Thursday, April 26, 2012

2009 Inauguration of Obama: The night the GOP smear campaign launched

The Upside Down GOP
For this post, bare with me as I set the table:

On the resplendent evening of President Obama's 2009 inauguration, the country -- while in a celebratory mood -- was reeling from the truly unmitigated disaster of Cheney/Bush or Bush/Cheney (Don't get it twisted Dick, you two, Dumb & Dumber were the disasters).

Euphoria was in the air, yet our country was in the throes of the greatest Real Estate, financial meltdown and economic crisis since the Great Depression.

And while we suffered, we were celebrating The Hope You Can Believe In promise of a young president. So, as the recently coronated Obama swooned the night away at reception after reception with his equally regal wife, the GOP brain-trust (what an oxymoron) were stealthy convening/stewing/plotting/scheming on the other side of town.

The Cabal Agenda:

Was their sit-down about how to sure up the fragile economy in order to avoid an over-the-cliff depression?

Did they spend their time to strategize on what legislation they could meet the president half-way?

Were they working on a comprehensive Job bill to reverse the 800,000 jobs lost per month under Bush/Cheney?

Or, were they working on their own version of a badly needed Stimulus bill?

No, no, no and no! According to a new book by Robert Draper:


WASHINGTON -- As President Barack Obama was celebrating his inauguration at various balls, top Republican lawmakers and strategists were conjuring up ways to submarine his presidency at a private dinner in Washington.
The event -- which provides a telling revelation for how quickly the post-election climate soured -- serves as the prologue of Robert Draper's much-discussed and heavily-reported new book, "Do Not Ask What Good We Do: Inside the U.S. House of Representatives."
According to Draper, the guest list that night (which was just over 15 people in total) included Republican Reps. Eric Cantor (Va.), Kevin McCarthy (Calif.), Paul Ryan (Wis.), Pete Sessions (Texas), Jeb Hensarling (Texas), Pete Hoekstra (Mich.) and Dan Lungren (Calif.), along with Republican Sens. Jim DeMint (S.C.), Jon Kyl (Ariz.), Tom Coburn (Okla.), John Ensign (Nev.) and Bob Corker (Tenn.). The non-lawmakers present included Newt Gingrich, several years removed from his presidential campaign, and Frank Luntz, the long-time Republican wordsmith. Notably absent were Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) -- who, Draper writes, had an acrimonious relationship with Luntz.
For several hours in the Caucus Room (a high-end D.C. establishment), the book says they plotted out ways to not just win back political power, but to also put the brakes on Obama's legislative platform.
"If you act like you're the minority, you're going to stay in the minority," Draper quotes McCarthy as saying. "We've gotta challenge them on every single bill and challenge them on every single campaign." read more
I got one thing to say: Un-American. 



2 comments:

  1. Agreed. They were literally plotting from day 1 to take down President Obama. Just another example of how those fiends had no interest in bipartisanship. As horrible as the GOP's behavior is, their supporters will view the private dinner plot in a positive way.

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  2. Yea...their supporters - the rich 1% and the blind mice.

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