Mitch Mcconnel is a fuckin' embarrasment ta any clear-headed voter. Yet Kentuckyians send him back ta DC again, and again... Why? This guy just doesn't give it up... The message is somebody out there loves the guy! Hard ta b'lieve, but true nonetheless!

Negotiations about the fiscal cliff are set to begin soon, and Mitch McConnell is already signaling that he doesnt intend to budge or cooperate. If anything, in the wake of Tuesdays election, he is signaling that Republicans will adopt a strategy of categorical opposition even faster than he did after Obamas victory four years ago:

The American people did two things: they gave President Obama a second chance to fix the problems that even he admits he failed to solve during his first four years in office, and they preserved Republican control of the House of Representatives, McConnell said in a statement. The voters have not endorsed the failures or excesses of the Presidents first term, they have simply given him more time to finish the job they asked him to do together with a Congress that restored balance to Washington after two years of one-party control.

Of course, McConnell doesnt have the leverage here; the momentum lies with Obama and Senate Democrats, who will enter 2013 with a larger and more liberal majority than before.

McConnells strategy of opposition and obstruction was the definition of high risk, high reward. The goal of refusing cooperation with Obama was to generate public discontent with Democratic partisanship, and turn the Obama agenda the stimulus, the Affordable Care Act and Dodd-Frank into an albatross for the Democratic Party. The hope was that, in 2012, a Republican presidential nominee would use that discontent to run on a platform of bipartisan unity, and indeed, in the final weeks of his campaign, Mitt Romney did exactly that.

But this potential reward a one-term Obama presidency was counterbalanced by a massive risk. The practical effect of refusing cooperation with Democrats was to force them to adopt unusual amount of party unity. Its not hard to imagine a world where moderate Democrats watered down Obamacare to win over Republicans. In fact, this almost happened: Democrats were desperate for Republican votes following Scott Browns win in Massachusetts, and would have reduced the scope of the Affordable Care Act if it meant bipartisan support. But by refusing all offers for a compromise, McConnell forced Democrats to negotiate with themselves, and tough out the political circumstances. The result was a health care bill that despite liberal disappointments was more progressive than it might have been.

This pattern repeated itself throughout Obamas first term, and left him with a set of partisan achievements that were more liberal out of necessity. Of course, if McConnells strategy had worked out and public discontent forced Obama out of office this wouldnt have mattered; Republicans could just repeal the Obama agenda and move forward. But, as we saw on Tuesday, Obama was reelected with a larger and more liberal majority in the Senate. As such, the Obama agenda which Republicans could have weakened and watered down is certain to survive and become an integral part of American life.

In other words, McConnells strategy of categorical opposition has been a tactical and strategic failure. Not only will Obama stay president for the next four years, but he will implement the final plank of the American welfare state universal access to health insurance without Republican input. The Obama agenda is here to stay, and to a large degree, Republicans have Mitch McConnell to blame.

Sen. Mitch McConnell plans to saddle Democratic opponent with Barack Obama in 2014 campaign

 

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images) / Getty Images

WASHINGTON Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell certainly doesnt sound combative when the name of Ashley Judd comes up.

Shes great. Love her movies, the Kentucky Republican said in an interview, smiling broadly.

That is all hell say about the actress and activist whom some Kentucky Democrats are hoping will run for Senate against him in 2014. Judd has not ruled out the idea.

But McConnell also has a warning for any Democrat wanting to take him on: He will try to tie Barack Obama around their neck, the senator said Thursday in an interview with The Courier-Journal at his U.S. Capitol office.

With the 2012 election just concluded, plans are under way for a formal rollout of a McConnell 2014 campaign, though a specific date has not been set.

But in truth, McConnell has been running for his sixth term for a long time, amassing nearly $7 million from campaign donors. He has been so focused on his re-election that he even held a fundraiser in Washington the day after the Nov. 6 election.

McConnell also sought to discourage a challenge to him in the GOP primary from the tea party wing by hiring as his campaign manager Jesse Benton, formerly political director of the presidential campaign of tea party-backed Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, and former campaign manager for Pauls son, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who rode into office in 2010 on the tea party wave.

No Republican challenger, from the tea party or elsewhere, has surfaced so far.

The most powerful Republican in Kentucky and second-most powerful GOP figure in Washington, behind House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, McConnell nevertheless insists that he does not expect to just be handed another term by Kentucky voters.

I start with the notion that I have no sense of entitlement, the senator said. I have to earn the support of my constituents.

McConnell, 70, said he expects to run hard for the job he was first elected to in 1984 after serving as Jefferson County judge-executive.

We will be well-prepared and well-funded, McConnell said. And whoever is the (Democratic) nominee will have the burden of carrying the president into the campaign.

Matt Canter, spokesman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said McConnell is going to be the one carrying the burden.

"There is absolutely no one more responsible for the partisan gridlock and dysfunction in Washington than Mitch McConnell, Canter said in an e-mail. Hell have that hanging around his neck as he spends the next two years desperately campaigning.

McConnells intention to make Obama an issue against his opponent is based on the presidents clear unpopularity in most of Kentucky.

Despite his re-election victory on Nov. 6, Obama lost the commonwealth to Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney by a lopsided 61 percent to 38 percent margin and carried only a handful of counties.

Even so, Rep. John Yarmuth, D-3rd District, a frequent critic of McConnell, doubts the senators anti-Obama message will be the central theme of the 2014 Senate race.

I think the campaign at that point is about whether, after 30 years in office, Mitch represents the future of Kentucky and this country, the Louisville congressman said.

In messages to donors, McConnell depicts himself as a tough opponent of what he calls Obamas failed liberal agenda, especially on taxes and spending.

The President has been very clear about what he intends to do, McConnell said in an e-mailed pitch to campaign contributors last week. In the coming weeks, he will try to use the Lame Duck session of Congress and the threat of the fiscal cliff to pressure Republicans to fall in line with his tax hikes. He thinks we will roll right over.

But, McConnell promised, I plan to Fight and he used that capital F in his mailing.

Asked whether his age is a consideration in his campaign, and whether it would be his last, McConnell pointed out that he is about the same age as Vice President Joe Biden, who turns 70 on Tuesday, two years younger than House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., more than two years younger than Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and three years younger than Defense Secretary Leon Panetta.

Im part of the youth movement, McConnell said, chuckling.

But James Thurber, founder and director of American Universitys Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies, told The Washington Times that McConnell may yet see obstacles from within the GOP to his re-election.

McConnell will be in the middle of a battle for the heart of the party, Thurber said. The Republican Party is shifting to the right under his feet. He may not survive.

Ashley Judd: No Saddle From An Old Pervert

Uke wrote:

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Uke wrote:

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Nobody ever talks about Troll's body! No wonder he's jealous... And picks on good ol' Uke! (Who's never bothered Troll...ever!)

Fuck Troll!

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 Hey There sexy! are we talking about body parts today?

Like your quivering left ass cheek?

Pipes, I don't have to go very far to find a gravel road but you couldn't have been on a state highway.  You must surely have been wandering about the back country.

More about Ashley:

http://www.politico.com/arena/?hp=ar