Try to relax; today's meme is all about discomfort. And there's no one feeling more of it than Republicans, who were hit yesterday with the rhetorical stylings of their erstwhile hero Cliven Bundy-Nevada rancher, defier of laws, and racial philosopher. The Republican Party's chief spokesperson, for instance, can't figure out why anyone would associate Bundy with the GOP. "The issue with Cliven Bundy has absolutely nothing to do with his party, zero," he said. After all, it's not like the GOP's chief organ in the media had been giving the guy blanket coverage all the while Republican politicians were praising his crusade. I mean, c'mon.
Republicans are also being made uncomfortable by their own candidates, who haven't all gotten the message on the "outreach" the party is supposed to be doing. Here's one who has proposed an effort to round up and deport every undocumented immigrant in the country, which he calls, no kidding, "Operation Wetback." Here's one who said it was an "abominable idolatry" when wives love their children more than their husbands, arguing that that's what causes divorces most of the time. He added that in the "vast preponderance" of situations where men are adulterous, women are to blame because they have showered too much emotion on their children instead of their husbands. And here's one who endorsed cockfighting.
Representative Tim Walberg, a Republican from Michigan, got confronted by a constituent who argued that the Affordable Care Act was actually helping him start a new business without fear of going without insurance. Walberg admirably pushed through his discomfort to hold that while "that's not to say that the ACA hasn't helped a few people," it is still a horrific nightmare that needs to go.
Nicole Flatow of ThinkProgress reports that the NRA's next big push will be on state gun reciprocity laws, so that if, say, Alabama passes a "Totin' Toddler" law allowing 3-year-olds to carry guns, every other state will have to allow Alabama babies to bring their guns into any state they wish. Does that make you uncomfortable? Tough luck, hippie.
Barack Obama made George Will terribly uncomfortable when he used the word "stinkburger" to refer to Paul Ryan's budget. The nerve! Heather Digby Parton tears Will a new one, by which we mean she eloquently explains why he's being so idiotic, which would no doubt be uncomfortable for him to hear.
Everywhere Elizabeth Warren goes on her book tour, people tell her she ought to run for president, which surely makes her extremely uncomfortable. To be told again and again that you are such an inspiration that you ought to be the most powerful person on earth is a trial we hope Warren can endure.
And finally, The New York Times reports that advocates for migrant agricultural workers' rights made fast-food companies uncomfortable enough that they pressured their suppliers of things like tomatoes to improve working conditions, so now the life of the workers is somewhat less horrible than it was, even if it's still a hard, low-paying job.
