The So Called Adults Within the GOP Are Stupid

I realize there are those within the Republican Party who do not like Rush Limbaugh. Some of them even think the GOP is worse because of him.
Likewise, there are those within the GOP who say they like Rush and see “a use” for him, but they themselves do not like listening to him. He’s just not their cup of tea or something.


These people should really spend a week listening to Rush three hours a day and perhaps they would not be so stupid.
Most of the people who fall into these camps have been mouthing off on two topics about which their commentary has been decidedly stupid. Perhaps if they were students of the Institute for Advanced Conservative Studies they’d wise up.
The first, of course, is CPAC, put on by the American Conservative Union.
The ACU gave Mitch McConnell a 100% rating and gave Renee Elmers of North Carolina, one of the most worthless members of Congress to ever be elected as a tea party candidate, some award to prove her bona fides. That basically means the award is her conservative bona fides because she doesn’t have a record to show for it.
Basically, ACU is good at giving people cover.
And now they’ve given Chris Christie cover. They haven’t invited him to CPAC.
Boo-freaking-hoo.
If you listen to the libertarian leaning serial whining twitterati of twenty-somethings, this is an outrageously outrageous insult. They’ve invited Donald Trump to speak and his positions and Chris Christie’s are a lot alike, but for Trump actually taking the fight to Obama.
If you listened to the average Republican — not conservative — pundit on the right, it has been just ridiculous that Chris Christie was not invited. These people are more outraged over that than the ACU giving Mitch McConnell a 100% conservative rating. The adults in the GOP just cannot get over it.
The fact is, and to repeat myself, the ACU is good at giving people cover. They have given Chris Christie cover. Do you really think it is hurtful to Christie, headed into a campaign year in New Jersey, to be dissed by the conservative political action conference?
Come on people, smarten up.
But there is an even bigger issue.
The number of notable Republicans critical of Rand Paul’s filibuster is really amazing. Rand Paul put serious points on the board against the Obama Administration and John McCain, Lindsey Graham, Bill Kristol, National Review, and others are out dismissing him.
If they had paid attention to the crux of his argument on Wednesday, he worked hard to find common ground on the right. His filibuster was premised on the Obama Administration claiming it could use drones to kill Americans in the United States without due process of law after defining “imminent harm” in a way that was not imminent.
I support killing bad guys with drones overseas. Hell, I’m okay with killing bad guys in the United States with drones if they are about to cause imminent harm. But the administration’s standard was far too nebulous. It is opposed by a majority of Americans. Ted Cruz, Mike Lee, Marco Rubio, and others who are okay with drone attacks on bad guys supported Rand Paul because Paul found the sliver of ground on which they could all be opposed to an Obama Administration policy.
The act drew headlines. It united conservatives, independents, and even some progressives.
But then the so called adults within the Republican Party had to weigh in. They had to rain on the parade. They had to criticize Rand Paul.
The fact is Rand Paul put more points on the board than Bill Kristol, National Review, John McCain, Lindsey Graham, or pretty much any other Republican over these past few months. He did so on ground the GOP rarely fights on in a way that those who do not share much of his view on drones could find common ground with him.
But he took the spotlight away from the adults in the room. That was his sin. He had to be rebuked.
The adults in the GOP’s big tent have been complicit in getting us to $16 trillion in national debt and have never met a victory from which they could not snatch defeat.
Perhaps if they spent more time listening and learning from Rush Limbaugh and less time trying to show the world they’re better than him or the base he gives voice to they’d be more effective. Right now, they’re just stupid.

By: Erick Erickson (Diary)