AlterNet /
By Joshua HollandMeet Erick Erickson, the Toxic Idiot Guiding House Republicans on the Debt Ceiling Fight
The notably nasty CNN commentator claims Republican House members are really taking his advice to heart.July 26, 2011 |
We're still hurtling toward economic disaster as House Republicans refuse to sign onto a debt ceiling deal that falls well to the right of what even GOP voters say they want. Given the stakes, it's hard to understand why would they walk away from a package of deep cuts without new tax revenues – a deal they could have only dreamed of getting a few short months ago.
The simplest explanation is that they're terrified of their Tea Party base, and aren't eager to be primaried from the right by some deep-pocketed neanderthal. But it's also about beating Obama next year. Donald Trump articulated the prevailing wisdom in GOP circles this week, telling Fox News, "When it comes time to default, they're not going to remember any of the Republicans' names. They are going to remember in history books one name, and that's Obama."
It has to be one of the dumbest claims made in recent weeks. According to the latest CNN poll, 52 percent of the public think Obama has “acted responsibly” on the debt ceiling, compared to just 33 percent who say the same of the GOP (PDF). And a new Rasmussen poll finds that just 6 percent of likely voters approve of Congress' performance -- a record low.
Where did such an ahistoric reading of American politics comes from? According to Erick Erickson, a notably dense but highly influential right-wing blogger – and no doubt the only regular CNN contributor to have called a sitting Supreme Court Justice a “goat fucking child molester” – it was none other than Erickson himself. ............(more)
The complete piece is at:
http://www.alternet.org/teaparty/151793/meet_erick_erickson%2C_the_toxic_idiot_guiding_house_republicans_on_the_debt_ceiling_fight/