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Raging Pencils by Mike "Bong!" Stanfill

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Raging Pencils is a gateway conceit of:

Mike Stanfill, Private Hand
Mike Stanfill, Private Hand
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Today's mystery web comic is:
VULCAN & VISHNU


start rant

I loves me some Rachel Maddow, and the following is a recent "special comment" of hers from her MSNBC program. Enjoy. =Mike=
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A Model For Where We Are At


rachel maddow is wackyThe Republican Party has bounced around, intellectually speaking, until they have arrived at a dangerous spot. They only contain the following inchoate premises: they no longer accept that government could or should do anything. They also believe that government will enrich some people and dominate others, and if they aren't in control, someone else will be.

Beyond that, they have no governing philosophy. And both of these premises are themselves based on a fundamental rejection of the notion of government as we understand it. Both simply see government as pure power. The real debate in their caucus is only between these two extremes. Ron Paul represents Anarchy (which, from my perspective, is at least a morally acceptable response to the belief that government is nothing but raw, abusive power), and Dick Cheney represents Totalitarianism (which is the cynical response to the same belief).

The two extremes check each other to some degree, which is why the country didn't self-destruct over the last eight years, but it's been like maintaining a normal body temperature using only a blow torch and dry ice.

The consequence:

The Republican Party is boxed in by their own rhetoric, and as they lose mainstream voters, they gain and elevate the extreme. They might even grow over the short term as they bring every nut out of the woodwork.

The Democratic Party has grown to now include almost everyone who actually believes that government is a rational social compact to achieve the public good. The Dems are the only party that actually still believes in a public good.

There are, of course, some Republicans who believe these basic things, but they are either trapped in the party and silenced, or they are retiring, or they have switched parties.

All of the "blue dogs" are effectively Republicans from an age when it was possible for a Republican to believe in the idea of government. The Dems contain the public debate. There are humane expressions of conservatism and liberalism possible in this world, but those expressions are now largely contained within the Democratic Party.

Where will things go:

The Dems will split. The health care fight is likely to precipitate this. If the Health Care passes, the Blue Dogs lose their corporate funding and will have to retrench, probably leaving the party in some fashion. If Health Care fails, the Blue Dogs will lose their liberal support, have to retrench, and probably leave the party in some fashion.

The question is: can the Republicans, at this point, expand intellectually to receive the Blue Dogs?

If not, the options seem to be:

Blue Dogs want to leave but just can't. Many of them lose their elections, others simply redefine themselves within the Dem Party.

Blue Dogs do leave, draw out the rational Republicans who are lurking in their party, and form a third party. Kent Conrad and Chuck Grassely start The American Party.

This craziness has to stop somehow.

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For anyone who asks.... Barack Obama was not born in the United States. He was born on Mount Olympus to Zeus and Hera. I wouldn't make a big deal out of this, considering he could seperate you from your DNA with his pinky finger.

One more thing... if you don't use phone books, and are tired of having another 15 pounds of dead trees plop on your doorstep every few months, you can stop delivery by following the directions at Eco Yellow Pages.


end rant


Bonus Alacrity
Ain't technology wunnerful?


Extra Deluxe Technical Bonus Fabulousness

bombs away!
"And if you'll look out the left side of the aircraft you'll see the engine
currently ripping itself to pieces. And thanks for flying Air Turkey."


Raging Pencils salutes the Mystery Reader of
Kampala, Uganda
Whoever you are, thanks for reading my crappy little 'toon.



Still hungry for real news and analysis? Try our selection of progressive nosh:
DailykosCrooks and LiarsThink ProgressTalking Points Memo

Today's Google Chow.
Two flowers and a marijuana leaf bullshitting in a bar:
Marijuana: "Boys, when my time comes dress me all in white linen and have six handsome soldiers to carry my coffin, and six porn queens to carry my pall. Beat the drum slowly and play the fifes merrily and cover my coffin with roses so I won't hear the clods fall."
Caption: Of course, Bob was cremated.