Election 2012 recap: Obligatory Victory Lap Post

By Nathan Rothwell

I remember like it was yesterday thirty years ago.

It was late 2011, and I was writing a political column for a small community college newspaper. The Republican presidential primaries were just on the horizon, meaning that political pundits and the blogosphere at large was about to turn its primary focus to pontification about who would challenge President Obama for his job in less than a year. And I was somewhat lamenting having to write about it.

I was not looking forward to spending months speculating who would win the presidency when I was already convinced how it would unfold. At the time, I made the following three predictions to just about anyone who would listen:

• Mitt Romney would win the Republican primary and earn the presidential nomination
• Romney would eventually select Governor Chris Christie as his running mate
• The Romney/Christie ticket would go on to lose to Obama in November 2012.

As it turns out, I just barely missed going three for three on my predictions. Paul Ryan would ultimately be selected to round out Romney’s losing ticket, but my other two predictions indeed proved true.

I’m sorry, I’ve put my horn away now – there will be no further tooting. I only bring this up to say that while I did expect Obama to defeat Romney for a good while, what I did not expect was the triumph of liberal candidates and ballot measures that would also earn clear victories last night.

Maine, Maryland, and Washington became the first three states in the union to approve same-sex marriage by popular vote, while Minnesota voters struck down a constitutional measure that would have defined marriage as only between a man and a woman. Washington also made news, along with Colorado, for ending 70 years of marijuana prohibition.

Elizabeth Warren defeated Scott Brown to become the newest Senator from Massachusetts, earning a sweet revenge over the Republicans who blocked President Obama’s attempt to name her director of the newly-created Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Tammy Baldwin became America’s first openly gay Senator by defeating Tommy Thompson in Wisconsin. And Republican senatorial candidates Todd Akin and Richard Mourdock, they who believed the rights of unborn cell clusters trumped those of rape victims, were soundly defeated by Claire McCaskill and Joe Donnelly, respectively.

Last night proved to be a night of clear victories for the left in America, which I hope will be remembered by the public and our media long after our post-election hangover. Jon Stewart of The Daily Show joked last night that after two years of campaigning and roughly $3 billion spent on the process, we’re right back where we started. 

To a large extent this is true; the House of Representatives remains in Republican control, while the Democratic majority in the Senate remains not enough to overcome the GOP’s blatant filibuster abuse and rampant obstructionism. So while Mitch McConnell’s dream of basing the entire Republican party platform on making Obama a one-term president has failed, there is little doubt that they will cling to these congressional numbers as an excuse to now make Obama a lame-duck president.

But for now, America appears to have made its choice. Obamacare lives. Rape apologists and “traditional marriage” proponents have been decidedly smacked down in the polls. Marijuana prohibition will soon earn its place alongside alcohol prohibition as one of the more bizarre chapters of American history. And Mitt Romney, assuming his wife’s words were true, will fade off into the political sunset forever.

Go ahead and enjoy your victory lap, Democrats. You’ve earned it. Just don’t forget that when you’ve finished, the Republicans will be waiting with an army of excuses and redoubled resolve in their obstructionism.

A Guide to Living With (and Responding to) Obama Derangement Syndrome

By Nathan Rothwell

If this is how President Obama routinely appears to

you in your also routine nightmares, you may suffer 

from Obama Derangement Syndrome, or ODS.

If you or someone you know is suffering from ODS,

consult this article immediately.

It's way cheaper than a psychiatrist.

In 2003, Fox News stormtrooper correspondent Charles Krauthammer coined the phrase “Bush Derangement Syndrome.” When critics of the Bush Administration took it to task over its misadventures in foreign and domestic policy, Krauthammer dismissed the criticism as symptoms of a faux medical condition that causes "the acute onset of paranoia in otherwise normal people in reaction to the policies, the presidency — nay — the very existence of George W. Bush."

Here we are a decade later, and one can easily see how “George W. Bush” can be replaced with “Barack Obama,” and the term “Obama Derangement Syndrome” can just as easily be applied to some of the Obama Administration’s most outspoken detractors. Many an uninformed voter exists who can’t have a rational conversation about Obama without launching into a tirade of either unquantifiable or improvable belief statements (Obama HATES the troops), or attacks stemming from a realm of pure fantasy (Obama waived the work requirements for those lazy welfare freeloaders!) So while it pains me to lend Krauthammer any credit, this Obama-version of his “derangement syndrome” concoction seems to best describe some of these people.

A form of O.D.S. found its way into my inbox recently in the form of one of those “Why OBAMA Should GO!!!” emails making its rounds in the American cyberverse. It pains me greatly that chain emails comprise any sort of public discourse in this country, let alone political discourse. However, it did grant some insight into the world of those who despise President Obama, but aren't particularly artful in explaining why. Their core beliefs are backed by discredited statistics, and sometimes no facts at all.

Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan once famously said that “everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts.” In this spirit, I thought it might be fun to respond to the source of the chain email with facts that fly in the face of the “reasons” that President Obama should be voted out of office. And in the spirit of promoting informed debate during this election season, I’ve reprinted responses to some of the more common unfounded criticisms surrounding Obama. While many have made their minds up to hate him no matter what, I hope that there are some people out there who might reevaluate their convictions when presented with information stemming from outside the Fox News bubble of myopia.

Anyway, onto the fun. 

Akin's election hopes may be slipping "off the cuff"

By Nathan Rothwell 

Pictured: Rep (MO) Todd Akin

I've written before about my ties to Missouri, and the embarrassment I invariably feel when another local political figure attracts the wrong kind of spotlight to my home state.

We couldn't even go another six months before Todd Akin, longtime Representative of my voting district and newly anointed Republican candidate for the Senate this year, brought the spotlight back to Missouri - and just when it seemed like everyone had forgotten about Roy Blunt drafting legislation to placate religious figures who had the audacity to shrill that contraceptive services amounted to "rape of the soul."

As I'm sure you've all heard by now, Akin gave an interview on KTVI-TV in which he made the outrageous claim that female rape victims rarely become pregnant. He added further: "From what I understand from doctors... if it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down."

Akin has since backtracked from his not-so-artfully-worded comments in this interview, although his apology comes qualified with more attacks against pro-choice advocates and non sequitur criticism of the Democrats' handling of the economy. As my mother always told me, "If your apology contains the words 'I'm sorry, but....', it's not really an apology."

While Akin presumably hopes that his backtracking will put this issue to rest, his non-apologetic apology actually deserves more investigation. He claims he "misspoke," and his remarks were "off-the-cuff." Dictionary.com defines the term "off-the-cuff" as "with little or no preparation; extemporaneous; impromptu."

"Small Government" Kansas Republicans pass sweeping abortion bill

Looks like another victory for conservatives who cry for smaller government... except for when it serves their agenda of stripping women of their health rights.

Shit. Toto ... I think we're still in Kansas.

John Celock has more at HuffPo:

The passage sets the stage for Kansas to potentially enact one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the United States, coming a year after the state passed measures severely limiting the types of buildings that could house abortion clinics. The bill now heads to the state Senate for consideration. Gov. Sam Brownback (R) told HuffPost in February that he would sign the bill, which he said he had not read.

The bill contains provisions to prohibit tax deductions for abortion insurance coverage and abortion services; to provide for a sales tax on abortion; to establish a personhood stance for when life begins; to limit late-term abortions; to prohibit state employees from performing abortions during the workday; and to mandate that doctors tell women that abortion cause breast cancer along with other state-approved health issues.