk being shouted down by their neighbors.

How interesting that all you can do is name call. Could it be because you do not have any facts. When the facts come out you Liberral yahoos will be singing a different country song.