Recently in Failed Leadership Category

And I have returned to the scene of my last crime to do so!

Been a while since I have stolen anything from another blog. I thought I had my problem licked, but damn if this did not just bring it back with a vengeance!

A COLOSSAL FAILURE OF REPUBLICAN LEADERSHIP

Statement from Minority Leader Thissen as 2011 Legislative Session slouches to end

"I have no idea how the Republican Majority can adjourn this session and go home to their constituents. Their only accomplishment - if you can call it that - was to divide Minnesotans with a constitutional amendment that enshrines discrimination into our constitution.

Worse, had the Republican budget gone into effect, they would have laid waste to the things that Minnesotans care most about, squeezed the middle class, and set Minnesota back dramatically.

Simply stated, this session has seen a colossal failure of Republican leadership.

That failure is based on misplaced Republican priorities.

As opposed to asking the richest 2% to take any responsibility in solving our historic budget deficit, the GOP is cutting special education funding for our children.

Because not a penny more can come from the special interests, Minnesotan's interests - like supporting small business growth - are ignored in the Republican budget.

This Republican majority chose corporate fat cats over Minnesota seniors.

This Republican majority chose the richest 2% and raised property taxes on the 98%.

This Republican majority chose those who have benefited most from the recovery over disabled Minnesotans.

This Republican majority chose to party loyalty at the price of discrimination.

This Republican majority chose their special interests over Minnesota's interests every single time this session.

Leadership is about priorities. Over the last 152 days, the Republican Majority has made choices based on misplaced priorities. They have failed the people of Minnesota.

Hat Tip MNpublius

Whether they are willing to admit it or not, the Republican Party of Wisconsin just signed it's own political death warrant.

Madison, Wisconsin (CNN) -- Wisconsin's Republican-led state Senate passed Gov. Scott Walker's proposed restrictions on collective bargaining for public employees Wednesday, getting around a Democratic walkout by stripping financial provisions from the bill.

"Tonight, the Senate will be passing the items in the Budget Repair Bill that we can with the 19 members who actually do show up and do their jobs," Sen. Scott Fitzgerald, the chamber's Republican majority leader, said in a statement announcing the move.

The recalls are just going to be the beginning. The next election cycle is going to leave Wisconsin in the hands of the Democrats for years to come.

Hat Tip to skippy for this very damn funny, and probably completely inappropriate youtube:

It is going to happen. Remember, Conservatism does not fail, it is failed. Some time in the future, Gov. Scott Walker will be described by the conservatives and the tea party members as not being a real conservative. Not after all the fall out from his over reach. With the country becoming galvanized against the ultra rich by his actions, he will be labeled a crack pot, an extremist, anything other than a conservative/tea party member.

Okay, now I will put away my crystal ball, pulling it out the next time I feel like making a fool of myself.

(Alternate Brain) By the end of this year, we won't even be able to put a man in space anymore.

You know, the idea of conservatism was to maintain the status quo. I believe the phrase bandied about was "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." But if we can no longer put people into space, how can one not help but think something is broke? So, I guess the new concept of conservatism is "If it ain't broke, break it!"

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker obviously did not realize that George W Bush acted dumb. But George was at least smart enough to allow himself to be handled by politically savvy operatives who could steer him away from stupidity. Well, until Katrina. But that was the operatives showing they knew how to win an election, but did not know how to run a country.

Unfortunately Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker really is stupid, does not have the insight to recognize his own stupidity, and obviously failed in hiring people to handle his penchant for stupidity.

The stupid, it burns! So much so that I am roasting S'mores. If I had Jiffy Pop, I would make popcorn.

It is next you know. "Let them eat cake." It is not a matter of if, it is a matter of when. I mean it. One of these days a Republican is truly going to utter a phrase that is no different then "Let them eat brioche."

These bastards are heartless.

What the hell is wrong with her? Seriously. "Blood Libel?" Can a person be any more stupid?

Sigh.

Look, I am not going to get into the blame game. There really is no way to prove whether violent, military rhetoric drove Jared Lee Loughner to commit the Arizona killings. So, I am not interested in pursuing that line of thought.

However, consider that for years during the Clinton administration Rush, Newt, and other Conservative leaders were very fond of saying words matter; words have consequences.

Now, of course, they are rejecting that very premise.

Go figure.

Anyway, if you will allow me a slight tangent; one tenant of recovery is to act as if you want recovery. That means putting aside the behaviors and language associated with using. It is, in effect, replacing one culture with another. It is believed that if you use a new language and follow new rules that do not have any association with drug and alcohol use you will be less likely to have urges to use.

Well, I see Democracy as a replacement for armed conflict in establishing leadership. So, if you are a believer in Democracy, that means using language reflecting that belief. Talking about armed revolution, watering the tree of liberty, etc, hardly projects a belief in Democracy.

Oh, and to go on an even sharper tangent: once again the United States has come to call an assassin by all three names........

This is a first (and possibly last) in what should have already been a long established practice of "What Mustang Bobby Said."

Aside from the fact that the Republicans and the right wing had decided long before January 20, 2009, that the Obama presidency would be a failure and that they would do everything they could to make it so, the simple fact remains that human nature is such that it is easier to convince the people that a vapor trail off the coast of California is a precursor to an invasion by the Borg than it is to convince 95% of the taxpaying public that their taxes actually went down last year. The more outrageous the story, the easier it is to sell. Orson Welles knew that in 1938; so did P.T. Barnum, and so did the folks who came up with the whiz-bang story that the universe was created in six days. After all, which sounds better; the Garden of Eden and a talking snake or a long boring science lecture on microbes adapting to a planet with carbon and water?

Because he certainly does not know the definition of 'appealing.'

(Washington Post) Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty has little of the star power of Sarah Palin. He has not been around the presidential track in the way of Mitt Romney or Mike Huckabee. He does not have the political network of Haley Barbour. He is not a provocateur of ideas like Newt Gingrich.

None of that seems to bother him as he weighs whether to seek the 2012 Republican presidential nomination. He thinks he has something others don't have, which is the capacity to help put a more appealing face on a party that still suffers from image problems with many voters.

Can we please get one thing straight? T-Paw has been cravenly playing to the Republican conservative base and in no way offers anything appealing. All it will do is hurt his chances with the independent votes. And in the end he is a Republican with a record that shows he does not care for the average American, just the average Corporation.