This quote is for real.

November 10, 2006 7:00 PM

(TFA) "Our party does not suffer the affliction of being a boiling mad collection of fringe interests with notions so cockeyed that they ultimately rub each other raw and make average Americans cringe," [Joe] Barton [of Texas] said. "Republicans will never be that."
posted by MarkO (13 comments total)

Think about the irony
posted by MarkO at 7:04 PM on November 10, 2006

Cheney and Rumsfeld screwed the GOP, end of story. No matter how little difference there was between the parties in 2000, only one party gave the cabal access to the White House and then rolled over for six years. They won't undo that for a while.
posted by rxrfrx at 7:05 PM on November 10, 2006

I can imagine that any party, given a safe cruise of dominance, will ultimately spoil, in the same way people may become addicted to plastic surgery, emending this and that piece of flesh, elated with each victory over age, only at some point by dint of the excessive "work" to have become a dry and horrid caricature of a human being.
posted by adoarns at 7:09 PM on November 10, 2006

they ultimately rub each other raw and make average Americans cringe

dear clueless

the average american just voted your party out of control of congress

try again
posted by pyramid termite at 7:16 PM on November 10, 2006

Who is Joe Barton of Texas and why do I care in the least?

rxrfrx, I think you overestimate the capacity for Americans to forget shit quickly. If the GOP behaves for a couple of years and doesn't get caught trying to boink teenaged boys or get caught stealing millions or accepting millions from lobbyists, people will forget quickly. The thing is, can they stop being crooked fucks long enough for the people to forget that they are crooked fucks?
posted by fenriq at 7:34 PM on November 10, 2006 [1 favorite]

what adoarns and fenriq said.
posted by darkstar at 7:43 PM on November 10, 2006

Republicans began to fade when it was learned that their mostly white base was less prosperous and less educated than their demonized counterparts. That's a traditional religious message, but they were making the opposite claim, proudly selling an idolatry of rewards. People stopped sympathizing when they saw them in action. Television specials featured them with their home-schooled children mocking dinosaurs in museums and witnessing creationism to school boards. Newscasts recorded them as frumpy protesters writhing on the pavement, wailing against the Ten Commandments being removed from a courtroom where it had sat for less than a month. They were indistinguishable from the mentally ill.
posted by Brian B. at 8:13 PM on November 10, 2006 [1 favorite]

Who is Joe Barton of Texas and why do I care in the least?

I'll tell you who he is - the guy who has prevented an autism bill from reaching the floor of the house, despite the fact that the senate version was passed easily, and there are more than enough votes in the house to pass it if it ever came up for a vote. Hopefully it will get another chance with the next congress, but it shouldn't have had to.
posted by Lokheed at 8:27 PM on November 10, 2006

Lokheed, ahh, now I do care and am firmly convinced that Joe Barton of Texas is yet another Republican asshat undeserving of anything but scorn and public humiliation.

But wait, there's more to hate! And he looks like someone that kicks puppies. Shame he won re-election.
posted by fenriq at 8:57 PM on November 10, 2006

I agree with Mr. Barton. They don't suffer from it, they profit from it.
posted by strangeleftydoublethink at 9:21 PM on November 10, 2006

I hope I'm just misunderstanding you, because my son certainly does not profit from autism. That being said, I'll spare you my rant. I'll just point out that the Combating Autism Act passed the senate *unanimously*. There was and is no reason for it not to come to a vote in the house.
posted by Lokheed at 10:10 PM on November 10, 2006

Lokheed, I think the poster was referring to the "suffer" in the original quote at the top, re: Republican party.
posted by Brian B. at 10:54 PM on November 10, 2006

A, well. I'm a goober. (I guess you might have noticed what my hot button is....)
posted by Lokheed at 11:56 PM on November 10, 2006