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- Ben Smith uncovers an RNC donor strategy memo which, if not entirely surprising, is still shocking in its depictions of not just Democrats but how the party views its base of support. Major donors make "calculated" donations, and are motivated by "Peer to Peer Pressure," "access," and “are "Ego-Driven," whereas small donors make "visceral" donations out of "fear" of the administration and are "reactionary." If I were a Republican, I probably would have figured out long ago that campaigning on Obama's march to socialism is probably the best way to open my constituents' wallets.
- From the "who is this impostor, and where are you holding David Broder?" files, the Dean files an excellent attack on the recent spate of Rahm Emanuel stories, particularly from his own newspaper, closing with "the absolute worst advice politicians ever receive comes from journalists who fancy themselves great campaign strategists." Meanwhile, Broder's colleague E.J. Dionne Jr. decimates the Republicans' astonishing hypocrisy on the use of budget reconciliation rules, calling out for special attention Orrin Hatch's dishonest op-ed that ran in The Washington Post on Tuesday. I assume Fred Hiatt will restore balance with a George Will piece that "proves" global warming is a myth and a Charles Krauthammer plea for torturing terror suspects.
- Salon's Mark Benjamin thinks that Alan Grayson and Michele Bachmann's joint appearance on the Larry King Live show last night was some sort of watershed event in political history, for they "are the Candy Stripers of Crazy of their parties." Maybe I can help Benjamin out. When Grayson says that Republicans want Americans to "die quickly" is not crazy, it's hyperbole. It's Bachmann who, among other things, trades in conspiracy theories one might consider to be crazy. I doubt she is clinically insane, but since she keeps repeating this stuff, one could reasonably conclude she is operationally insane. At any rate, if Benjamin really wanted a crazy Democrat, he could have just picked Kesha Rogers, winner of Tuesday's TX-22 primary, who wants to impeach Obama for being controlled by the "British Empire" and send our soldiers to Mars.
- Remainders: Mitt Romney is strongly opposed to the socialist Obamacare that he himself passed in Massachusetts; hilarious: "A History of Obama Feigning Interest in Mundane Things"; the genius of Roger Ailes is that he knows liberals fail in the media because they're humorless and they care about stuff; I'm sure cutting about $5.5 million in congressional salaries is an adequate demonstration of "shared sacrifice"; the FDA is considering lifting the ban on gay blood donors because they figured out that gay blood does not give you the gay; the "rumor" that Chief Justice John Roberts is retiring reveals the existence of a hitherto unknown Supreme Court paparazzi; and some Republicans are trying to rein in their party's shameful use of fake census ballots.
--Mori Dinauer