Question: How many GOP staffers are looking for new jobs after agreeing to let the cameras roll during Obama’s smackdown at the Republican Retreat Q&A today?

(Answer: hopefully, none; if by some miracle that embarrassment was deemed in any way a success by the simpletons running the show in the not-so-big GOP tent, we should look forward to many more of these, like twice a day if possible.)

First off, let’s pause and consider something: can you imagine, under any circumstances, not only Bush alone (ha) but even if he had, say, Cheney and Rumsfeld and Rove with him, ever appearing before cameras to answer direct questions in an unequivocally partisan environment? Please. And don’t get me wrong: I’m not wishing he had; dude humiliated himself just reading off of cue cards (or having answers directly piped to him during debates). Can you fathom the further levels of disgrace he would have brought upon the nation while endeavoring, under the hot lights and flashing digi-cams, to address unscreened queries from a hostile crowd? Of course I kid myself: he probably would have repelled into the auditorium sporting a flight suit and right-wing radio/Fox News masters of unreality would have declared it a TKO.

The fact that Obama would do it is beyond impressive; the fact that he can do it (and win, convincingly) is remarkable, illustrative and should give Democrats hope. We did not elect an idiot; we did not elect an empty suit. To watch him, in real time, wrangling with them, and (a la the undramatic eviscerations of McCain in the debates) calmly, methodically defusing them, without raising his voice, breaking a sweat or personally attacking, is to remember why people were overcome with the H-word (Hope) a year or so ago. It is like Reagan with Carter’s intelligence. Or Clinton without the smarm. Only more so.

This addresses the one tactical error I’ve complained about since last spring (!): Obama needed to be doing exactly this, then. About health care, about jobs, about any and everything, since at least early summer. That he’s only doing it now, after extreme circumstances, is unfortunate –and he and the party have paid a considerable price for it. But better late than never. Literally. And hopefully the feckless, spineless and mostly useless Democratic senate can take notes and learn a lesson or two. Their inertia has been worse than unacceptable (it has not done nothing; it has enervated and resucitated the braindead and tone-deaf Republican party), but to be fair, Obama’s virtual disappearing act from the public stage has not helped matters. Obama’s performance today is hopefully the salt spray required to move those slugs out from under their stones. Speaking of stones, maybe more than a few of them can grow some.

More of this, much more of this needs to occur as often and visibly as possible, effective immediately. Unfortunately, I don’t suspect the Republicans will make the same mistake a second time. That is, being seen in real time on camera trying to engage with Obama, and being shown –in color and without spin– having their collective asses handed to them on intellectual, moral and factual grounds. It is exhilarating, if lamentably overdue. And it’s up to the people with the majority (the majority of votes, the majority of ideas, and the majority of consent) to at long last begin bringing the fight to the party whose only goal is to accomplish nothing.

Abortion is a woman’s choice?

Homsexuality is not a choice?

What on earth is a high profile Republican doing make comments like this, in public?

There is absolutely no place on the GOP platform for truth, so by the immutabe illogic that always must hold sway amongst Republicans, Steele is not long for this post. The only question is whether he will fall on his sword, or if, suddenly, his spurious financial dealings start receiving some scrutiny from the inside. Either way, only one thing was obvious the second his remarks found print: it’s only a matter of time.

It’s almost enough to make you feel sorry for Steele.

Almost.

But he’s such a self-aggrandizing, opportunistic buffoon, it’s simply out of the question to pity this fool. Unless you are a True Believer (and I often wonder how many folks at the top of the GOP power pyramid really do believe half the shit they spew), it must seem like walking a straight line directly beside hot coals: eyes ahead, unblinkingly striding forward; always on point, forever on message. The second you hesitate (or, worse, think), you’re going to stumble into the heat. And that heat is stoked from inside and out, so there is simply no way you will avoid getting burned. If the blowback is not immediate and intense, people will notice that the coals are glowing through the electricity of talking points. Not natural, but fake; a show, a sham. Everyone playing the game is perfectly aware of this. And that is why it’s impossible to feel a modicum of sorrow for any of these suckers when they invoke the ire of their masters, even if it’s for making the inconceivable error of actually uttering the truth.

Millard Fuller, the founder of Habitat for Humanity, has passed away. Obit from Washington Post here.

His story, self-made millionaire who gives away his money to the needy and actually dedicates his days to helping those who need the most help, is atypical in the best of times; during our ongoing economic clusterfuck, it seems almost quaint. Unfashionable, old-fashioned beneficence, an actual Good Samaritan. More on that in a moment. It speaks volumes, and captures his import in an impressively succinct manner,  that no less a man than Jimmy Carter was galvanized by Fuller’s call to arms.

“(He was) one of the most extraordinary people I have ever known. He used his remarkable gifts as an entrepreneur for the benefit of millions of needy people around the world by providing them with decent housing,” Carter said. “As the founder of Habitat for Humanity and later the Fuller Center, he was an inspiration to me, other members of our family and an untold number of volunteers who worked side-by-side under his leadership.”

How unbelievably redemptory, and refreshing, to see a person who put his money (and his time) where his faith was. In our lamentably soporific times, both intellectually and spiritually, where actual debates among so called Christians rage about putting the “Christ” back in “Christmas”, it’s unique to see a man of action (and means) more concerned with putting the “Christ” back in “Christian”.

Needless to say, all that golden-rule claptrap is antithetical to a more muscular version of the American dream. In this testosterone-laden mythology, Christ is a Capitalist (of course), and He wants us to be wealthy and strong. You know, just like he described it in the New Testament. This incarnation of Christ has a new generation of apostles (mostly born again and Fundy types, no longer a minority of the lunatic fringe) bristling against the ways in which nerdy do-gooders have turned their Savior into a sissy, a bleeding-heart liberal. Heck, you might even say Christ was a Socialist. If it wasn’t for all that inconvenient evidence to the contrary (again, that annoying New Testament), it might be easier to make a case for Christ as a Conservative (along with Holy Ghost Ronald Reagan seated, to the right, by his side). These are the patriarchal patriots who helped nudge Bush over the top in ‘04, on a buffalo wing and a prayer. It did seem like the world had turned upside down to see these people who gained the least from small tent Republican politics clamoring the loudest to sustain the status quo.

Of course, the tide has turned. Obama’s election is actually, if possible, less a paradigm shift than the collective noise that millions of Americans are making as the scales fall from their eyes. It’s not a joyful noise, either, as they finally confront the inescapable fact that the most powerful and wealthy polo players of the apocalypse have been sticking it to them hard and fast, for a very long time. Same as it ever was, of course, and that is old news; that is why we have super heroes and Democrats to occasionally stem the tide of immoral sewage. But the Bush administration, as we are seeing all too clearly now (a tad too late, as always),  dusted off the Reagan Revolution’s depraved tri-fecta (that government is the root of evil, that the free market is an immaculate arbiter of fortune, literally and figuratively, and that regulation is antithetical to a thriving infrastructure) and took off the training wheels. Funny how a formula combining incompetence, cronyism and unadulterated cupidity can devastate a nation’s surplus, safety and goodwill so quickly. And completely.

Incredibly, we saw some of the seeds of this sordid ideology bearing rotten fruit during the last eight years, but only now are we really getting a taste of the shit sandwich. It would be amusing if it were not so all-encompassing; it would be wonderful if it merely served as the overdue epitaph for avaricious gremlins like Grover Norquist and his gluttonous cadre. The no-taxation swine-mongers had their time at the teat, and they sucked on it without shame or a second thought. Now, the entire facade has collapsed, which is unfortunate for them, but it’s taking good people down with it. Tons and tons of them. The joke is on us, apparently. Which is what makes the notion of these bank bail-outs so discomfiting, especially as we know that (as usual) the richest of the rich saw this coming and made certain those golden parachutes were appropriately packed. It’s also what makes the spectacle of these CEOs whining about their divine right to ten million dollar bonuses so infuriating. It would almost be enjoyable to see people reaching for their pitchforks.

Thomas Frank targets the obscene Wall Street bonuses that are currently the tipping point of (egregiously overdue) public populist outrage. He also brilliantly encapsulates the outmoded and always unsustainable faith in the forces of the market to regulate itself and create jobs, spread wealth, and keep America strong, forever and ever Amen. His piece in today’s WSJ is here.

The god that failed is the god that never lived in the first place: the god of greed. Actually, that is not accurate: the god did not fail, its unholy spirit succeeded most spectacularly. Make no mistake, the rich did get richer. A lot richer. The CEOs may not actually be able to wipe their asses with hundred dollar bills anymore, but they aren’t going to be missing any meals. Props to them for pulling off a perverse Ponzi scheme where its transparently predictable default ends up indebting the populace who never profited from it. Surprise! The only people really losing everything are the folks who had too little to lose in the first place.

For this reason alone, it’s a minor miracle that a Democrat is in charge right now. But real progressives should brace themselves and be prepared for some disillusionment: this election was not a coronation, it was a correction. To be certain, it’s infinitely better than the alternative, but change (even a great deal of it) isn’t going to magically create lost jobs or replenish peoples’ 401k accounts. Obama might not be able to put enough fingers in the dyke, but at least his presence is preventing a full-on, Armageddon style meltdown. That was only the first step, but it is the most important one. And if you don’t think McCain, who had Phil “America is a nation of whiners” Gramm as his senior adviser, would at this very moment be driving us deeper into the ditch, I have some Lehman Bros stock I’d like to sell you.

What happens when you’ve jumped the shark and thrown up everything and the kitchen sink? Call a plumber, of course.

Joe the Plumber advises GOP-ers. No, really.

The more I look at that picture, above, the more perfect it is. I mean, yeah, on the metaphorical level it does the trick. But look closer: you’ve got the elephants, you’ve got the scantily clad babe (hey, I think Sarah Palin could use a little more exposure), and you’ve got the cheesy side of the road car crash spectacle thing going. In short, you’ve got the official declaration that the Grand Old Party is so officially out of ideas, so utterly bankrupt both intelletually and spiritually, so…embarrassing, that perhaps actually incorporating animal acts and death-defying stunts into their next convention might be an improvement. If it’s gonna be a circus have it be a circus. It can’t get much worse than Joe the fucking Plumber. Then again, Palin/Plumber 2012: that could be just the right ticket for an extended hiatus for this assembly of idiots and buffoons.

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