Thursday, November 29, 2012

Boycotting reality


Indecision Forever asks if it's possible to die of an overdose of schadenfreude. I hope not, because I'm really enjoying this stuff:
Obamacare does not cover the artery-splitting joy produced at the sight of people who think Romney still has a shot at this thing

A state senator from north-central Idaho is touting a scheme that’s been circulating on tea party blogs, calling for states that supported Mitt Romney to refuse to participate in the Electoral College in a move backers believe would change the election result.

Sen. Sheryl Nuxoll, R-Cottonwood, sent an article out on Twitter headed, "A 'last chance' to have Mitt Romney as President in January (it's still not too late)."

Nuxoll isn't alone…


The "idea" — originated in a Judson Phillips WorldNetDaily post — is to deny Obama an Electoral College quorum by asking that at least one third of electors not participate in the voting. The only problem with this scheme: There's no such thing as an Electoral College quorum. The College never actually meets as one — the electors gather in state capitals and forward their ballots to the House of Representatives for counting.

It may be surprising that people who claim to worship the Constitution would make such an elementary mistake, until you realize the first rule of adoring the Constitution is that you must never, ever read it.

Yes, this came from WingNutDaily. Big surprise, huh? And of course the crazies are going to be passing it around in email, on Twitter, and at right-wing blogs. Well, they tend to live in a little bubble, where reality is kept at a distance.


And in this bubble, Barack Obama didn't really win. No, actually, Mitt Romney won in a landslide. It's just that massive voter fraud - and probably a worldwide conspiracy of scientists and the lamestream media - has stolen the election.

But there's still time! Mitt Romney can still be president - inside the bubble, at least.


But there's more. Did you know that the Romney campaign actually did great? Yes, just ask the guy who ran it:
Breaking news from the Washington Post: A Romney advisor thinks Mitt Romney did, like, so awesome in this election, and we should all feel really good about the future of the Republican Party. ...
I appreciate that Mitt Romney was never a favorite of D.C.’s Green Room crowd or, frankly, of many politicians. That’s why, a year ago, so few of those people thought he would win the nomination… Nobody liked Romney except voters.

Ah, yes. The voters loved Romney, so long as you only count the ones with appropriately sized 401(k)s.
He bested the competition in debates, and though he was behind almost every candidate in the primary at one time or the other, he won the nomination and came very close to winning the presidency.

Have we so quickly forgotten primary season? Romney won because he was less stupid than Perry and Bachmann and more superstitious than Huntsman. Romney became the nominee the same way Ramen noodles become dinner: There’s nothing else around, and you have to pick something. And the Hot Pockets believe in evolution. ...
Losing is just losing. It’s not a mandate to throw out every idea that the candidate championed, and I would hope it’s not seen as an excuse to show disrespect for a good man who fought hard for values we admire.

We shouldn’t throw out every idea Romney championed? Romney threw out every idea Romney championed. He went from banning assault weapons to saying he would veto all gun control legislation ever. He went from wanting gays to be able to serve openly in the military to being all like, “We are warring, gays are gross.” He went from resolutely pro-choice to wanting to burn Roe v. Wade at the stake and hang Harry Blackmun in effigy. Do we have to keep going? The only thing Romney championed was Romney.

The quotes are from Romney campaign "chief strategist" Stuart Stevens in the Washington Post. But I loved the phrasing from Rich Abdill: "Romney became the nominee the same way Ramen noodles become dinner: There’s nothing else around, and you have to pick something. And the Hot Pockets believe in evolution."


And "nobody liked Romney except voters"? Even Republicans didn't like Mitt Romney! They went through a long, drawn-out primary season trying to find someone, anyone, else. But look at their other choices: Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, Herman Cain, Donald Trump, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich,...

Now, I understand that the Republican base lives in its own little bubble, but I guess I always thought that Republican leaders knew better (but were just cynical enough to use their followers' ignorance, bigotry, and gullibility).

But I'm beginning to wonder, now. The reaction to this election has been absolutely crazy from top to bottom in the GOP. It's not just the Republican base that's boycotting reality, but their leaders, too.

Well, there's nothing easier than believing what you want to believe, even for rational people. And when you're entirely faith-based, well, you're not going to let reality affect your opinions at all.

As I say, I'm enjoying the crazy this time. But I had to put up with eight years of George W. Bush, so I think I deserve a little schadenfreude, don't you think?


PS. There are a lot more of these signs here.

4 comments:

Gregg Garthright said...

The signs are hilarious!

I particularly liked the "Home Scholers for Perry" sign. That one pretty much says it all, doesn't it?

It's nice to see all these "Patriots" want to overturn an election.

Bill Garthright said...

Sort of like how all those "Patriots" want to secede from the United States, huh? :)

Jim Harris said...

Makes me think if I ever go to a protest rally and bring a sign I better get my wife to proof read it for me.

Bill Garthright said...

Yeah, there's no automatic spell-checking on protest signs, is there, Jim? :)

Of course, that wouldn't have helped the guy in the last photo. (Or maybe he's just reminding the Tea Party types that they need to evolve as America progresses.)