Night Owl Chat – More Musical Flash Mobs

It is, quite clear, that the past 48 hours have been hell. We’ve been put through the wringer. We’ve had our hearts torn out and trampled upon.

But that’s the thing about being human. Tragedies occur and you don’t see a way out. But there always is. Beauty endures. Light endures.

So, a night owl chat for those who endure.

Tchaikovsky – Waltz of the Flowers

mobs?

Steve Benen: …. At this point two years ago, Republicans quickly became outraged if Democrats dared to criticize so-called “Tea Party” activists. After all, how could Dems have the audacity to disparage law-abiding Americans speaking out against abuses that offend them? How could Democrats have the gall to condemn sincere patriots who want to have their voices heard?

Two years later, Cantor is entirely comfortable chastising Americans who disagree with his failed, regressive economic vision as a “mob.” How tolerant of him.

…. Is it “pitting Americans against Americans” when Cantor and his cohorts to go after Planned Parenthood, its employees, its patients …. unions, school teachers, trial lawyers, scientists, economists, journalists, community organizers, and advocates for the poor?….

Or does the dimwitted Majority Leader believe “pitting Americans against Americans” is fine just so long as the Republican Party doesn’t like the Americans on the receiving end of the criticism?

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November 2009:

‘how much more lost can these people get?’

Steve Benen: For eight years, just about every time George W. Bush was in the same room as someone with a post-graduate degree, the failed former president would tell the same joke: “I remind people that, like when I’m with Condi I say, she’s the Ph.D. and I’m the C-student, and just look at who’s the president and who’s the advisor.”

Republican crowds always cheered the line, reinforcing the anti-intellectual attitudes that too often dominate conservative thought … Rick Perry is cut from the same cloth.

… Perry made the joke during a speech yesterday at Liberty University, a school founded by crazed televangelist Jerry Falwell. The Texas governor didn’t say much about politics, but he spent a fair amount of time talking about what a lousy student he was.

Perry noted, for example, that at his small high school, “I graduated in the top 10 of my graduating class – of 13.” The crowd laughed and applauded.

…. Perry isn’t just celebrating anti-intellectualism; he’s living it. He doesn’t care what biologists, climate scientists, economists, historians, or dictionaries have to offer; Perry already has all the information he needs….

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