AI
Thursday, December 06, 2012 11:24:08 PM
Jim DeMint And The Heritage Foundation: A Match Made In Heaven
By Charles P. Pierce at 12:01PM Dec 6, 2012
Don't let the revolving door hit you in the ass on the way out, Gomer.
~~~~~~~~
The senator, 61, will move on to become the president of The Heritage Foundation, a longtime and well-respected conservative think tank in Washington. "No organization is better equipped to lead this fight and I believe my experience in public office as well as in the private sector as a business owner will help Heritage become even more effective in the years to come," he said.
~~~~~~~~
Nobody better personifies the casual cruelty, the reckless disregard .. http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2012/12/06/1293171/jim-demint-resign/ .. for the general welfare, the heedless contempt .. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0709/25163.html .. for the idea of a general political commonwealth, and the deep fealty to the rising power of oligarchy in this country than does DeMint, who first rode into the Senate by arguing, among .. http://jimdemints-southcarolina.blogspot.com/2010/12/jim-demint-scoffs-at-climate-change.html .. other things, that gay people should not teach .. http://www.advocate.com/politics/2012/07/24/tv-ad-calls-out-jim-demint-saying-gays-should-be-stopped-teaching .. in the public schools. And no institution embodies those same qualities, which fairly define modern movement conservatism, than does The Heritage Foundation, which is little more than a talking-points mill at which the primary intellectual debates seem to center on who will write this week's crapola of the op-ed page of The Washington Post, and who will be appearing with Piers Morgan that night. Heritage's claim that it is a font of serious policy ideas dies with the fact that it is now going to be run by the biggest loon in the pond. This is a match made on a plane somewhat lower than heaven.
There will be a lot of talk that this is yet another indication of conservative "disarray," and of the "split" currently opening in the GOP. Since I won't believe in the political salience of either of those concepts until there is a serious movement to, say, dislodge Paul Ryan as the party's primary voice on fiscal matters, I'm going to hold the fireworks and parades down to a minimum for the moment. DeMint is pretty plainly going for the money here. (And if the ongoing fight between Dick Armey and FreedomWorks isn't the definitive proof that, at the top of the movement, movement conservative in general, and the Tea Party specifically, was primarily a vehicle for grifting old-time pols, I don't know what would be.). There will be another DeMint to replace him within months. And, in a few years, he or she will be jumping over the side into the warm embrace of wingnut-welfare luxury. Wreck the country, retire in style. Operators are standing by.
UPDATE: And, yes, it can always get worse. [ insert from link ]
5 Republicans Who Could Replace Jim DeMint In The Senate
By Adam Peck on Dec 6, 2012 at 2:02 pm
On Thursday, Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) announced that he would be resigning his seat in January to take up the position of President at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative tank in Washington D.C.
The task of replacing the outspoken Tea Party lawmaker .. http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2012/12/06/1293171/jim-demint-resign/ .. now falls to South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, who will appoint someone to the seat until a special election can be held in 2014.
Speculation is already swirling around a handful of names to fill the seat, so ThinkProgress has put together an early look at some of the possible candidates for the job:
Rep. Tim Scott
Several reports are identifying Scott as DeMint’s preferred choice to replace him, and for good reason: the freshman congressman has already proven to be nearly as extreme as DeMint himself. In 2011, he voted to extend billions of dollars in subsidies to big oil companies, arguing that taxpayer-funded money going to companies that reap billions in profits was “fair.” And during the last fight over the debt ceiling, Scott floated the possibility of introducing articles of impeachment .. http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2011/07/07/262884/pete-olson-impeachment-debt/ .. against President Obama. While a State Senator, Scott helped to defund .. http://rodonline.typepad.com/rodonline/2010/06/antigay-black-republican-tim-scott-poised-wins-sc01-primary.html .. South Carolina’s entire HIV/AIDS programs, including the elimination of the state’s AIDs Drug Assistance Program.
Gov. Nikki Haley
She would not be the first Governor to appoint herself to the Senate, and would be well within her authority to do just that. Her approval ratings have remained low for years, trailing even President Obama by 10 points in the reliably red state and jeopardizing her chances of reelection in 2014. She has her own impressive track record of extreme comments and policy proposals, from denying the existence .. http://thinkprogress.org/election/2012/04/10/461400/nikki-haley-women-doing-well/ .. of any war on women to then perpetrating said war by vetoing .. http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2012/07/10/513736/south-carolina-gov-vetoes-abuse-and-rape-prevention-funding-calls-it-a-distraction/ .. half a million dollars in funding for abuse and rape prevention crisis centers throughout her state.
Former Attorney General Henry McMaster
McMaster served as South Carolina’s Attorney General for six years before launching a bid for the Governor’s mansion in 2009. He ran in the 2010 GOP primary against Haley, but dropped out of the race and endorsed .. http://www.webcitation.org/5ruUJAC7P .. her ahead of the runoff election in June of that year. As AG, McMaster was one of 16 Republican attorneys general .. http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2010/04/08/90692/ags-lawsuit-political/ .. to file suit against ObamaCare. He also cut a political video .. http://thinkprogress.org/health/2010/04/07/171369/south-carolina-ag-reveals-political-nature-of-lawsuit-against-health-reform/ .. touting his role in the case, raising questions about whether he filed the frivolous suit — at a tremendous cost to the taxpayers — simply to benefit his own political ambitions.
State Sen. Tom Davis
He too is a tea party favorite, especially amongst Ron Paul supporters. Conservatives had been trying to convince .. http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/271317-primary-challenger-yet-to-emerge-for-sen-graham .. Davis to challenge South Carolina’s other Senator Lindsey Graham in the 2014 GOP primary. Davis gave a speech at Paul’s rally in Tampa, Florida during the RNC in which he called Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke “a dictator and a traitor .. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0812/80171_Page3.html .”
Rep. Joe Wilson
With one outburst three years ago, Wilson became perhaps the most well-known congressman in the state. His unprecedented interruption of President Obama during the 2009 State of the Union address made him something of a hero for far-right extremists, and their impression of him has only been reinforced in the intervening years. Wilson is a longtime member .. http://thinkprogress.org/security/2009/09/10/175633/joe-wilson-nativism/ .. of Sons of Confederate Veterans, a group with deep ties .. http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-report/browse-all-issues/2002/spring/a-house-divided/hate-in-the-ranks .. to white supremacists and other right-wing extremists. He was an outspoken defender of the confederate flag, and fought to keep it affixed atop the state capital building.
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2012/12/06/1293621/5-republicans-who-could-replace-jim-demint-in-the-senate/
http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/jim-demint-joins-the-heritage-foundation-120612
.. whatever .. it's good to see one of the most virulent 'Get Obama at any cost' chant cheerleaders out of Congress ..
By Charles P. Pierce at 12:01PM Dec 6, 2012
Don't let the revolving door hit you in the ass on the way out, Gomer.
~~~~~~~~
The senator, 61, will move on to become the president of The Heritage Foundation, a longtime and well-respected conservative think tank in Washington. "No organization is better equipped to lead this fight and I believe my experience in public office as well as in the private sector as a business owner will help Heritage become even more effective in the years to come," he said.
~~~~~~~~
Nobody better personifies the casual cruelty, the reckless disregard .. http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2012/12/06/1293171/jim-demint-resign/ .. for the general welfare, the heedless contempt .. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0709/25163.html .. for the idea of a general political commonwealth, and the deep fealty to the rising power of oligarchy in this country than does DeMint, who first rode into the Senate by arguing, among .. http://jimdemints-southcarolina.blogspot.com/2010/12/jim-demint-scoffs-at-climate-change.html .. other things, that gay people should not teach .. http://www.advocate.com/politics/2012/07/24/tv-ad-calls-out-jim-demint-saying-gays-should-be-stopped-teaching .. in the public schools. And no institution embodies those same qualities, which fairly define modern movement conservatism, than does The Heritage Foundation, which is little more than a talking-points mill at which the primary intellectual debates seem to center on who will write this week's crapola of the op-ed page of The Washington Post, and who will be appearing with Piers Morgan that night. Heritage's claim that it is a font of serious policy ideas dies with the fact that it is now going to be run by the biggest loon in the pond. This is a match made on a plane somewhat lower than heaven.
There will be a lot of talk that this is yet another indication of conservative "disarray," and of the "split" currently opening in the GOP. Since I won't believe in the political salience of either of those concepts until there is a serious movement to, say, dislodge Paul Ryan as the party's primary voice on fiscal matters, I'm going to hold the fireworks and parades down to a minimum for the moment. DeMint is pretty plainly going for the money here. (And if the ongoing fight between Dick Armey and FreedomWorks isn't the definitive proof that, at the top of the movement, movement conservative in general, and the Tea Party specifically, was primarily a vehicle for grifting old-time pols, I don't know what would be.). There will be another DeMint to replace him within months. And, in a few years, he or she will be jumping over the side into the warm embrace of wingnut-welfare luxury. Wreck the country, retire in style. Operators are standing by.
UPDATE: And, yes, it can always get worse. [ insert from link ]
5 Republicans Who Could Replace Jim DeMint In The Senate
By Adam Peck on Dec 6, 2012 at 2:02 pm
On Thursday, Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) announced that he would be resigning his seat in January to take up the position of President at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative tank in Washington D.C.
The task of replacing the outspoken Tea Party lawmaker .. http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2012/12/06/1293171/jim-demint-resign/ .. now falls to South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, who will appoint someone to the seat until a special election can be held in 2014.
Speculation is already swirling around a handful of names to fill the seat, so ThinkProgress has put together an early look at some of the possible candidates for the job:
Rep. Tim Scott
Several reports are identifying Scott as DeMint’s preferred choice to replace him, and for good reason: the freshman congressman has already proven to be nearly as extreme as DeMint himself. In 2011, he voted to extend billions of dollars in subsidies to big oil companies, arguing that taxpayer-funded money going to companies that reap billions in profits was “fair.” And during the last fight over the debt ceiling, Scott floated the possibility of introducing articles of impeachment .. http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2011/07/07/262884/pete-olson-impeachment-debt/ .. against President Obama. While a State Senator, Scott helped to defund .. http://rodonline.typepad.com/rodonline/2010/06/antigay-black-republican-tim-scott-poised-wins-sc01-primary.html .. South Carolina’s entire HIV/AIDS programs, including the elimination of the state’s AIDs Drug Assistance Program.
Gov. Nikki Haley
She would not be the first Governor to appoint herself to the Senate, and would be well within her authority to do just that. Her approval ratings have remained low for years, trailing even President Obama by 10 points in the reliably red state and jeopardizing her chances of reelection in 2014. She has her own impressive track record of extreme comments and policy proposals, from denying the existence .. http://thinkprogress.org/election/2012/04/10/461400/nikki-haley-women-doing-well/ .. of any war on women to then perpetrating said war by vetoing .. http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2012/07/10/513736/south-carolina-gov-vetoes-abuse-and-rape-prevention-funding-calls-it-a-distraction/ .. half a million dollars in funding for abuse and rape prevention crisis centers throughout her state.
Former Attorney General Henry McMaster
McMaster served as South Carolina’s Attorney General for six years before launching a bid for the Governor’s mansion in 2009. He ran in the 2010 GOP primary against Haley, but dropped out of the race and endorsed .. http://www.webcitation.org/5ruUJAC7P .. her ahead of the runoff election in June of that year. As AG, McMaster was one of 16 Republican attorneys general .. http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2010/04/08/90692/ags-lawsuit-political/ .. to file suit against ObamaCare. He also cut a political video .. http://thinkprogress.org/health/2010/04/07/171369/south-carolina-ag-reveals-political-nature-of-lawsuit-against-health-reform/ .. touting his role in the case, raising questions about whether he filed the frivolous suit — at a tremendous cost to the taxpayers — simply to benefit his own political ambitions.
State Sen. Tom Davis
He too is a tea party favorite, especially amongst Ron Paul supporters. Conservatives had been trying to convince .. http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/271317-primary-challenger-yet-to-emerge-for-sen-graham .. Davis to challenge South Carolina’s other Senator Lindsey Graham in the 2014 GOP primary. Davis gave a speech at Paul’s rally in Tampa, Florida during the RNC in which he called Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke “a dictator and a traitor .. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0812/80171_Page3.html .”
Rep. Joe Wilson
With one outburst three years ago, Wilson became perhaps the most well-known congressman in the state. His unprecedented interruption of President Obama during the 2009 State of the Union address made him something of a hero for far-right extremists, and their impression of him has only been reinforced in the intervening years. Wilson is a longtime member .. http://thinkprogress.org/security/2009/09/10/175633/joe-wilson-nativism/ .. of Sons of Confederate Veterans, a group with deep ties .. http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-report/browse-all-issues/2002/spring/a-house-divided/hate-in-the-ranks .. to white supremacists and other right-wing extremists. He was an outspoken defender of the confederate flag, and fought to keep it affixed atop the state capital building.
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2012/12/06/1293621/5-republicans-who-could-replace-jim-demint-in-the-senate/
http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/jim-demint-joins-the-heritage-foundation-120612
.. whatever .. it's good to see one of the most virulent 'Get Obama at any cost' chant cheerleaders out of Congress ..
It was Plato who said, “He, O men, is the wisest, who like Socrates, knows that his wisdom is in truth worth nothing”
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